UM & international university networks

York-Maastricht Partnership

The York-Maastricht Partnership (YMP) is a major strategic investment between Maastricht University and the University of York, intended to develop a deep and lasting relationship and built around excellent research, teaching and knowledge exchange.

Our mission is to encourage and facilitate innovative joint York-Maastricht research and education programmes to tackle challenges to developing a more sustainable future.

The Partnership was formally launched in November 2017 to establish joint research projects, teaching collaborations, knowledge exchange, student exchanges, and to share best practice among staff. The universities have invested €3m over three years (2019-2022) to support dynamic research collaborations between the two institutions, and create innovative education opportunities for students.

Building on the success of the Partnership’s initial joint programmes, we are now developing a new set of focus areas under the broad umbrella of ‘Sustainability’, which will include research, teaching, and knowledge exchange collaborations across a range of topics on sustainability and the transition to a circular economy. A new joint education programme, the MSc in Sustainable Business: Leadership, Innovation, and Management, launches in Autumn 2021, and a new set of sustainability-focused research projects and knowledge exchange activities will be developed over 2021-2022.

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.

 Read more about Maastricht UMC+ in India