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MSA Nour’s mission is to represent and unite all the Muslim (followers of the Islam religion) students of Maastricht. We aim to contribute to their academic and religious identity. Secondly, we aspire to form a bridge between the Muslim and non-Muslim students, to create a multicultural community where everyone feels welcome, can learn from each other and most importantly, make new friends! MSA Nour is founded on 10 March 2019.

 

Mission

  • For all students in Maastricht, by students in Maastricht

  • To bring together the (international) Muslim community in Maastricht

  • To learn about each other's cultures, overcoming prejudices and stereotypes

  • To be a place for open discussion and debate, with respect, dignity and tolerance for the other

  • To be a place to learn about Islam and the Arabic language

  • To be a warm and safe harbour for all who are in need for a listening ear

  • To be a place for those who are ready to make life-lasting friendships

Contact MSA Nour

MSA Nour

Who are we?

We are the African-Caribbean Maastricht University Society. Founded in 2017, we strive to create a community for students of African and Caribbean descent where all opinions and topics matter. 

Mission

We strive to create a community where:
-    The diversity in our cultures can be celebrated and the differences and similarities between our cultures can be discovered. Where our food, art, music and humour can flourish. 
-    Experiences and daily struggles can openly and unapologetically be discussed and laughed about. Where meaningful relationships can be established/enhanced and where pertinent and sensitive topics can be safely discussed. 
-    We get to learn more about ourselves by involving in both intellectual and social discussions.
 

Contact

Board 

  • President – Hillmann Batuo, Fourth year Medical Student at FHML.
  • Vice President & Treasurer - Elinice Adeyemi, Second Year European Law, at the European Law School.
  • Secretary - Thandiwe Mutua, Third Year Economics & Business Economics student at SBE. 
  • BSM representative - Eugenia Gyamfi, Second Year European Law, at the European Law School
  • Public Relations officer - Serina Taylor, Second Year European Law, at the European Law School

Advisory Board 

  • Aincre Maame-Fosua Evans, teaching fellow at UCM
  • Shula Mensah, M.Sc International Business: Strategic Marketing
  • Meagan Bruma, LL.M candidate in International Laws

Contact
If you would like to contribute to our cause or wish to become an active member, send an email to: acmus@maastrichtuniversity.nl

Also feel free to follow us on Facebook page, Facebook group, Instagram, or LinkedIn

Download and print the colouring page and send it before 1 February 2021 to:

Maastricht University
D&I Office - Colouring competition
Antwoordnummer 2
6200 VB Maastricht

Claudia van Oppen (Institute Manager)

Dorina Claessens (Office Manager)

Miriam Knoops (Communications Assistant)

Patrick van Schoubroeck (Financial Administrator)

Alex Malic (Data Architect)

Nuno Silva Nunes (Data Science Developer)

Johan van Soest (Postdoctoral Researcher)

Karen Zegers (Postdoctoral Researcher)

Lianne Ippel (Postdoctoral Researcher)

Arif Yilmaz (Researcher)

Nadine Rouleaux (PhD student)

Andine Havelange (Student Assistant)

Anh Tran (Student Assistant)

Stuti Nayak (Student Assistant)

Aakanksha Sanctis (Intern)

Hidde van Scherpenseel (Intern)

Krist Shingjergji (Intern)

Natalia Alyabyeva (Office Manager)

Michael Erard (Data Science Funding Specialist and Grant Writer)

Andreea Grigoriu (PhD Student)

Binosha Weerarathna (Data Science Engineer)

Tamara Aroustamova (Office Manager)

Ricardo de Miranda Azevedo (Postdoctoral Researcher)

Tim Hendriks (Data Science Developer)

Vikas Jaiman (Postdoctoral Researcher)

Carlos Utrilla Guerrero (Data Scientist)

Kody Moodley (Postdoctoral Researcher)

Pedro Hernández Serrano (Research Data Scientist)

Parveen Kumar (Researcher)

Arif Yilmaz (Postdoctoral Researcher)

Vincent Emonet (Engineering)

Lars Jacobs (Support Staff)

Thales Bertaglia (PhD Candidate)

Jinzhou Yang (PhD Candidate)

There are many organisations at UM and in Maastricht that can bring communities together through events, initiatives and projects. Some of these are actively involved in cherishing diversity and making UM more inclusive.

At this page you can find out more about these organisations: who they represent, what they offer, and how you can get involved.

 

ACMUS

The Afro-Caribbean Maastricht University Society provides an intercultural platform for all students of African-Caribbean heritage or otherwise in affiliation with the African-Caribbean heritage and culture.

 Follow ACMUS' Instagram 

 Follow ACMUS' Facebook Page 

ACMUS

MSA Nour

MSA Nour’s mission is to represent and unite all the Muslim students and contribute to their academic and religious identity.

 

 Follow MSA Nour's Instagram 

 Follow MSA Nour's Facebook Page 

MSA Nour

Other student organisations

Organisations listed here are ones we work with regularly. Here you can find a list of all UM student organisations.

