UM partnerships
As the European university of the Netherlands, Maastricht University highly values international partnerships and collaborations with universities and other institutions across the globe. They bring together different perspectives, expertise, and insights, adding value to our education and research. That is why we work to develop and strengthen our engagement in international university networks.
We are members of four complementary university partnership networks: the Worldwide University Network (WUN), the Young European Research Universities (YERUN), the Young Universities for the Future of Europe alliance (YUFE), and the European Alliance for Social Sciences and Humanities. These networks act as platforms to facilitate joint representation and cooperation in various fields among like-minded high quality partner universities.
The choice for these four university networks stems from UM’s focus on both European and global engagement. Whereas UM’s engagement in WUN, YERUN and EASSH is based on topical cooperation, via YUFE UM seeks to integrate into a multi-campus European University.
The Worldwide Universities Network (WUN)
The Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) is a leading global higher education and research network of 25 universities across 6 continents. The membership of the WUN adds to UM’s international collaboration portfolio a truly global dimension and a focus on global development challenges. This enhances UM’s global visibility. It also may support the acquisition of external (research) funding. The aim of the UM membership is to engage key academics in joint WUN research teams and create mobility opportunities for early and mid-career researchers in networks on research topics and themes related to the Global Challenges.
Read more about WUN how you can benefit from UM’s membership.
Young European Research Universities (YERUN)
As one of the best young universities in the world, UM is one of the founders of the Young European Research Universities Network (YERUN), which brings together Europe’s young universities to cooperate in the fields of research, education and service to society. Its members share a number of values, which include an orientation towards high-impact research and a shared commitment to internationalisation. YERUN also offers research mobility awards for cross-border research and open science awards, which aimed at stimulating the transition towards Open Science.
Read more on YERUN and how you can benefit from UM’s membership.
Young Universities for the Future of Europe alliance (YUFE)
UM is the coordinator of the Young Universities for the Future of Europe (YUFE) alliance, ten dynamic, young, student-centred research-based universities and four non-academic partners from the non-governmental and private sector for an impactful European University. Together, the YUFE partners will establish one of the first true European Universities. The YUFE partners came together based on their shared dedication to the European spirit, their common aim to contribute to a more competitive, innovative and united Europe and their ambition to help address today’s challenges. YUFE offers students the opportunity to create their own European curriculum, leading to a European degree. By collecting YUFE Stars, students, staff and citizens are challenged to learn European languages, participate in mobility, develop European careers and perform community service.
Read more about YUFE and how you can benefit from UM’s membership.
The European Alliance for Social Sciences and Humanities (EASSH)
UM is a member of the European Alliance for Social Sciences and Humanities (EASSH), the largest advocacy and science policy organisation for the social sciences and humanities in Europe. The Alliance draws on the international expertise and insight of its members to inform and influence European policy and decision makers. Working groups bring SSH research and knowledge into the public debate, and strengthen European research and cooperation among public and private partners. For more information. EASSH has over 65 member organisations including a wide range of disciplinary areas, stakeholders and universities from across Europe - and encompassing over 100 000 researchers.
Read more on EASSH how you can benefit from UM’s membership.
Collaboration Radboud University
Maastricht University and Radboud University are increasing cooperation in 2023. Aim of the collaboration: to join forces to maximise the academic and social impact in the South-East region of the Netherlands. Joint programmes in biotechnology and engineering physics are being developed, (partly) on the campus in Venlo. Both universities already have shared development programmes for healthcare professionals. Furthermore, the universities are also cooperating in the field of academic teacher training.
Read more on the collaboration and the joint ambitions of both partners
Other partnerships
Euregional partnerships
Maastricht University is a European university with a global outlook. Through our location in the heart of Europe and strategic vision on internationalisation, we actively contribute to innovative cross-border projects in the Meuse-Rhine Euregion. One of the focus areas of the university is building bridges between the south-eastern part of the Netherlands and the border areas of Germany and Belgium within the context of the Meuse-Rhine Euregion, which includes the cities of Liège, Hasselt, Maastricht, Heerlen and Aachen. This region includes 3.9 million inhabitants, five universities, 19 universities of applied sciences and 110,000 students. A considerable proportion of our students and staff come from this region and, thanks to this cooperation, our graduates are also able to benefit from a multitude of excellent employment opportunities.
Maastricht University also cooperates intensively with knowledge centres, governments and companies in the region and supports strategic opportunities for further internationalisation in research and education. The Brightlands campuses are an example of triple helix collaboration between the province of Limburg, the university and other educational partners, and companies. Through the four specialized Brightlands campuses, innovation and intersectoral cooperation are promoted in the region and beyond.
Furthermore, UM participates in a number of research centres that focus on cross-border and European issues such as:
- the Institute for Transnational and Euregional cooperation and Mobility (ITEM)
- the Aachen-Maastricht Institute for Biobased Materials (AMIBM)
- Regenerative Medicine Crossing Borders (RegMed XB)
- the Centre of European Research in Maastricht (CERiM)
These centres serve as ‘living labs’, helping to create an innovative knowledge region of international standing, right on our doorstep.
