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FASoS Research Institute

Moving boundaries, bridging disciplines

The research institute of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS) at Maastricht University studies societies and cultures as they unfolded during the modern and contemporary era in a radically interdisciplinary manner. We analyse the interrelationships of Europeanisation, globalisation, scientific and technological development, political change and cultural innovation. We are interested in how today’s societies cope with and reflect these challenges in various ways. These could be artistic practices and practices of remembrance as well as specific forms of governance and political integration as well as strategies for managing knowledge, technologies and risks. While our research starts from today’s problems, we have a strong interest in how the modern world came to be.

Research

To nurture and maintain this kind of innovative, interdisciplinary research, the research institute of FASoS has created a matrix organisational structure. Its backbone are four distinct research programmes, each of which is composed by an interdisciplinary team of researchers. While the research programmes form the core of the research activities at FASoS, the faculty also has five centres as specific research hubs and to facilitate interaction with external academic partners and societal stakeholders. Together, the research programmes and the research centres provide a framework that facilitates flexibility, networking, and mobility beyond disciplinary boundaries.

News

Bringing research to the kitchen table

  • Researchers
Through collaboration with Studio Europa Maastricht, Katleen Gabriels turned her research on children and Snapchat into a policy brief connecting academia and policymakers. The initiative shows how UM structurally translates research into societal impact in Brussels, The Hague and beyond.
MUSTS - SEM

Turning film into community

  • Researchers
Films, discussions and shared space brought academics, students and locals together, showing how cinema can make complex research visible, social and accessible beyond the university.
Lumiere X GTD profile pic

Two UM professors appointed member of Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities

  • Researchers
The Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen (KHMW; Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities) is the oldest learned society in the Netherlands.
Hylke en Ron

An end to subservience: how Europe must assert itself

Europe must build an independent defence capability and stop relying on the whims of the US. This is, in a nutshell, the position of international relations researcher Yf Reykers.
Portret Yf Reykers

Costas Papadopoulos awarded Open Science NL grant

  • Researchers
€1.5 million for Open Science Digital Infrastructure for 3D Scholarship
Costas Papadopoulos