Universiteit Maastricht
Persbericht
6 september 2005
Toch nog een Georgische opening van het academisch jaar UM
Globalisering als verbindend thema met hoofdgast Noreena Hertz
Met een teken aan de Big Band van het Conservatorium Maastricht voor het inzetten van Beethovens 'An die Freude', het officiële volkslied van de Europese Unie, heeft de Georgische student Zacharia Babutsidze, namens de Georgische president Saakashvili, gistermiddag het Academisch Jaar 2005-2006 van de Universiteit Maastricht (UM) officieel geopend. Saakashvili zou in Maastricht aanwezig zijn om het jaar officieel te openen, maar moest op het laatste moment afzeggen wegens politieke verplichtingen in zijn eigen land. Zijn persoonlijke boodschap, die hij per brief overbracht, werd voorgelezen door de Georgische PhD-student Zacharia Babutsidze. In zijn brief geeft Saakashvili de UM-studenten en -staf de volgende boodschap mee: "Be aware of history, do not take things for granted and challenge established truths".
De hoofdgast op deze openingsplechtigheid, de econome en anders-globaliste Noreena Hertz, hield in haar rede een gepassioneerd pleidooi voor een rechtvaardiger wereld en een rechtvaardiger verdeling van de welvaart. Als consumenten en belanghebbenden kunnen burgers wel degelijk een beslissende rol spelen in het globaliseringsproces: "We can vote with our wallets". Voor de academische gemeenschap is een specifieke rol weggelegd, zo stelt Noreena Hertz met een verwijzing naar de VN-verklaring van de Rechten van de Mens. Onderwijs gaat niet alleen over kennisoverdracht, maar moet ook het onderlinge begrip, tolerantie en vriendschap tussen naties, rassen en religies stimuleren. Noreena Hertz sprak de aanwezige studenten aan op hun verantwoordelijkheid voor een betere wereld. Ook collegevoorzitter Jo Ritzen had globalisering als leidraad in zijn rede. Globalisering lijkt onvermijdelijk, maar hoeft niet persé te leiden tot de doemscenario's die door anti-globalisten worden geschetst. De uitkomsten van de globaliseringstrend liggen grotendeels in onze eigen handen. De Universiteit Maastricht kan daaraan een bijdrage leveren vanuit de kennisdomeinen economie, gezondheid, menselijke relaties, bestuur en sociale cohesie.
Rector Magnificus Gerard Mols reikte de Studentenprijs 2005 uit aan Navtej Talwar (Master of Public Health). Hij is op eigen initiatief en met financiële steun van de UM naar Sri Lanka afgereisd, direct na de tsunami-ramp in december 2004. Twee weken lang heeft hij daar op alle mogelijke manieren hulp verleend aan de slachtoffers. Met vrienden richtte hij de stichting Saraswati Ji op, die geld inzamelt voor hulpverlening aan getroffen scholen in Sri Lanka.
Het Edmond Hustinx-stipendium, de jaarlijkse beurs voor jonge onderzoekers, werd uitgereikt aan Milene Bonte, die in oktober 2005 aan de Faculteit der Psychologie hoopt te promoveren. Zij onderzocht - o.a. in het wereldberoemde Low Temperature Lab in Helsinki en het Brain Imaging Centre van de UM - de neurologische processen die ten grondslag liggen aan het leren lezen. Haar onderzoeksresultaten leveren belangrijke nieuwe inzichten in de achterliggende mechanismen van dyslexie.
In 2006 viert de UM haar dertigjarig bestaan. In deze periode studeerden 20.000 studenten af. Het College van Bestuur stelde bij deze gelegenheid een studiebeurs beschikbaar waarmee een talentvolle student uit een emerging economy een masteropleiding aan de UM kan volgen. Aan deze beurs werd de naam verbonden van de 20.000e UM-afgestudeerde, Miquel Staal. Miquel haalde in juni 2004 (cum laude) zijn bachelor's degree aan het University College Maastricht. Dit verschafte hem toegang tot een masteropleiding aan de prestigieuze London School of Economics.
Noot voor de pers:
De rede van Jo Ritzen is in attachment bijgevoegd, evenals de brief van president Saakashvili. De rede van Noreena Herz is helaas nog niet digitaal beschikbaar. Indien u alsnog belangstelling heeft voor deze tekst kunt u contact opnemen met Caroline Roulaux, tel. 043 388 5229. Voor meer informatie over de inhoud van dit persbericht kunt u terecht bij Jeanine Hermans, woordvoerder Universiteit Maastricht, tel. 043 388 3150 (mobiel 06 2824 1206) , e-mail jeanine.hermans@bu.unimaas.nl. De afdeling Communicatie van de UM is bereikbaar via 043 388 5222, e-mail
Bijlage 1:
saqarTvelos prezidenti
PRESIDENT OF GEORGIA
PRESIDENT MIKHEIL SAAKASHVILI'S GREETING FOR THE OPENING OF THE
ACADEMIC YEAR 2005-2006 AT MAASTRICHT UNIVERSITY
It is my pleasure and honor to offer my personal greetings to the students and faculty of Maastricht University on the occasion of the opening of the 2005-2006 academic year.
