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Entries for October 2018

“Europe should re-establish its enlightened values”

“Europe should re-establish its enlightened values”

The Muslim question – that’s the greatest challenge for Europe today, according to Maajid Nawaz, who gave the Tans lecture last Monday. Nawaz, co-author of Islam and the Future of Tolerance, believes that both Islam and Europe need to reform in order for us to build a society in which people from different ethnic and cultural background...
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Good, good, and good again

Good, good, and good again

MAASTRICHT. “Do you know what the committee said: ‘If we were eighteen now, we would all want to study at Maastricht University’.” Rector Rianne Letschert repeats with a broad grin the words of the chairman of the NVAO committee that investigated the education, quality agreements and internationalisation at the UM last week....
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A six is good enough

A six is good enough

MAASTRICHT. ‘When I do something, I want it to be perfect’. It seems like a good characteristic, but if it is up to Anita Jansen, dean of the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, we need to rid ourselves of this as soon as possible. In extreme cases, perfectionism can lead to death. Within the framework of Well-being Week – an ...
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Launching Women's network

MAASTRICHT. Maastricht University has another network: Female Empowerment, or FEM for short. The starting signal will be given during a launch event in the Jan van Eyck Academie on Tuesday, 13 November.
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Electric wagon maker files for bankruptcy in wake of fatal crash

THE NETHERLANDS. The company which makes the electric wagons used by thousands of childcare groups to move children from place to place has filed for bankruptcy in the wake of last month’s fatal crash.
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Getting lost in some of the greatest mysteries of our time

Getting lost in some of the greatest mysteries of our time

Ruben Hanenbergh (22, Dutch), master’s student Human Decision Science/ Rent: 280 euros/ M2: 16/ Area: Heer
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Tutorials: Rules of engagement

Tutorials: Rules of engagement

It has been two months since I started teaching much more than I used to before, and I noticed some issues that need to be addressed. Before we begin, no worries, your names were changed. So, let’s start: Tutorial is not a hostage situation. Stop looking at me with those big scared eyes, Lindsay. It’s uncomfortable. Besides, you w...

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Form is no longer sacred, but the philosophy behind PBL is

Form is no longer sacred, but the philosophy behind PBL is

MAASTRICHT. The Problem-based Learning system of the future is flexible, adapted to individual study programmes, and with room for lecturers' personal interpretation. The inescapable seven-step approach is no longer sacred, but there is a framework within which everyone at Maastricht University must work.
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Change the patent system for medicine

Change the patent system for medicine

The patent system for medicine should be reviewed, so that pharmaceutical companies cannot use loopholes anymore to keep their patent – and therefore their monopoly – on medicine forever, says Universities Allied for Essential Medicine, a student-led global movement for access to medicine, in this opinion article in the light of Access ...
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“No one excels at everything”

“No one excels at everything”

Roel Niemark/ 26/ third-year student of Law/ works about eight hours per week/ earning approximately 11 euros per hour
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Digital reproduction or preferably the original?

Digital reproduction or preferably the original?

Imagine you, a researcher, are given a bag of money, unlimited time and personnel. What research would you do? Cultural scientist Vivian van Saaze would look into how digitisation of art would influence our appreciation of the authentic object.
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German students are finding their way to UM again

MAASTRICHT. The number of first-years who started a bachelors' or master's in Maastricht after the summer has risen by 3.8 per cent to a total of 7,396. In addition, another 103 pre-master's (bridging programme students) also started their studies, increasing the total number of newcomers by 5.3 per cent. This is the outcome of the...
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Expats not satisfied yet

Expats not satisfied yet

NETHERLANDS. The tax on dividends remains and the cabinet therefore has enough money to meet the demands of expats whose tax benefit is being decreased. But the expats remain vexed and threaten to go to court.
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PBL 2.0 is on its way: flexible, creative and tailor-made

MAASTRICHT. It is time for a flexible PBL system, one that provides room for creativity, a personal interpretation by lecturers, and one that may differ per study programme. Those were the most important outcomes of the EDview project. Rector Rianne Letschert announced last Tuesday that a steering group would now implement the recommendations in th...
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A gift voucher helps people stop smoking

A gift voucher helps people stop smoking

Employees doing training at work to quit smoking are more likely to stay the course if they are given a reward, showed a study by the Maastricht institute Caphri. The results were published in The Lancet Public Health. Employees who participated in the study, funded by the Dutch Cancer Society, (KWF Kankerbestrijding), could earn a total of...

