News

Computers are already capable of making independent decisions in familiar situations. But can they also apply knowledge to new facts? Mark Winands, the new professor of Machine Reasoning at the Department of Advanced Computing Sciences, develops computer programs that behave as rational agents.

State-owned sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), like that of FIFA World Cup host nation Qatar, are major shareholders in Western industrial and cultural assets. Is that a cause for concern? FASoS’ Adam Dixon has some answers.

When we asked alumnus Robbie Servais about his current occupation, he told us that he works as a football coach at K.R.C. Genk. An unusual career considering that he studied International Business at Maastricht University. Although Robbie's profession may seem like an unusual career choice, his studies at the School of Business and Economics did have a great influence on his professional career. 

From polarisation, misinformation and populists at home to geopolitical pressure from abroad: European democracy is feeling the strain. In an effort to uphold and expand one of its core values, the EU is financing a research project on the promotion of democracy. Professor Giselle Bosse, an Eastern Europe expert at FASoS, leads the work package ‘Democratisation and economic modernisation in authoritarian and hybrid regimes.’

This summer, Dr. Paola Diomede (Circular Chemical Engineering) received the William Crookes prize. The prize is awarded for major contributions in plasma physics.

They can do it already: deliver pizzas and medicines, inspect windows for cleanliness, monitor crowds. And all that autonomously, without a human driver. But how do you ensure that drones comply with laws and regulations? Professor of Private Law and technology expert Gijs van Dijck translates legal rules such that drones can understand and implement them.

The new dean of SBE, Marielle Heijltjes, is a product of Maastricht University. In 1985 she was among only the second cohort of business-economics students. “When I take office as SBE dean, I’ll be the first alum and the first woman in that role. I’ve always thought fondly of the school."

Teaching toddlers and pre-schoolers a healthy diet is not easy. But children are not preordained to dislike vegetables, say PhD candidates Anouk van den Brand and Britt van Belkom. The key to success: persist and reward.

After years of meaningful work at our university, Prof. Fons Coomans gave his farewell address to the Faculty of Law on 2 September, where he examined important human rights questions. How do they impact our daily lives? And how do they affect people on a personal level? Will future generations still have human rights?

Hannah Brodersen, currently working as a postdoc at the Université de Neuchâtel (Switzerland), was awarded the Prize for her Doctoral thesis ‘Longer than life: How the ICTY strengthened the rule of law in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia’.