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Opening of the academic year 2012/13

On Monday 3 September 2012 Maastricht University celebrated the opening of the 2011-2012 academic year with the theme ‘Maastricht University, the art of networking’.

Please click here for the video impressions.

Morning symposium
First up in the morning symposium was the introduction of the Strategic Programme 2012-2016 and the three key research focus areas. The theme 'The art of networking' then took centre stage during the program item 'Maastricht University Plaza'. About 50 projects, initiatives and partnerships that are affiliated to the UM were present in the hall, corridors and the courtyard. After this, the presidents of the youth organizations of the various political parties debated with each other and the audience on the role of higher education and internationalization. 

Opening ceremony
The official opening of the academic year took place at the Theater aan het Vrijthof. The guest of honour was Professor Frans van Vught, an internationally renowned authority in the strategic management of universities and international cooperation in higher education. Also on the programme were the presentation of the Student Award, the Edmond Hustinx prize for science and the Rabobank Dissertation Prize. The music was performed by the renowned men's choir De Mastreechter Staar.

• Download the speech of Prof. Martin Paul, president Maastricht University  'The value(s) of knowledge'.
• Download the keynote of Prof. Frans van Vught 'University profiles: international rankings, institutional maps and the need to discuss the structure of Dutch higher education'.
  

Awards and prizes

	The Taskforce Qualitative Resuscitation by Students the winner of the 2012 Student Award for provdiding CPR training to secondary school students and fellow students. The Taskforce ORS concist of Hesam Amin, Ali Ghossein, Janieke Geerling, Marjan Klinkert, Frank Körver, Gideon Bookelmans.
The Edmond Hustinx prize for science was awarded to Dr. Elise Muir for her proposal 'Taking European values more seriously: collective enforcement of EU non-economic law'.
	Dr. Joakim Zander received the Rabobank Dissertation Prize for 'The Application of the Precautionary Principle in Practice' also published by Cambridge University Press'.