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Tans lecture by deradicalised Muslim

Tans lecture by deradicalised Muslim

MAASTRICHT. At the age of sixteen, the British-Pakistani Maajid Nawaz joined Hizb ut Tahrir, a world-wide Islamist organisation that aims at establishing a caliphate. Nawaz becomes a leader, but eventually ends up in an Egyptian jail. After spending four years in prison, he changes course, distances himself from Hizb ut Tahrir, and turns against Is...

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Amsterdam University student denied entry to UK for conference

THE NETHERLANDS. Legal experts have denounced the decision to refuse an Amsterdam University student from Bosnia entry to the UK to attend an academic conference as ‘irrational’ and ‘nonsensical’.
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Former prime minister Wim Kok dies: ‘a man of total integrity’

THE NETHERLANDS. Former Dutch prime minister and Labour party leader Wim Kok has died in hospital at the age of 80 after a short illness.
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"I don’t miss South Africa as much as I did in the first semester"

"I don’t miss South Africa as much as I did in the first semester"

Emily Burger (21, South African), second-year Arts and Culture Rent/m2: 465 euro, around 18 m2 General Area: Close to FaSoS, central
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Response very low: 7,3 percent

Response very low: 7,3 percent

MAASTRICHT. More study spaces at the faculties, better information systems and better catering.  That is what Maastricht University needs to work on, according to the annual student monitor. On the other hand, students are satisfied with UM Sports and the Studium Generale programme.
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Why do our healers need to be healed?

Why do our healers need to be healed?

A recent survey of young physicians in the Netherlands reported that one in five (19%) participants self-reported symptoms of burnout, according to De Jonge Specialist, an association of young physicians. Compared to the U.S., where I trained and worked as a physician, the rates are similar, despite differing medical education systems and financing...

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"In the past 25 years, a lot of voters have turned into morons, apparently"

"In the past 25 years, a lot of voters have turned into morons, apparently"

A former left-wing sociologist, who, in his latest book, defends populism in Hungary and Poland. The auditorium at the Minderbroedersberg was packed on Tuesday evening when Frank Furedi (1947, Hungary) gave his lecture 'Taking democracy seriously: a defence of populism', organised by Studium Generale.
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FSE faculty to be split

FSE faculty to be split

MAASTRICHT. The department of Data Science and Knowledge Engineering (DKE) will remain part of the Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE), but the ICIS institute and the School of Governance will be incorporated in the School of Business and Economics. That is, if the tentative talks go down well. And the three Colleges? Their future place i...
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"In the past 25 years, a lof of voters have turned into morons, apparently"

"In the past 25 years, a lof of voters have turned into morons, apparently"

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Depressed because of clogged veins

Depressed because of clogged veins

Imagine you, a researcher, are given a bag of money, unlimited time and personnel. What research would you do? Thomas van Sloten would like to test a pill that would improve the tiniest veins in the brains of older patients. There is just one problem: that pill doesn't exist yet.
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24/7 opening library quashed after protests

24/7 opening library quashed after protests

MAASTRICHT. The 24-hour opening of the university library during the exam period in October has been cancelled after protests by local residents. Whether the scheduled pilot projects during the other XXL weeks will go ahead, is not certain yet.
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Maastricht students slightly less positive about their studies

MAASTRICHT. Maastricht students are a little less positive about their study programmes than last years. This is one of the outcomes of the Dutch National Student Survey, held at the beginning of this year. Despite the drop, the UM still scores above the national average.
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More and more international students leave after graduation

THE NETHERLANDS. Once they have received their diploma, many foreign students leave the Netherlands. But even then thousands remain here.
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Don't put a coat hanger in your mouth

Don't put a coat hanger in your mouth

Lara Gil Jung/ 23/ master’s student of Forensics, Criminology and Law/ works on average 16 hours per week/ earning 9.63 euro per hour (double on Sunday) plus 8 percent holiday bonus
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Dutch to boost presence at 51 diplomatic missions by 2021

THE NETHERLANDS. Dutch embassies, consulates and business support offices in 51 countries will be strengthened over the coming three years, foreign minister Stef Blok has told MPs in a briefing.
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“I’m bored of trans and other gender issues to be put under feminism”

