The R&R programme within UM

UM wants to ensure everyone has a fulfilling career in which their capabilities are used, seen and recognised by others – by students, peers and supervisors. By allowing diverse sets of talents to thrive, we will increase our ability to achieve excellence in the key areas of research, education, impact, leadership and patient care. We believe letting our staff flourish through recognition of their talents will foster a challenging work environment and increase job satisfaction. 

The new approach towards R&R requires a culture change, a change in mindset and leadership that transcends human resource management, organisational structures and quality assurance. Such a change needs national and international efforts to ensure alignment throughout academia. We believe the new way of thinking about academic careers must be built upon: 

• Diversified career paths 
  We can enable greater diversity in career paths and profiles by recognising and rewarding more diversity in competencies and talents. Within a team, department or faculty, the different profiles and backgrounds should be coherently integrated. The diversification and vitalisation of careers allows us to make better use of the natural talents and intrinsic motivation of academics. 
• Personal growth 
  In this new approach, personal growth is not necessarily defined as reaching a higher academic position. It is also about learning new skills, having the opportunity to excel in the things one is good at and being appreciated for one’s contributions. This type of personal growth not only increases job satisfaction but contributes to feelings of involvement and commitment. 
• Individual and organisational needs 
  It is important to emphasise that having more diversified career paths does not mean anything goes. To ensure a healthy organisation, there must be a balance between the needs of the organisation and the ambitions of the individuals in the community. Therefore, academics should be aware that pursuing a career at UM will have its limitations, just as it does within any organisation.  

Also check out the UM Career Policy and Compass.

UM’s organisational culture and identity

UM has always been ambitious in the areas of innovative small-scale education and interdisciplinary research with demonstrable societal impact. UM’s organisational culture is best described using several key concepts. 

• Academic citizenship, the UM community exemplifies the concept of academic citizenship. 
• Educational approach, since its inception, UM has been shaped by its focus on innovative, student-centred education. 
• Interdisciplinary research, research at UM is mission-driven, and its integration of multiple disciplines helps to contribute to solving regional and international challenges. 
• Societal impact, from the founding of the university in 1976, UM has been a vehicle for the economic and intellectual development of the Limburg region and beyond. 
• MUMC+ partnership, our strong partnership with the MUMC+ academic hospital is one of the pillars of our embedment in the local community. 
• Diversity and inclusivity, UM strives to go well beyond quotas and compliance; we are determined to foster an environment in which everyone is and feels welcome. 
• Leadership, well-developed leadership is a precondition to success and therefore considered a key area in itself. 

Applying UM’s core values: expectations and examples for staff

Our core values derive directly from our mission and the vision of the R&R programme. 
For academic staff, examples are included in the R&R academic profiles. View the different academic profiles on the UM Career Policy & Compass page.

Examples of evidence and behaviours other university staff could display when contributing to the UM core values include: 

Academic citizenship 

• Contribute to the wider civic mission of the university. 
• Demonstrate efforts in making the university an inclusive environment valuing diversity. 
• Set up programmes to involve the community in the university. 
• Participate in (internal or external) committees or taskforces; organise team events etc. 

 
Personal/professional leadership 

• Demonstrate self-reflection and personal development (feedback results). 
• Regularly request feedback from students, colleagues and others. 
• Effective communication (online and offline). 
• Identify the necessary tasks and prioritise them to develop an individual schedule and autonomously perform the work, ensuring that the requirements are met. 
• Improvement of processes and procedures. 
• Take the lead among peers in a project.  
• Provide mentorship to others. 
• Provide constructive feedback to help others learn.  
• Organise feedback sessions. 
• Take part in leadership training and put skills learned to use. 
• Demonstrate efforts in making the university an inclusive environment valuing diversity. 
• Participate in (internal or external) committees, think tanks, coaching activities or engaging in other forms of talent development etc. 

Team performance 

• Work confidently within a group with each doing their part in the service of the whole. 
• Co-creation with others. 
• Collaborate with others outside of the standard circle (outside of your team, department, or faculty/service centre) etc. 

Impact & Open Science 

• Make your work relevant to society. 
• Produce, store and (re)use scientific data based on FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) principles, making data as open as possible, and as closed as necessary.  
• Use open-source software. 
• Use Open Access resources. 
• Set up and participate in Open Science events. 
• Educate about the application of FAIR principles. 
• Educate about the importance of Open Science etc.