Recognition & Rewards
Maastricht University (UM) aims to ensure every employee has a fulfilling career in which their talents are used, recognised and valued. We strive to be an open, inclusive and diverse community of academic citizens who are rewarded based on their own merits.
Alongside other public academic institutions and research funds (UNL, NFU, KNAW, NWO and ZonMW) we are changing the system through which we assess the achievements of our academic staff. In 2019, we jointly published a position paper, Room for Everyone’s Talent, focusing on modernising the Dutch university system. We translated the position paper into an extensive Recognition & Rewards (R&R) programme in which all Dutch universities participate.
Creating a new balance in academic work
Traditionally, not all employee achievements have been recognised and rewarded equally. For academics, their career path was predominantly determined by research performance, in particular quantitative metrics such as research output, citation analyses and acquired grants. The focus on research as an indicator of high performance has often undervalued other crucial academic tasks and increased work pressure and competitiveness. It results in insufficient time and appreciation for development in other areas.
The R&R programme creates a new balance in academic work. UM fully supports this programme, committed to valuing all talents and recognising achievements in education, research, impact, leadership, and patient care.
Have any questions? Go to the FAQ.
The R&R objectives
The main objectives of the R&R programme:
- Diversification and vitalisation of career paths: enable more diversity in career paths and profiles for academics.
- Balance between individuals and the collective: assess academics based on both their individual performance and their team performance.
- Focus on quality: provide a better balance between quantitative and qualitative assessment tools.
- Stimulate Open Science: disclose research designs, make data publicly available and encourage academics to put additional effort into making their research outcomes more accessible to society.
- Encourage academic leadership: invest in good leadership at all levels, from young academics to established professors.
Visit the national website for Recognition & Rewards for further information on the national programme and insights into the approaches of other Dutch universities and research centres.
Download the nationwide position paper ‘Room for everyone's talent - towards a new balance in the recognition and rewards of academics'
Download the vision document: 'UM's vision on Recognition & Rewards'
News
2026 Culture Barometer: job satisfaction and sense of recognition have increased
UM’s vision
UM created a vision document for the R&R programme, linking the nationwide objectives to the values and strategic position of UM. Our vision has a focus on quality over quantity, includes Open Science, updates our PhD track assessment criteria and further defines academic citizenship while balancing the needs of the individual and the organisation.
Our vision for UM’s R&R system encompasses key areas:
- Education
- Research
- Impact
- Leadership
- Patient care (when relevant)
The R&R programme within UM
By allowing diverse sets of talents to thrive, we will increase our ability to achieve excellence in the key areas of research, education, impact, leadership and patient care. We believe letting our staff flourish through recognition of their talents will foster a challenging work environment and increase job satisfaction.
The new approach towards R&R requires a culture change, a change in mindset and leadership that transcends human resource management, organisational structures and quality assurance. Such a change needs national and international efforts to ensure alignment throughout academia. We believe the new way of thinking about academic careers must be built upon:
- Diversified career paths
Within a team, department or faculty, the different profiles and backgrounds should be coherently integrated. This allows us to make better use of the natural talents and intrinsic motivation of academics. - Personal growth
In this new approach, personal growth is not necessarily defined as reaching a higher academic position. It is also about learning new skills, having the opportunity to excel in the things one is good at and being appreciated for one’s contributions. This type of personal growth not only increases job satisfaction but contributes to feelings of involvement and commitment. - Individual and organisational needs
It is important to emphasise that having more diversified career paths does not mean anything goes. To ensure a healthy organisation, there must be a balance between the needs of the organisation and the ambitions of the individuals in the community. Therefore, academics should be aware that pursuing a career at UM will have its limitations, just as it does within any organisation.
Read more
Recognising and Rewarding Open Science: Easier said than done?
In recent years, Maastricht University (UM) has been working to implement its R&R programme. Yet many academics and supervisors still find it challenging to apply R&R principles in practice, particularly when it comes to responsibly evaluating and discussing Open Science contributions.
Supporting system for R&R implementation
At UM, the institutional R&R committee consists of the UM President, the rector, the faculty deans (and/or portfolio holders R&R), the People & Development director and the R&R programme manager who together lead the programme’s development. The institutional committee facilitates the discussion with the academic community and ensures coherence between the internal discussions and the subsequent proposals. Realising and safeguarding alignment with national developments is also the committee’s responsibility.
Besides the UM-wide commission, other organisations within UM are actively involved in the process of Recognition & Rewards. The Maastricht Young Academy and Female Empowerment UM (FEM) delegate members, and employees from the University Library are involved. Moreover, occasionally members of the Local Consultative Body, the University Council, the Central PhD Candidates Platform (CPCP), and the PhD Platform contribute.