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Jos Smits receives Maastricht University Medallion of Honour

At Prof Jos Smits’s farewell symposium on Thursday 7 December, the President of Maastricht University, Martin Paul, awarded him the UM Medallion of Honour in recognition of his exceptional contributions to growing UM’s reputation and success. Smits laid the foundation for the Centre to Research Innovation and Policy (CRISP) and later served as its director. He played an active role in establishing provincial, national and international initiatives, knowledge networks and research facilities.
 

UM Medal of Honour for Jos Smits


Jos Smits joined UM in 1976 as a biomedical scientist and held various offices within the Faculty of Health Medicine and Life Sciences (FHML): he chaired the Board of Examiners and the Department of Pharmacology and later acted as Vice-Dean of the faculty.

Networks
As our liaison with the province of Limburg, he has strengthened our position in the region. He has actively contributed to the genesis of the Limburg Invests in its Knowledge Economy (LINK) initiatives and other interregional knowledge projects. On a national level, he was instrumental in securing our place on the roadmap for technical infrastructure. Internationally, he enhanced our reputation in the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) Health and the Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) Innofood. His work in India deserves special mention: he has worked tirelessly to establish contacts with more than 20 organisations and built very good relations with the Dutch embassy.

Distinction
The UM Medallion is bestowed upon distinguished UM employees who have made an outstanding contribution to the reputation and development of our university. The UM Medallion is awarded upon retirement.

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