Researchers, scientific staff, and associates at IDS have a range of domain knowledge, expertise with data science processes, and experience communicating about data science. 

For internships, collaborations and other questions, please contact info-ids@maastrichtuniversity.nl  

Domains

  • Ethics, Law and Society
  • Health and wellbeing
    •   Personalised Medicine
    •   Drug discovery
    •   Neuroscience and Mental Health
  • Life Sciences
  • Agrifood systems and food security
  • Environment
  • Finance
  • Education

Cross-cutting Themes

  • Responsible data science by design
  • FAIR data and services
  • Sustainability

Expertise

  • Wearables and sensors 
  • Machine learning 
  • Semantic Web 
  • Linked Data
  • Data Integration
  • Ontologies
  • Knowledge graphs
  • Natural Language Processing
  • Blockchain-based systems 
  • Privacy-preserving technologies 
  • User interfaces and visualisation
  • Recommendation systems 
  • Policy decision support systems

Domain Informatics

  • Bioinformatics
  • Geoinformatics
  • Toxicogenomics
  • Clinical Data Science
    • Medical Imaging
    • Neuroinformatics
  • Computational Legal Decision Making

Communications

  • Community building and outreach
  • Targeted data science education
  • Online education
  • Interdisciplinary collaboration 
  • Scientific communication 
  • Policy Briefs

UM’s D&I Office is committed to nurturing an inclusive culture. As one of the most international universities in Europe, we are aware and proud that our strength lies in diversity. We strive to go far beyond quotas and compliance: we are determined to foster an environment in which everyone feels welcome and valued. 

 

We have two main aims:

  • Diversifying employee and student population
  • Creating an inclusive atmosphere in which all talents and competencies can be mobilised for the well-being of UM community members and for the well-being of the organisation itself

In order to achieve these aims, the D&I Office's work covers four core areas:

 

Four Pillars:

Attracting and Retaining Talent

This pillar deals with attracting a more diverse group of administrative and academic staff as well as students. We aim to broaden our conceptualisation of talent in recruitment and retention, and provide an environment where students and staff can mature in our organisation. 

Goals:

  • Install an inclusive recruitment process that attracts diverse talent
  • Rethink career development efforts for all groups
  • Live up to raised expectations to retain talents

Actions:

Develop an inclusive recruitment script that review every part of the recruitment cycle. Get your vacancy texts checked by sending it to: checkmyvacancy@maastrichtuniversity.nl 
Recognition and Reward of diverse talents to grow in organization
Showcasing UM’s D&I efforts and results in student/staff recruitment
Present UM Disability policy
Pay attention to vulnerable student groups (e.g. First Generation Students) 

Fostering Cultural Change

Fostering cultural change is essential as it is the only way to sustainably become inclusive. This includes activities that encourage, develop and raise awareness for our diversity and inclusivity values.

Goals:

  • Support and recognize bottom-up initiatives from students and staff
  • Understand hurdles and opportunities in creating an inclusive culture
  • Broadly integrate D&I perspective in UM education
  • Bring people together to discuss D&I matters
  • Exchange knowledge and experiences on regional, national and international level

Actions:

D&I Grants
Support for D&I student/staff organizations
Regular student and employee D&I monitoring
Diversify curricula
Include D&I in Intended Learning Outcomes of BA and MA programmes
Diversity Day, FEM symposia and more events
External contacts and audits

Strengthening Diversity Competencies

All staff has to be diversity sensitive to successfully create an inclusive UM environment. The importance of inclusion needs to be recognised and institutionalised in our existing quality cycles (student evaluations, UTQ portfolio, yearly talks). Both staff and students need the skills to succesfully navigate in UM's diverse academic environment. 

Goals:

  • Strengthen D&I competencies within UM community
  • Include D&I competences in existing structures and quality cycles

Actions:

Offer relevant D&I trainings for students, teachers, managers
Include D&I into University Teaching Qualification, Continued Professional Development
Consider D&I competencies in yearly talks of teachers and managers
Evaluate tutors and students on D&I competencies in the classroom

Making Family- and Life-Phase Friendly HR and Education Policies

UM can offer more equity in career development, attract a more diverse pool of talent, and increase employee satisfaction and career sustainability by recognising and facilitating the care responsibilities of UM community members. By appreciating different ways of life, different needs at different moments in life and by creating the conditions for diverging career models, UM assures the possibilities of education or career alongside private responsibilities.

Goals:

  • Support members of the UM community to combine their work/study with caring responsibilities
  • Position UM as a family-friendly and caring university

Actions:

Identify gaps in the current provisions for students and staff with caring responsibilities and work to close these (based on best practices from within UM but also other universities)
Collect and communicate information about care topics
Ensure adequate facilities at UM (e.g. lactation- and resting rooms)
Establish a peer support network for students and staff
Ensure good handling of care topics by managers
Investigate options for childcare
Develop proposals for services/provisions e.g. dual careers programme

Core Areas

Strategy documents

Our policies are based on the strategy documents below:

 Review report Diversity & Inclusivity at UM | 2018-2023
 D&I 2020-2023
 Diversity at the Core
 Community at the Core
 UM Cares Objectives Agreement

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A year in Maastricht is full of both Dutch, and Maastricht-specific events and traditions.