“I’m bored of trans and other gender issues to be put under feminism”

Erick Jackaman (20, half British, half American), Liberal Arts and Sciences student Size of room: 20m2 Rent: 450 Euros Location: Jekerdal
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Alexander Pechtold quits as D66 leader, after 12 years at the top

THE NETHERLANDS. D66 leader Alexander Pechtold is standing down as head of the party and will quit as an MP on Tuesday, he told delegates to the party congress on Saturday.
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Viva España

Viva España

My colleague Juan Francisco Palacios Temprano has a large family in Asturias, Northern Spain. This region boasts a rich tradition of making cured meats from a famous Spanish breed of pig. Every winter, when the weather is forecast to be cold and dry, the men in the family slaughter a pig after having spent more than six months raising it with love ...

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The Strength Behind the Smile

The Strength Behind the Smile

Albert Mhangami has an infectious, radiating smile. Yet, as a black student living in Maastricht, he is regularly confronted by racism. For example, once as he was cycling home, a group of drunks threw apples at him, calling him a nigger. As his teacher (and as a human being), I am infuriated, but as a minority living in Maastricht myself, I am not...

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Integration Maastricht School of Management and UM: sixth attempt

Integration Maastricht School of Management and UM: sixth attempt

MAASTRICHT. Another attempt is being made to integrate the Maastricht School of Management (MSM) into Maastricht University. For the sixth time since the turn of the century. The last fiasco dates from three years ago. It was MSM that pulled out of the deal at the last minute. And that when they had never been so close to an agreement, said Philip ...
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The new humanitarian aid: export of business philosophy

The new humanitarian aid: export of business philosophy

Imagine you, a researcher, are given a bag of money, unlimited time and personnel. What research would you do? Elsje Fourie, researcher at Fasos, would like to do fieldwork in one of the many Ethiopian businesses that are currently so taken in by the Japanese business philosophy of Kaizen. What does that entail?
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UPDATE: CANCELLED library open 24 hours a day

UPDATE: CANCELLED library open 24 hours a day

MAASTRICHT. The university library in the city centre will be open 24 hours a day from this Saturday. It concerns a pilot project during the so-called XXL weeks, the weeks before and during the exam week.
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“I’m not allowed to gamble, imagine if I won!”

“I’m not allowed to gamble, imagine if I won!”

Julia Olislagers/ 20/ second-year student of Medicine/ works about eight hours per week/ earning on average 400 euro per month
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iArts students create conceptual clothing line with fabrics from the Maas

iArts students create conceptual clothing line with fabrics from the Maas

What kind of waste do you think ends up in the river Maas most? Plastic? Glass? Actually, second- and third-year students of iArts, an interdisciplinary arts programme of Zuyd Hogeschool to which also UM teachers contribute, found a lot of clothing and textiles. Commissioned by Dutch Earth Week – which starts next Monday – to do a proje...
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Sustainable Employability Monitor participation rate so far: 43 %

Sustainable Employability Monitor participation rate so far: 43 %

MAASTRICHT. The UM Sustainable Employability Monitor went online on Monday, 24 September. After one and a half weeks, 43 per cent of the employees have completed the survey. The organisers had hoped beforehand for a response rate of 60 per cent. This appears not to be impossible with another week and a half to go.
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Paywalls: Taking science backwards

Paywalls: Taking science backwards

It was a Wednesday afternoon, dark skies, cold feet and nothing to postpone tomorrow’s deadline. I was supposed to write a research proposal and give a short presentation about it. Working last minute, as usual, my literature search was going nowhere. Every time I found THE paper that would save me, that would have all the answers to my quest...
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Ryanair to close Eindhoven base but says most flights won’t be hit

THE NETHERLANDS. Irish budget airline Ryanair said on Monday it is closing its Eindhoven base, which currently operates four planes, but said ‘most routes to and from Eindhoven will continue on overseas based aircraft’.
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Dutch still lax on cyber crime, over half don’t have anti-virus software

THE NETHERLANDS. Despite the increasing prevalence of cyber crime in the Netherlands, 57% of computer users have still not installed anti-virus software and less than one third have made their passwords more complex, according to new research for the justice ministry and counter terrorism unit NCTV.
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