Campus Brussels
UM's Campus Brussels is an international education and research hub for the university. It is strategically located close to the European institutions, connecting students, academics and alumni to the European professional and policy-making arenas.
It provides a space at the core of the European capital to leverage UM research expertise. The Campus Brussels acts as a research community hub to further connect UM researchers to the community of international scholars and to EU policy-makers. This, in turn, fosters synergies and creates further opportunities for international research collaboration.
Campus Brussels also functions as a UM embassy in the ‘political heart’ of Europe. In the context of the UM’s European and international public affairs strategy, the Campus Brussels facilitates the exchange of information and expertise from UM to Brussels and vice-versa. Moreover, it further enhances UM’s European and international connections and networks. Campus Brussels is also the first point of contact and functions as a ‘relay’ between UM staff, students, alumni and partners with Brussels stakeholders.
The teaching and training ‘pillar’ of the Campus Brussels is currently being expanded. UM Campus Brussels already offers education and training for professionals with executive courses on issues such as Data Protection and Interest Representation in the EU and with part-time PhD programmes in European Studies and in Law. The planned removal of legal restrictions to offer transnational education with a full UM-accredited degree abroad is of high strategic importance. The first steps to develop such programmes are currently being undertaken.
UNU-MERIT
The United Nations University – Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT) is a research and training institute of United Nations University, based in Maastricht. The institute, which collaborates closely with Maastricht University, explores the social, political and economic factors that drive technological innovation, with a particular focus on the creation, diffusion and access to knowledge.
Working with the UM School of Governance, UNU-MERIT also researches all aspects of governance in domestic and global organisations, from risk assessment to policy analysis, design, and evaluation. The two institutions (UM and UNU) also offer a double master’s degree in Public Policy and Human Development.
MUNDO
MUNDO facilitates partnerships between Maastricht University and institutions of higher education and research in emerging and developing countries around the world. The primary aim of these partnerships is to strengthen the educational and research capacity of our partners.
MUNDO has implemented projects in more than 20 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe. Most MUNDO projects involve curriculum review and development, building on UM’s role as a global leader in educational innovation, especially when it comes to Problem-Based Learning and other student-centred approaches to teaching. For these projects, MUNDO involves various UM academic and support staff and sometimes also students, which helps them to gain valuable international experience. MUNDO’s projects strengthen the international profile of the university, both in the countries where MUNDO works and in Maastricht.
SHE Collaborates
The School of Health Professions Education (SHE) started a new branch of international activities and collaborations in 2012. With the strength of the SHE approach, these new initiatives were developed into “SHE Collaborates”.
SHE Collaborates is an office for international collaboration in health professions education. The office capitalises on Maastricht University’s more than 40 years of experience implementing student-centered learning in medicine and the health sciences.
Through innovative training and consulting in the areas of education, management and research, we promote improvement in health professions education practices. We work with partners from a variety of disciplines, educational backgrounds and cultures.
MUMC+ in India
Maastricht UMC+ has been active in India since 2008. When building partnerships there are two points of interest to us. In the first place, we seek collaboration with renowned institutes. Secondly, the topics of the research have to connect with the existing research programme of Maastricht UMC+. At this moment, we run about 25 active partnerships with various (academic, health sector, industrial) partners. Thus far, DBT, DEITY, ICSSR and NWO, ZonMw jointly granted several projects of Maastricht UMC+ and our Indian partners.
News
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Maastricht University is proud to announce that two UM projects were awarded the YERUN Open Science Award 2022.
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Working on Europe Academy is the name of an annual lecture series offered by Young Universities for the Future of Europe and Studio Europa. The discussion and debate that follows these free and easily accessible lectures allows students and citizens to explore relevant issues surrounding the...
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YUFE is delighted to announce that our application in response to the 2022 Erasmus+ European Universities call has been selected for funding worth €14.4m. This is a major milestone for the YUFE Alliance, which continues to be a frontrunner among European Universities.
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In 2019, Young Universities for the Future of Europe (YUFE), a UM-led alliance, was judged the most promising answer to the European Commission’s call to develop and implement the first model for a European University. YUFE Director Daniela Trani on why and how she wants to change European higher...
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UM is the coordinator of the Young Universities for the Future of Europe (YUFE) alliance, a major strategic partnership between ten young, research-intensive universities from as many European countries. The YUFE alliance, together with its four non-governmental and private sector partners, aims at...
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Young Universities for the Future of Europe (YUFE), the UM-led European University, has launched its maiden voyage – in the choppiest of waters. YUFE puts students at the centre and invites them to co-create the institution. Dora Christodoulou and Giulia Giardino are among the UM pioneers in the...
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To mark the University of Bremen’s 50th anniversary, the alliance’s annual meeting is taking place in Bremen on October 13 and 14. UM President and Chair of the YUFE Alliance Martin Paul, and UM Rector Rianne Letschert will attend the meeting.
