News & stories

Recently we received the sad news that on January 6, 2022 Ine Kuppen passed away at the age of 77. Ine was considered 'the mother of alumni'.

Her career at UM started as a secretary in 1974 when she joined the committee that laid the foundations for FHML. She worked at many places within the UM, for example at Legal Affairs and Marketing & Communication, after which she became the first alumni coordinator at UM. Her former colleagues call her 'A treasure of a person, a real connector'. How much she was appreciated was also reflected when she was named Employee of the Year.

Ine stood at the basis of UM's alumni policy and she co-initiated the alumni circles that now count more than 30 worldwide circles, from London to Amsterdam to Singapore. She maintained a lot of contact with UM alumni and meant a lot to them. Ine knew first-generation alumni just as well as the recent graduates, because she worked at UM for more than 37 years. She believed that alumni should always feel welcome and had good contact with many alumni. The importance of ambassadorship of the alumni for UM was recognized by her.  

In 2011, she said goodbye to UM. During her retirement Ine spent a lot of time with her two grandchildren, participated in spinning classes, was a member of a film club, culture club and French club and started reading more.

Maastricht University, the UM Alumni Office and the UM alumni community wish her loved ones a lot of strength in coping with her loss.

In this new series, we ‘travel through time’ with UM alumni through their working lives. What was their childhood ambition, where are they working now and where do they see themselves in 10 years’ time? This time we speak with Rick Maijer, graduate of the master’s in European Public Affairs at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. A year ago, he took the plunge and became an adviser on EU public affairs for the Province of Limburg.

Discover the stories behind UM alumni businesses, special projects, creative hobbies, and so on. Time to get inspired! Today we lift the curtain on Es Refugi, an organisation in Palma helping homeless people and run by Toni Cañellas, alumnus of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. What is his story?

Read the spring newsletter for UM alumni via the link below. 

Meet the UM alumni who combine their work with an extracurricular activity such as a special hobby, a creative project or even their own company. Today we look behind the scenes at Banana Business, which has developed a new food product derived from banana peels. One of the founders is Minke ter Hedde, bachelor’s graduate of the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience and master’s student at the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences. Here she discusses food waste, her plans for the future and — of course — bananas.

Discover the stories behind UM alumni businesses, creative projects, special hobbies, and so on. Time to get inspired! Today we lift the curtain on Fixed Gear Coffee, a coffee shop brand run by Maastricht University alumni and lovers Brian Megens and Shivani Achrekar. They talk about good coffee, corona challenges and flavourful future plans.

The UM Alumni Office would like to know your wishes, interests, values and expectations. Therefore, we ask you to fill in a short survey. With your input, we are able to improve our services for you and to bring the UM alumni community closer together. We only need 10 minutes of your time. The UM Alumni Office is raffling 3 iPads and 5 UM sweaters among all participants!

For the second survey, see the next news article.

If you graduated in the years 2009-2010, 2014-2015 or 2018-2019, you can expect an invitation letter and/or e-mail, which asks you to participate in the UM survey on alumni and the labour market. You can also join directly via the link below. Your input is used during open days. Moreover, all answers may lead to new policy decisions. Maastricht University is raffling UM sweaters among all participants.

For the first survey, see the previous news article.

The programme of Studium Generale for September-October is complete! You can find information about all lectures and lecture series on their website. A big part of the programme will be offered live to a small audience. Almost everything will also be available online. 

Read the autumn newsletter for UM alumni via the link below. 

In this new series, we ‘travel through time’ with UM alumni through their working lives. What was their childhood ambition, where are they working now and where do they see themselves in 10 years’ time? This time: Lydia Liu (Chinese name: Yueying Liu), a graduate from China who decided to stay in the Netherlands after her studies...

Read the summer newsletter for UM alumni via the link below. 

In this new column, we ‘travel in time’ with UM alumni through their working lives. As children, what did they want to be when they grew up? Where do they currently work? And where do they see themselves in 10 years? This time: Saskia Kalb, alumna of the School of Business and Economics. Her financial career was off to a flying start, but a burnout eventually changed her life...

Meet the UM alumni who combine their work with an extracurricular activity such as a special hobby, a creative project, and so on. Today we lift the curtain on the successful movement Unleash Today, empowering young women leaving university and entering their first workplace. It was founded by alumni Kate Surala and Sarah Wagner. Kate tells you more about it.