Here’s a list of just some of the things you will come across throughout the year. For some dates, Maastricht University is closed. Also local businesses and stores might have adjusted opening hours and public transport schedules may change.

5 December: Sinterklaas

In mid-November, cities welcome Sinterklaas (the Dutch version of Saint Nicholas) and his helpers known as Petes as they arrive on a steamboat. Streets are filled with children and parades are common at this time. The actual celebration of Sinterklaas takes place on the 5th of December where families often gather to exchange gifts and enjoy pepernoten and kruidnoten (little gingerbread biscuits) and chocolate letters. 

Sinterklaas’ helpers are called Petes. Traditionally, these have been ‘Zwarte Piet’, i.e. Black Pete, meaning that they are portrayed using blackface as well as racially stereotyping facial features and accessories. This tradition has been challenged as being racist  and is beginning to change. Increasingly ‘roetveegpieten’ (Petes with smudges in their faces, from climbing down chimneys to deliver gifts to children) appear instead. 

 Trigger warning: please note that you may still see people in blackface or racialized decorations around town during the Sinterklaas period.

At UM, the character of 'Zwarte Piet' is not welcome. This policy is communicated to all members of our community. If you encounter 'Zwarte Piet' at UM, please immediately get in touch with diversity@maastrichtuniversity.nl. 

If you are a target of racial discrimination at UM, you can file a complaint at the Complaints Service Point.

If you experience racial discrimination elsewhere, you can contact ADV-Limburg (Anti-Discimination Platform Limburg). If you highlight the text and click 'vertalen' you can choose your preferred language. If you need help filing a report, please get in touch.

For personal support contact the UM confidential advisors for students or staff.

1st Monday of the month: sirens at noon

At noon on the first Monday of each month, national sirens sound for one minute and twenty six seconds. These are heard all across the country and are a scheduled test to ensure that the sirens are working, without alarming the citizens and taking them by surprise. Should the sirens sound at another time, you should go indoors and close all windows and doors. If your phone number is registered, you will also get a text and alarm sound with information from the Government. The sirens are never tested on a national or religious holiday or Remembrance Day, even if they fall on the first Monday in the month.

31 December: New Years' Eve

Amongst celebrations with friends and family, New Years'Eve is the one time of the year that people are permitted to set off their own fireworks! Throughout the year this is limited to professionals, but while ringing in the New Year, it is common for the sky to be filled with bright lights and sounds all across the country. Most fireworks will occur around midnight and continue for an hour or more. Please be aware that there are also occasional fireworks earlier this day. Moreover, in the near future it might get to the point that, by law, only professionals are permitted to set fireworks.

February: Carnival

Carnival is a big event for southern cities, and Maastricht does not miss out on this! For three days in February (or early March) the people of Maastricht gather to celebrate Carnival together, dressing up in colourful costumes and make-up, participating in parades, brass bands, singing songs and drinking beer (and everything else really) all around the city. This is such a big event that shops (other than supermarkets and Carnival shops) all close. Schools also close for the week, and at UM no education is planned during this time either.

The Carnival season is officially opened on 11 November, once again this is celebrated with parades, brass bands, and partying around the city.

For more information about Carnival in Maastricht check out the special pages of municipality of Maastricht.

27 April: King's Day

King’s Day is a national holiday marking the King’s birthday. All over the country, people take part in Koningsdag wearing orange or red, white and blue clothing, visiting flea markets in parks (vrijmarkt), going to concerts and local gatherings. As with Carnival, beer is often the drink of choice for King’s Day celebrations. 

4 + 5 May: National Remembrance and Liberation Day

On this National Remembrance day, citizens observe 2 minutes of silence at 8pm, and flags are flown at half-mast from 6pm until sunset. It commemorates all civilians and members of the armed forces of the Kingdom of the Netherlands who have died in wars or peacekeeping missions since the beginning of the Second World War. 

On Liberation day the Dutch celebrate their freedom. Although this is only a national holiday with all shops beings closed every five years (last one was on 2020), UM is always closed on Liberation Day. 

For more information please see the 4 en 5 mei website. (right click to translate to English)

André Rieu

André Rieu is arguably Maastricht’s biggest export. Every summer, the Vrijthof Square becomes the concert venue for him and his orchestra for several weeks. During this time, Maastricht attracts crowds from all across the globe. The city becomes very busy and you will get a taste of his music in shops and restaurants. You can even overhear the concert (and the rehearsals) while walking through the streets of Maastricht in the evenings or while sitting on your sofa, if you happen to live close to the Vrijthof.

Please note that, due to road closures in the city centre, bus routes are redirected. Please check 9292.nl or ns.nl in order to plan your journey.

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