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Maastricht University
Maastricht University (abbreviated as UM; Dutch: Universiteit Maastricht) is a public research university in Maastricht, Netherlands. Founded in 1976, it is the second youngest of the thirteen Dutch universities.
In 2023, 22,976 students studied at Maastricht University, 59% of whom were students from outside of the Netherlands, with over 4,000 employees. About half of the bachelor's programmes are fully offered in English, while the other half is taught wholly or partly in Dutch. Most of the master's and doctoral programmes are in English. Besides traditional programmes, Maastricht University also has three honours liberal arts colleges: University College Maastricht and the Maastricht Science Programme in the same liberal arts tradition. The satellite University College Venlo opened in 2015.
Maastricht University was officially established in 1976. Faced with a shortage of medical professionals, the Dutch government decided in the late 1960s that a new public institution of higher education was needed in order to expand the country's medical training facilities. Political leaders in the province of Limburg, most notably Sjeng Tans, the chairman of the Labour Party and former member of the Limburg provincial council and Maastricht city council, successfully lobbied for the new medical school to be established in Maastricht. This academic institution would be vital to sustain the intellectual life of the city, and indeed the whole province. Moreover, it was argued that the establishment of a university in Maastricht could contribute to the government's restructuring efforts in this part of the Netherlands, which was experiencing economic challenges following the collapse of the Limburg coal mining industry.
The newly established school chose not to await official recognition but to start its educational programme in September 1974, adopting an innovative approach to academic education in the form of problem-based learning. About 50 students enrolled in the first academic year. By the end of 1975, the Dutch Parliament eventually passed the statute needed for the institution to acquire national educational funds and to be able to award academic degrees. The new university, named Rijksuniversiteit Limburg (State University of Limburg), was officially established on 9 January 1976, when Queen Juliana of the Netherlands signed the university's founding charter at a ceremony in the Basilica of Saint Servatius. Sjeng Tans became the university's first president.
Soon after its establishment, the university gained political support to increase its funding and to expand into other academic fields. The faculty of law was created in 1981, followed by the faculty of economics in 1984. In 1994, the faculty of arts and culture and one year later the faculty of psychology were established. The faculty of humanities and sciences started in 2005, containing a variety of organisational units, such as the department of knowledge engineering and the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance. Together with the faculty of health, medicine and life sciences (established in 2007 as a merger between the faculty of health sciences and the faculty of medicine) Maastricht University currently has six faculties.
The university was renamed Universiteit Maastricht in 1996 and added its English-language name in 2008. As of 2010, Maastricht University consists of six faculties offering 17 bachelor programmes, 56 master programmes and several Ph.D. programmes.
On December 23, 2019, Maastricht University suffered a major cyber-attack, more specifically a Microsoft Windows ransomware attack using "Clop". The ransomware encrypted almost all Windows systems used by Maastricht University, making it impossible for students and staff members to access any university online services during the Christmas break. A ransom was set from the offenders, which allowed a decryption of the university systems after Maastricht University paid €200,000 in a Bitcoin transfer. The lessons resumed with no delays on 6 January, with most online services again available to both students and staff members.
In 2020, the public prosecutor service seized the cryptocurrency account in which the ransom was paid. Once the ransom was converted from Bitcoin to Euros, the University was able to recover €500.000, double of what was paid.
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Maastricht University
Maastricht University (abbreviated as UM; Dutch: Universiteit Maastricht) is a public research university in Maastricht, Netherlands. Founded in 1976, it is the second youngest of the thirteen Dutch universities.
In 2023, 22,976 students studied at Maastricht University, 59% of whom were students from outside of the Netherlands, with over 4,000 employees. About half of the bachelor's programmes are fully offered in English, while the other half is taught wholly or partly in Dutch. Most of the master's and doctoral programmes are in English. Besides traditional programmes, Maastricht University also has three honours liberal arts colleges: University College Maastricht and the Maastricht Science Programme in the same liberal arts tradition. The satellite University College Venlo opened in 2015.
Maastricht University was officially established in 1976. Faced with a shortage of medical professionals, the Dutch government decided in the late 1960s that a new public institution of higher education was needed in order to expand the country's medical training facilities. Political leaders in the province of Limburg, most notably Sjeng Tans, the chairman of the Labour Party and former member of the Limburg provincial council and Maastricht city council, successfully lobbied for the new medical school to be established in Maastricht. This academic institution would be vital to sustain the intellectual life of the city, and indeed the whole province. Moreover, it was argued that the establishment of a university in Maastricht could contribute to the government's restructuring efforts in this part of the Netherlands, which was experiencing economic challenges following the collapse of the Limburg coal mining industry.
The newly established school chose not to await official recognition but to start its educational programme in September 1974, adopting an innovative approach to academic education in the form of problem-based learning. About 50 students enrolled in the first academic year. By the end of 1975, the Dutch Parliament eventually passed the statute needed for the institution to acquire national educational funds and to be able to award academic degrees. The new university, named Rijksuniversiteit Limburg (State University of Limburg), was officially established on 9 January 1976, when Queen Juliana of the Netherlands signed the university's founding charter at a ceremony in the Basilica of Saint Servatius. Sjeng Tans became the university's first president.
Soon after its establishment, the university gained political support to increase its funding and to expand into other academic fields. The faculty of law was created in 1981, followed by the faculty of economics in 1984. In 1994, the faculty of arts and culture and one year later the faculty of psychology were established. The faculty of humanities and sciences started in 2005, containing a variety of organisational units, such as the department of knowledge engineering and the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance. Together with the faculty of health, medicine and life sciences (established in 2007 as a merger between the faculty of health sciences and the faculty of medicine) Maastricht University currently has six faculties.
The university was renamed Universiteit Maastricht in 1996 and added its English-language name in 2008. As of 2010, Maastricht University consists of six faculties offering 17 bachelor programmes, 56 master programmes and several Ph.D. programmes.
On December 23, 2019, Maastricht University suffered a major cyber-attack, more specifically a Microsoft Windows ransomware attack using "Clop". The ransomware encrypted almost all Windows systems used by Maastricht University, making it impossible for students and staff members to access any university online services during the Christmas break. A ransom was set from the offenders, which allowed a decryption of the university systems after Maastricht University paid €200,000 in a Bitcoin transfer. The lessons resumed with no delays on 6 January, with most online services again available to both students and staff members.
In 2020, the public prosecutor service seized the cryptocurrency account in which the ransom was paid. Once the ransom was converted from Bitcoin to Euros, the University was able to recover €500.000, double of what was paid.