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FASoS Research Institute

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.

Compilation research programmes FASoS

FASoS Research Programmes

research centres

Research Centres

Networks of Knowledge Production and Consumption

Research networks and project websites

News

zundert
  • Researchers

Joris van Zundert appointed as professor by special appointment

Joris van Zundert of the Computational Literary Studies department at the Huygens Institute has been appointed Professor by Special Appointment in Computational Humanities at Maastricht University’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences with effect from 1 September 2026.
Matthew Archer
  • Researchers

Matthew Archer receives E.W. Beth Foundation grant for workshop on animal ethics and sentience

The workshop represents a new direction in Matthew’s research, building on his recent interest in the ethics of precision agriculture.
Anna and Ferenc
  • Researchers

Two FASoS researchers receive grants to make teaching materials openly accessible

Anna Harris will document the improvised inventions that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ferenc Laczó will bring together interviews with leading historians on major turning points in contemporary Europe.
Sara De Vuyst
  • Researchers

Sara De Vuyst receives grants for research on older women with autism

Because diagnostic criteria have historically been based on male characteristics, many women only receive an autism diagnosis later in life. Yet little is known about how they experience this life-changing event, the stereotypes they encounter, or the support available to them.
Marlies Vermeulen

Cartopology: where the map, the person, and the place come together

Marlies Vermeulen is an artistic researcher at What Art Knows (Zuyd University of Applied Sciences), teacher, and co-founder of the Institute of Cartopology. She developed the new discipline of cartopology during her PhD research and defended her PhD at Maastricht University in June 2026.