Trainings & workshops

Past events

Media Training Dutch & English

Dutch Media Training 

On Tuesday 6 May, MYA organised two media training sessions in Dutch for UM researchers. We invited Vicky Van den Bergh, who works as an editor and journalist for the Belgian daily TV programme ‘Terzake’ (VRT/Canvas), to give and guide these training sessions. Terzake covers current news events and regularly invites academics to explain and contextualise topics covered in the news. 

In the first part of the training, Vicky showed examples of successful and less successful TV interviews. We discussed which elements contribute to a good and clear interview. In the second part, each participant practiced an interview with Vicky, based on their own research topic. Afterwards, we discussed what went well and where there was still room for improvement. Vicky gave several hands-on tips. She also explained what the structure of the interview questions usually is. When you prepare for a TV or radio interview, you have to carefully select three key points and some clear examples to make the content concrete. Furthermore, it is important to explain all terms in an understandable manner and to avoid jargon as much as possible.

English Media Training 

On Thursday 15 May, MYA organised a media training in English for UM researchers. The trainer was Mark van der Linde, communications adviser at UM and former journalist. The workshop consisted of three parts. The first part focused on improving written and visual communication. How do you tell the story? Second, what if a journalist calls you? How do you assure that they understand your research correctly? And, finally, the participants worked on an assignment.

Participants said they appreciated that MYA organises media training, because much support focuses on research or education and less on strengthening the connection with society. The media training made them more confident to connect with society—in this particular case: science communication via journalism. Mark zoomed in on practical nuances and shared insightful information, for instance, on the power relation between researcher and journalist. He outlined the expectations that are at play, such as: within what time is an interview usually planned? How much control do you have over the conversation? Do you ask for receiving the questions in advance or not? How common is it to view or adjust an article before publication? And so on.

Participants appreciated that the training helped them with tailoring how ideally they should approach the situation of talking with media and journalists, whether that is being contacted or making contact. They left feeling more prepared to work with the UM communications team.

Intercultural training

From 2020–2022, the Maastricht Young Academy offered a series of practical intercultural training for UM staff. Anyone working with people from different cultural backgrounds will notice that they have particular preferences when it comes styles of communication, timekeeping, giving negative feedback, and hierarchy. The training explored these differences and helped participants navigate different cultural styles in order to facilitate harmonious interaction and smoother productivity.

These small group workshops were led by Nava Hinrichs-Passuto, the Head of Executive Education and Capacity Building in Migration at the UNU-MERIT and the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance.

Active Bystander Training

Imagine witnessing unacceptable behaviour. Think of bullying, (sexual) harassment, belittling, discrimination etc. It’s hard to be the one to speak up. You might be afraid, or you don’t want to be the first to speak up, or maybe others may say you are overreacting. Yet, you know that matters like this can very well contribute to a toxic culture in the workplace and lead to socially unsafe work circumstances.

In collaboration with the Staff Career Center and Female Empowerment Maastricht, the Maastricht Young Academy offered a series of trainings for staff members wishing to contribute to a socially safe work and study environment by becoming an active bystander.

​​​​​​​Maastricht Migration Lecture series: Cross-nationally comparative research on racial and ethnic skill disparities: questions, findings, and pitfalls

The third lecture of the Maastricht Migration Lecture series, entitled "Cross-nationally comparative research on racial and ethnic skill disparities: questions, findings, and pitfalls" was given by Prof. Mark Levels on November 25th 2020. 

The lecture focussed on the racial and ethnic inequalities in skills and attitudes of children in primary and secondary education between 2000 and 2017, where it is seen that the successful participation of immigrant children and the children of immigrants in societies and labour market of western countries depends largely on their childhood experiences.

Prof. Mark Levels is a Professor of Health, Education and Work at Maastricht University. He is program director of the research program Health, Skills, and Inequality at the Research Centre for Education and the Labor Market (ROA) of Maastricht University, member of the ROA management team, a fellow of the Berlin Social Science Centre (WZB), a fellow of the Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE)of Maastricht University, and is a fellow of the Amsterdam Centre for Learning Analytics (ACLA). He teaches macrosociology at University College Maastricht (UCM).

Mark uses quantitative, qualitative and experimental sociological methods to study how individuals’ lives are shaped by government. He leads a large international research consortium that studies how governments can mediate the impact of AI and robotization on work, education, inequality, and welfare in Europe (TECHNEQUALITY). He is also one of the principal architects of the Nationaal Cohortonderzoek Onderwijs (NCO) and was appointed as one of the first national coordinators of the NCO with the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). The NCO is one of the largest and most comprehensive research efforts on education in the world. He also currently coordinates an international research group that studies individual and institutional determinants of youth inactivity in various countries (NEET).

Maastricht Migration Lecture series: Does Citizenship Matter?

The second lecture of the Maastricht Migration Lecture series, entitled "Does Citizenship Matter?’ was given by Prof. Maarten Vink on October 28th 2020. 

Does holding citizenship affect migrants’ life experience and, if so, how? In the lecture ‘Does Citizenship Matter?’, we discussed the controversial and complex relation between immigrant naturalization and life experiences within the host society. 

Maarten Vink is Professor of Political Sociology at the Department of Political Science, Maastricht University, the Netherlands. He leads the research project “Migrant Life Course and Legal Status Transition (MiLifeStatus)” funded by a Consolidator Grant of the European Research Council (2016-2021). He is one of the founders and was previously a Co-Director of the Maastricht Center for Citizenship, Migration and Development (MACIMIDE).

Maastricht Migration Lecture series: Migration in Libya: From transit route to containment

The first lecture of the Maastricht Migration Lecture series, entitled "Migration in Libya: From transit route to containment" was given by Dr Katie Kuschminder on September 30th 2020.

The lecture focussed on African and Middle Eastern migration flows to Libya and how the country’s posture toward these migrants have changed dramatically since the 2011 fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi. While Libya once was a destination for foreign workers drawn by a strong economy, post-civil war, migrants have used the country as a transit point to set off for Europe—though as European borders have hardened since the 2015-16 migration crisis, many have been stranded and contained in Libya through the EU's external action policies. At present, a human rights crisis is enduring in Libya for migrants. This presentation contextualized the changing situation in Libya for migrants from 2011 to the present. The presentation was informed by original interviews conducted with Nigerian and Eritrean migrants that travelled through Libya from 2014-2016 and demonstrated the different situations faced by migrants in Libya.

Dr Katie Kuschminder is an Assistant Professor at UNU-MERIT / Maastricht University. Katie's main research interests are in the areas of return and reintegration, irregular migrants journeys and migration governance. Katie has led migration projects for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, German Development Cooperation, ILO, IOM, NWO and WODC. Currently, she is a Work-Package Lead on the H2020 Admigov project. In 2016 she was awarded a Rubicon Grant from the NWO and completed a two-year fellowship at the European University Institute.

Numbers don't lie: lecture by Ionica Smeets on 25 March 2019

At the invitation of the MYA, mathematician and professor of science communication, Ionica Smeets, gave a lecture on March 25th 2019 called "Ionica Smeets, Numbers don’t lie, in which she took the audience on a journey of discovery through the world of misleading figures and graphs.

Read the interview with Ionica Smeets.

Watch the summary of her lecture (video).