The UMagazine provides insight into the most important developments and achievements in education and research at Maastricht University. Three times a year, in February, June and October, a printed UMagazine is issued.

The February edition includes a portrait of Cengiz Akbulut, brand-new laboratory head of the new Stem Cell Research University Maastricht (SCRUM). Born and raised in a multicultural area of London, he has been living in Maastricht since the end of 2017. A conversation about minorities, the origins of life and his love of Swing dancing.

Research by Carla Haelermans and Patrick Bijsmans on the International Classroom shows, among other things, that students thrive best in a group with more than three nationalities. Haelermans: “Whether four or eight nationalities are represented, the study results and personal experiences—for the Dutch and international students alike—barely deviate from the usual picture. This also undermines the idea that some international students benefit disproportionately from English as the language of instruction.”

Also, an interview with Lilian Tsourdi on how to improve both the design and implementation of EU immigration and asylum legislation. “There are many problems with funding and implementation,” she concludes, “but more than anything, we need a better designed legal and policy framework. Globally and within the EU, we need to rethink solidarity.”

Hannes Rusch is the epitome of an interdisciplinary researcher. He studied mathematics and philosophy and obtained a PhD in biology before making a side-step into economics, in which he obtained a second doctorate. All this in order to investigate what drives people, especially how situations of exploitation arise.

This time, Soulkitchen offers a peek into the kitchen of Burak Can born and raised in Adana in Turkey. And alum Lea Vink found her feet in Vienna. Professionally, she is taking new steps at the crossroads of aviation and organisational psychology. And on a personal level, luck has smiled on her since her transition from man to woman.

This and much more in the February issue of UMagazine!