The chair falls under the School of Health Professions Education (SHE) of the Faculty of Health, Medicine, and Life Sciences at Maastricht University. On March 21, Saskia will deliver her inaugural lecture. The new chair focuses on the question of the preferences students have regarding the level of flexibility in their education.

Flexibilization

They also examine what the job market demands from the students and what this means for making education more flexible. Saskia says, "Depending on these student preferences and the demands from the job market, we formulate guidelines and methodologies that can assist teachers and educational designers in making education more flexible."

Education and research

Saskia Brand-Gruwel, who grew up in the Achterhoek and earned her doctorate in educational science at Radboud University in Nijmegen, exchanged in 2019 the Open University for a role on the Board of Directors of Zuyd University of Applied Sciences. With a portfolio of Education and Research, she was, for example, involved in the abolition of the binding study advice. She was reappointed for a five-year term last autumn. Her appointment as an endowed professor aligns closely with her work and ambitions, she says. "I was already active as a promoter of PhD students at the Open University and will continue to cherish the contact with these students and the collaboration on educational research."

Collaboration

Within the Board of Directors of Zuyd, Saskia is also committed to greater collaboration with practice and other educational institutions in the South of the Netherlands. The chair established by UM and Zuyd is a striking example of this. "I am delighted with the chair at UM. We are already strengthening the collaboration between Zuyd and UM in various ways, and with this chair, we can also conduct joint research on the design of flexible education. Both institutions can benefit from this. As a board member, I also enjoy delving into educational issues and combining science with governance."

UM is also pleased with the scientific collaboration with Saskia. Pim Teunissen, scientific director of SHE, looks forward to the opportunities that this appointment offers. "Issues related to the flexibilization of higher education are of great practical and scientific importance. I am convinced that with Saskia's appointment as an endowed professor, new knowledge and insights from research will lead to an impact on education."