MYA members
The Maastricht Young Academy comprises 18 selected members, three from each of Maastricht University's faculties. Members are appointed for four years and we hold an open application round when a vacancy becomes available.
Our members are passionate about our university and wish to make an impact on academia beyond their research and education activities. A list of MYA alumni can be found here.
We recently selected 9 new members to join the MYA beginning in February 2024. Our congratulations and warmest welcome to: Boukje Compen (FHML), Bram Fleuren (FPN), Skander Galand (LAW), Sejla Imamovic (LAW), Michelle Moerel (FSE), Irina Nikolova (SBE), Gabriel Paiva Fonseca (FHML), Janny Stapel (FPN), and Tom van der Zanden (SBE).
We are also thrilled to announce the election of Jenny Schell-Leugers as the next Chair of the MYA and Janosch Prinz as the next Vice-Chair. Both will assume their leadership in February 2024 when the term of the current chairs will end.
Meet the MYA Members and their research
Contact information
Jenny Schell-Leugers (Chair)
Research field: Legal psychology
Department: University College Maastricht; Faculty of Science and Engineering
Read Jenny's profile
Watch a video about her research
MYA term: 24/01/2022 – 24/01/2026
Janosch Prinz (Vice Chair)
Research field: Contemporary political philosophy
Department: Philosophy; Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Read Janosch's profile
Watch a video about his research
MYA term: 01/04/2023 – 01/04/2027
Boukje Compen
Research field: Faculty Development, inclusive learning environments, teacher identity
Department: Educational Development and Research; Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences
Read Boukje's profile
MYA term: 01/02/2024 – 31/01/2028
Projects: Recognition & Rewards, Training & Workshops, Work Pressure & Well Being
Bram Fleuren
Research field: Work and organizational psychology, sustainable employability
Department: Work and Social Psychology; Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience
Read Bram's profile
MYA term: 01/02/2024 – 31/01/2028
Projects: Work Pressure & Well Being, MYA x Lumière
Katleen Gabriels
Research field: Ethics and philosophy of (computer) technology
Department: Philosophy; Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Read Katleen's profile
Watch a video about her research
MYA term: 24/01/2022 – 24/01/2026
Projects: Lumière × MYA, Growing up in Science
Skander Galand
Research field: International criminal law, international human rights law, international humanitarian law
Department: International and European Law; Faculty of Law
Read Skander's profile
MYA term: 01/02/2024 – 31/01/2028
Projects: Recognition & Rewards, Outreach
Therese Grohnert
Research field: Workplace learning for judgment and decision-making in professional service firms
Department: Educational Research & Development; School of Business and Economics
Read Therese's profile
Watch a video about her research
MYA term: 24/01/2022 – 24/01/2026
Projects: Interdisciplinary Grant, Work Pressure & Well Being
Šejla Imamović
Research field: European Human Rights Law, European and Comparative Constitutional Law
Department: Public Law; Faculty of Law
Read Šejla's profile
Watch a video about her research
MYA term: 01/02/2024 – 31/01/2028
Projects: Recognition & Rewards, Internationalization
Veerle Melotte
Research field: Enteric nervous system in colorectal cancer
Department: Pathology; Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences
Read Veerle's profile
Watch a video about her research
MYA term: 24/01/2022 – 24/01/2026
Projects: Recognition & Rewards, Training & Workshops
Michelle Moerel
Research field: Cognitive and computational neuroscience, auditory cortical and subcortical processing, functional MRI, ultra-high field MRI
Department: Maastricht Centre for Systems Biology; Faculty of Science and Engineering
Read Michelle's profile
Watch a video about her research
MYA term: 01/02/2024 – 31/01/2028
Projects: Interdisciplinary Grant, Growing up in Science
Irina Nikolova
Research field: Organizational change, digitalized workplaces, working conditions, employee adaptation, leadership, organizational climate, employee well-being
Department: Organisation,Strategy & Entrepreneurship; School of Business and Economics
Read Irina's profile
MYA term: 01/02/2024 – 31/01/2028
Projects: Recognition & Rewards, Work Pressure & Well Being
Gabriel Paiva Fonseca
Research field: Medical imaging, 3D printing, robotics, electronics
Department: Radiotherapy (GROW School for Oncology & Reproduction), MAASTRO Clinic; Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences
Read Gabriel's profile
MYA term: 01/02/2024 – 31/01/2028
Projects: Internationalization, Training & Workshops
Costas Papadopoulos
Research field: Digital humanities, archaeology, and heritage
Department: Literature & Art; Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Read Costas' profile
Watch a video about his research
MYA term: 24/01/2022 – 24/01/2026
Projects: Internationalization, Recognition & Rewards
Anna Schüth
Research field: Light-sheet microscopy, post-mortem human brain, prostate cancer
Department: Cognitive Neuroscience; Faculty of Psychology & Neuroscience
Read Anna's profile
Watch a video about her research
MYA term: 24/01/2022 – 24/01/2026
Projects: Work Pressure & Well Being, Outreach
Janny Stapel
Research field: Motor learning and motor development of children, computational modelling
Department: Cognitive Neuroscience, Development; Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience
Read Janny's profile
Watch a video about her research
MYA term: 01/02/2024 – 31/01/2028
Projects: Internationalization, Growing up in Science
Marijn ten Thij
Research field: Computational social science & network science
Department: Advanced Computing Sciences; Faculty of Science and Engineering
Read Marijn's profile
Watch a video about his research
MYA term: 01/04/2023 – 01/04/2027
Projects: Interdisciplinary Grant, Outreach
Donna Yates
Research field: Art and cultural heritage crime
Department: Criminal Law and Criminology, Faculty of Law
Read Donna's profile
Watch a video about her research
MYA term: 24/01/2022 – 24/01/2026
Projects: Internationalization, Recognition & Rewards
Tom van der Zanden
Research field: Data science, business and economics research, (parameterised) algorithms for network problems, graph algorithms
Department: Data Analytics and Digitalisation; School of Business and Economics
Read Tom's profile
Watch a video about his research
MYA term: 01/02/2024 – 31/01/2028
Projects: Internationalization, Interdisciplinary Grant