In this new series, we ‘travel through time’ with UM alumni through their working lives. What was their childhood ambition, where are they working now and where do they see themselves in 10 years’ time? Meet Vincent Heuts, graduate of the Faculty of Law, who ultimately chose adventure!

We have received so many alumni stories and corona crisis initiatives via e-mail! In the upcoming weeks, we will share some examples: blogs, vlogs, websites, webinars, and so on. You can find them on our Facebook, Instagram and/or LinkedIn account.

Some stories also appeared in a special corona newsletter - read it via the link below.

Do you want to increase your knowledge on a certain subject? Or do you want to gain new (professional) skills? Apply for an online course at Maastricht University's Maastricht Summer School! For instance, participate in a course about climate change, data science, world politics, leadership, neuropsychology
...or choose another topic! The application deadline is 8 June 2020.

In the ‘For Each Other' campaign, the University Fund Limburg/SWOL is seeking contributions to four special UM projects: scholarships for disadvantaged students, an app for research on women with chronic pain, a plastic recycling workshop and an animal experience room for hospitalised children. Are you there For Each Other, too?

Did you graduate 1.5, 5 or 10 years ago from a master's programme of Maastricht University? Then please take a few minutes to fill in the following survey. Your input helps us to monitor the connection of our master’s programmes with the labour market.

Meet the UM alumni who combine their work with an extracurricular activity such as a special hobby, a creative project or even their own company. Today we lift the curtain on the ‘double life’ of Boukje Amalo, graduate of the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences. She is a doctor, a trainee specialist in insurance medicine, and a passionate salsa dancer and teacher.

Read the autumn newsletter for UM alumni via the link below. 

Did you graduate less than a year ago? Internships in the Valley matches entrepreneurial students and young alumni with internship positions at innovative startups and established corporations in the Bay Area, California. A guaranteed kick-start of your career! Apply online before 20 December 2019.

On 14 November, Professor Angelique de Rijk gave in Herten an interesting lecture about work pressure and burn-out prevention. Click on the link below for the slides of this lecture (in Dutch). 

Greetings from sunny Maastricht! Read the Summer newsletter for UM alumni via the link below. 

In a new series of Maastricht University's newspaper Observant, alumni talk about what came true of their student dreams. For example, read the story of Frouke, 'delivering 265 babies in 7 years'. (Photo credits: Observant)

On Sunday the 6th of October 2019, the first edition of Tour de Dumoulin will take place. There will be 3 challenging routes organised by Tom. UM alumni have the possibility to participate in this organised tour with a 50% discount.

Calling all athletic alumni from Maastricht University! Get your tracksuit bottoms and running shoes out of the closet because on 6 October 2019, UM will participate in the Brussels marathon (full, half or 6,5 km) as team ‘Running4Research’. The runners are raising money for two special projects at UM. Do you want to run with us? Or do you want to support us in a different way - because that's possible, too!

Do you want to combine pleasure and learning this summer? These courses of Maastricht University offer new knowledge, inspiration, experiences and social contacts – all under the Maastricht sun.

Every year, Maastricht University surveys the labour market position of its alumni. We execute this investigation among master alumni who graduated 1, respectively 5 and 10 years ago. The surveys provide for an interesting picture of the transition into the labour market of our graduates. Read some remarkable findings of the 2018 edition here! Please scroll down on the new web page.

Visit the UM Alumni Day on Saturday, 7 September 2019 for a day full of fun, lectures, stories, networks, former classmates, professors, music, snacks, drinks ... and more! The official invitation will follow at the beginning of July; alumni Sarah-Maria and Gijs give you a peak behind the scenes.

What are your plans this summer? Do you want to combine pleasure and learning, join us in Maastricht from 24-26 July for an exciting action learning programme: Maastricht Summer Experience. Service Science Factory | UMIO | Maastricht University offers a unique experience which will give you the insights, tools and mind-set you need to apply service design thinking to your own business challenges. There is also plenty time to enjoy the culture, history and culinary delights of Maastricht again. Alumni receive a discount of € 200.

Some friendships are temporary, but the friendship of UM alumni Iris, Jolein, Liva, Renate, Jana and Sarah is definitely not. They have been good friends since the first week of their bachelor's programme in Arts and Culture at Maastricht University. In this article, Sarah discusses Maastricht, memories from their studies and the secret behind close friendship.