Uni-Life, or how to make the most of your student life

In 2018, two young students at Erasmus University Rotterdam noticed that many students were missing out on student life because they had no overview of all the social activities on campus. They decided to come up with a solution and created a student-to-student platform, called Uni-Life, at their own university. Within only a few months, they had already helped thousands of students discover their university life like never before. Their platform expanded quickly and they partnered up with other universities in the Netherlands.  Now, Uni-Life collaborates with some of the biggest and highest-rated universities in Europe. And of course, Maastricht University is amongst them. Hannariin Lamp, master’s student Media Studies: Digital Cultures and Uni-Life Ambassador at UM, tells us all about it.

How does Uni-Life work and what does it do?

Uni-Life is an app you download on your phone. It shows you almost all events, associations, student initiatives and more at UM. That way, you can easily see what’s going on or coming up on campus. Almost all associations in Maastricht are now using the app. This means you can continuously get information about them, follow their page and view updates about sign-up dates or cool events. Uni-Life has a Tinder-like feature, where you swipe events to the left or right, indicating what you like and don’t like. The app saves your preferences and even sends you a reminder if you wish: ‘Today, this event is happening, perhaps you want to go.’ You know what’s going on all the time and that can make you more active as a student and as a member of the student community.”

Is it possible to create your own communities in Uni-Life?

“Yes, we have this very practical community feature. Say, for instance, you are an international student in Maastricht and you would like to meet compatriots on campus. Then, you create a community for your fellow countrymen, propose it to us at Uni-Life, we check if it is appropriate and when it is, we approve it. From then on, you have your own country community in Maastricht. We create a WhatsApp group for your community, so you can automatically start mingling with each other and chat. But there’s more than nationalities when it comes to communities. We also have a very popular Formula 1 and Maastricht Foodies community. Communities can be about art, music, film, theatre, artists, going out, whatever you like.  When you arrive alone in a new city, you long to meet people with similar interests. This is how you find them.”

Hannariin Lamp

Hannariin Lamp
Master’s student Media Studies: Digital Cultures, and Uni-Life Ambassador at UM

“What makes UM appealing as a place to study, includes the active student life driven by the many student organizations the city has to offer. The variety of events offer our students the opportunity to grow a network, to develop themselves professionally as well as personally and of course to get to know fellow students, feel at home in Maastricht and have fun. Uni-Life brings all these events together in one overview which makes it easy for students to check what is happening and which events they would like to attend, based on their personal interests.  Apart from the events overview, Uni-Life also offers the community building aspect. Students can create and join communities: small-scale, student led initiatives that they can set up themselves in the app to host meetups, chat and connect with fellow students. We think this makes Uni-Life a great opportunity to improve the connection between students, UM and the city of Maastricht.”

"Thanks to Uni-Life, a group chat of Belgian people could be created through which I met some wonderful people whom I’ll be able to see for the rest of my life. A must-have app to upgrade your social life, especially when you’re studying abroad and want to meet lots of new friends!"

Amber | UM student

unilife

How about individual contact?

“If you are a new student and you would like to find a buddy, someone who can show you around and introduce you to the Maastricht student life, there is this feature in our app as well. So, you can request it and we find a match for you. People can also volunteer to become a buddy. This means that everyone can offer their help in guiding a new student through the student life in Maastricht. We don’t want anyone to be left alone and this is a good solution.”

Are there any costs involved when you are a student?

“The student pays nothing. Uni-Life is free for students and for associations. We have a contract with UM, because for UM, Uni-Life is a support tool to create a greater sense of community.”

Can people contact you as the UM Uni-Life ambassador?

“Yes, I am here to talk to students about the app, communicate with associations, make our mission known, and explain how everyone can make the best use of Uni-Life. And of course, I try to make students become active here, for example by creating their own communities. If someone wants to ask me something about the use, has a cool plan for a community or an idea to improve the Uni-Life app, then I am here for that.”

Want to know more about Uni-Life?
Send an email to Hannariin: hannariin@uni-life.nl
Here, you can download the Uni-Life app.

More news

"Uni-Life for me is the perfect events planner for student life that fills itself! It shows you the best that student life has to offer here in Maastricht."

Annica | UM student

Also read

  • Picture an audience of some 4,000 people, all staring at a big screen presenting the nominees. The suspense builds. “And the award goes to ... ” The annual iGEM competition in Paris could just as well be called the Oscars of Synthetic Biology. Last November, the UM student team SublimeStone came...

  • Finding your way as a student in a new town can feel lonely. Uni-Life is a platform that brings students together. In the app, you can find all the events and activities that take place at Maastricht University. There are group chats for students with similar interests, the possibility to organise...

  • Do you want to learn new things or earn additional ECTS credits? Try the Maastricht Summer School. From June through September, you can choose from various courses in the fields of arts & culture, business & economics, law & politics, sciences and social sciences. The Maastricht Summer School also...