Governance At the central level, the university is governed by the Executive Board, consisting of a president, a vice-president and a rector. The Executive Board appoints faculty deans, other administrators and professors and has general management responsibilities. It is advised by the Supervisory Council that vets for instance the budget. The University Council, an elected body representing all members of staff and students at the university, has a limited number of decision-making powers as well as general advising responsibilities regarding the university's teaching and research programmes and in organisational and budgetary matters. Maastricht University's teaching and research programmes are primarily carried out along the lines of
faculties. Within faculties, teaching and research activities may be further decentralised through departments, schools, institutes or colleges. The names of organisational (sub)units, however, do not necessarily indicate their position within the university's organisational hierarchy. In 2009, for example, the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration was renamed school of business and Economics, even though it maintains the rank of a faculty. The Board of Deans, consisting of all faculty deans and the Rector, acts as a coordinating and consulting body at the central level and is responsible for awarding doctoral degrees and honorary doctorates.
Faculties Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences The Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences (FHML) was established in 2007 as a merger between the faculty of health sciences and the faculty of medicine. The latter was the first faculty to be established at Maastricht University. In 1980 the faculty of health sciences was founded. The broad range of disciplines it offered in
healthcare sciences, made the faculty unique, not only in the Netherlands, but also in Europe. The format allowed students to integrate their discipline and research work into all areas related to society, health and disease. A one-year master's program in global health is available. The two united faculties have developed into a community of approximately 1950 students, with a staff of around 1200 (academics, administrative and support staff). Since 1992 staff and students are based in the Randwyck district, near the University Hospital (
Academisch Ziekenhuis Maastricht or AZM) which opened in 1991. The AZM has been renamed MUMC+ (Maastrichts Universitair Medisch Centrum Plus).
Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience Founded in 1995, the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience (FPN) is specialised in two contemporary approaches in psychology:
cognitive psychology and
biological psychology. It is home to around 1,500 students and 250 staff. The faculty offers a Dutch and English bachelor's programme in psychology, two English-taught master's programmes and one research master's programme. The one-year master's programme in psychology offers specialisations in
neuropsychology,
developmental psychology,
cognitive neuroscience, health and social psychology, psychology and law, work and
organisational psychology. In conjunction with the faculty of health, Medicine and Life Sciences, the two-year research master Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience offers six different specialisations: cognitive neuroscience, fundamental neuroscience, neuropsychology, drug development and neurohealth, neuroeconomics and
psychopathology. The selective two-year master programme
Forensic Psychology in English, offers theoretical, research and skills courses, to educate students to become scientist-practitioners in the field of forensic psychology and psychiatry. The faculty's unique research infrastructure – including hypermodern high field MRI scanners – allows for groundbreaking research into the brain and behaviour.
School of Business and Economics The School of Business and Economics (SBE) was founded in 1984. It is currently the biggest faculty within UM in terms of student numbers. Of the 4,200 students enrolled, more than 60% come from abroad. As a business school, SBE is accredited by
EQUIS,
AACSB and the
Association of MBAs. According to the school's website, this
Triple Crown accreditation has only been achieved by 1% of business schools worldwide. SBE offers bachelor's programmes (B.Sc.) in International Business, Business Engineering, Economics and Business Economics, Fiscal Economics, and Econometrics and Operations Research, as well as a number of master's programmes, executive master's programmes and
MBA's. SBE students are represented by
SCOPE Maastricht, the School's general student association.
Faculty of Law in the centre Maastricht University's Faculty of Law (FL) was founded in 1981. Times Higher Education (THE) ranks the university's Law programme at 40th in the world in 2020. It started with a programme in
Dutch law, designed in line with UM's problem-based learning principles. Ninety students enrolled in the first year. In the 1990s, the faculty introduced a new programme entitled the European Law School (ELS), which focused on European, comparative and international law. The programme was taught partly in English. A fully English-language ELS programme was established in 2007. It was the first English-language bachelor's programme in law in the Netherlands. The faculty participates in two national research schools, the School of Human Rights and the Ius Commune Research School, and is home to several research institutes: the Institute for Transnational Legal Research (METRO), the Maastricht Centre for Human Rights, the Institute for Globalisation and International Regulation (IGIR), the Montesquieu Institute Maastricht, the Institute for Corporate Law, Governance and Innovation Policies (ICGI), and the Maastricht European Private Law Institute (M-EPLI). The faculty was initially located at the Nieuwenhof béguinage, currently home to University College Maastricht. With the number of students growing quickly, the faculty moved to its current location in 1990. This building, the former seat of the provincial government of
Limburg, consists of tutorial rooms, lecture halls as well as staff offices. The building underwent major renovation works around 2009, which included a new common room and lunch counter for students, a garden terrace, and an additional lecture hall in the former ballroom.
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, also known as FASoS, was founded in 1994. Currently FASoS hosts approximately 2000 students and around 240 staff members. Over 70% of the students are non-Dutch. Research and education is internationally oriented and all of the programmes are offered in English. The faculty is located in the centre of Maastricht, in four buildings on the Grote Gracht. The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences offers four three-year bachelors programmes: Cultuurwetenschappen/Arts and Culture, European Studies, Digital Society and Global Studies, and eight one-year masters programmes: European Studies; Globalisation and Development Studies; European Public Affairs; European Studies on Society, Science and Technology; Arts and Heritage; Policy, Management and Culture; Media Culture; Art, Literature and Society; and Politics and Society. Furthermore, two two-year research masters are offered: Cultures of Arts, Science and Technology; and European Studies. The Research Institute for Arts and Social Sciences encompasses all research of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. The Research Institute comprises four programmes: 1. Politics and Culture in Europe, 2. Science, Technology and Society, 3. Cultural Memory and Diversity and 4. Globalisation, Transnationalism and Development. The research area overlaps both the humanities and the social sciences. The faculty has a graduate school with an intake of about 10 PhD candidates each year.
Faculty of Science and Engineering The Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE), formerly the Faculty of Humanities and Sciences, consists of: •
University College Maastricht (UCM) •
University College Venlo (UCV) • Department of Advanced Computing Sciences (DACS) • Maastricht Science Programme (MSP) •
Foundation Programme (FP) • TIER: Top Institute for Evidence Based Education Research
Tuition and financial assistance at UM's
dies natalis Tuition fees at Maastricht University vary, depending on nationality and study programme. Regular tuition fees for public universities in the Netherlands are determined annually by law. Statutory tuition fees currently amount to €2,060 annually for both bachelor's and master's programmes. Under European regulations, regular tuition levels are also applicable to foreign students from the
European Economic Area, which includes all
European Union member states. All other students pay institutional tuition fees, ranging from €7,500 to €10,000 annually for bachelor's programmes and €13,000 or more annually for master's programmes. Since 2012, students at the University College pay a surcharge on top of the statutory or institutional tuition fees Ph.D. candidates (
promovendi) at Maastricht University do not pay tuition as they have the rank of junior members of the academic staff. Ph.D. candidates are employed by the university or faculty on full-time, four-year contracts with regular, entry-level wages and employee benefits. Ph.D. appointments usually involve teaching responsibilities and limited administrative duties. The Limburg University Fund, a fundraising foundation associated with the UM, administers a scholarship fund for students from emerging markets. == Academic life ==