The first days of the academic year provide a wonderful opportunity for addressing some of the most pressing challenges facing our world today - challenges that unite all students as they think about their future and the individual role they would like to play. From Georgia to Holland and beyond, we are living in an ever more connected, globalized world, where events in countries that may be separated by great distance nonetheless have an impact on the way we live, think, and go about our lives. This trend is both exciting and challenging as it requires us to act a global citizens, taking ever greater responsibility for the stewardship and welfare of our fellow citizens.
Please know that as you begin your academic year today, so too do the thousands of students across Georgia, and on behalf of them, I send you their warmest regards and a message of friendship. As a student, I benefited greatly from the academic exchanges that I was privileged to participate in and encourage all of you to take advantage of such opportunities. In this regard, your renowned institution with its openness toward Europe and the world serves as an example of excellence in practice.
History provides many examples of how universities have contributed to the advancement of nation states in a variety of ways including the development of various political doctrines. I regret to say, however, that some of those theories proved either inapplicable or, what is worse, outright dangerous.
The phenomenon of globalization however challenges both individuals and institutions to develop and expand their reach, both culturally and politically. Increasingly, we all have to cope with situations that require greater intellectual flexibility, and unless we enhance our ability to accept or internalize other sets of values and norms, we can hardly expect to come up with viable and sustainable solutions - be they in governance or international cooperation, that work for all; solutions, meant to lead to worldwide peace and sustainable prosperity.
The task of bringing up responsible citizens of the world lies primarily with universities and their leadership. Not only should they provide knowledge and expertise and an ambience that encourages students to fully actualize their potential, but, what I consider even more significant, universities ought to inculcate upon everyone a sense of ethical awareness that will guide them through the myriad moral choices they have to make.
I firmly believe that Maastricht University, whose academic year I am honored to open, will successfully cope with these challenges.
And finally, here is my advice: be aware of history, do not take things for granted and challenge established truths.
Bijlage 2:
The global challenge for Maastricht University
Globalizing universities in a globalizing world
Speech by Dr. Jo Ritzen, President Maastricht University, on the occasion of the Opening Ceremony of the Academic Year 2005-2006
Dear Mr. Governor of the Province of Limburg Frissen, Mr. Mayor Leers, Honored Speaker Ms. Hertz, Ladies and Gentlemen
"Energy: Yes, Quality: No". These are the words used by the Swiss artist Thomas Hirschhorn to express his concern about globalization at an exhibition at the Bonnefanten Museum. His work of art "Hotel Democracy" is also an expression of this concern. Globalization may lead to uniformity, to a loss of differentiation and diversity, and to a less colorful world.
Yet globalization can also be a reason to charter new territories and can also release human talent and energy. Globalization should be organized in such a way that the maximum deployment of talent and human energy is achieved. Globalization should make differentiation and variety available to many more people, rather then submerging them all in the same grey indistinguishable mass.
Maastricht University is, by Dutch and European standards, a young university that will celebrate its 30th anniversary in January 2006. We constantly seek to distinguish ourselves from other institutions of higher education by carefully observing the changes in the external environment and making choices on how to respond to them. Hence we have chosen the theme of "Universities in a Globalizing World" for the opening ceremony of this academic year.
Ladies and gentlemen,
With a new generation of students entering the university, the start of the academic year is a moment to reflect on what we as a university have achieved and what we are striving for. We very much welcome the new and the returning students. We feel privileged that you have rewarded our commitment to the best possible education by choosing Maastricht University as your fostering mother, your ALMA mater, which, we are sure, you will remember very fondly for the rest of your lives.
As will become clear in the next twenty minutes, we speak with pride of a university which has reached for the near unreachable. Thanks to the commitment of our former and present faculty and staff as well as that of our students, we have been able to achieve this. With this in mind we respectfully remember the contribution of those who died in the past academic year.
- Tommy Glazenborg,student at the Faculty of Economics
- Bernard van Swaaij, retired employee of General and Technical Services
- Peter Janssen from the Capacity Group Management of Health Organization, Policy and Economics, of the Faculty of Health Sciences
- Rikie Magdelijns, employee at Student Services
- Jan Meinders from the Capacity Group Biophysics and CARIM of the Faculty of Medicine
- Jos Lemmens, emeritus Professor of General Surgery
- Bèr Budy, retired employee of Unicatering
- Hilda Duizings, part time student of the Faculty of Health Sciences
- Leo Coolen, Professor of Telematics at the Institute for Knowledge and Agent Technology of the Faculty of General Sciences
- Vic Dubois, former head of the Vocational Training for General Practitioners of the Faculty of Health Sciences
- Raden Bambang Oetomo, retired researcher of the Capacity Group of Policy Analysis of the Faculty of Health Sciences
- Ber Nypels, retired employee of the General and Technical Services
This university would not be what it is without its constant adaptation to the needs of our time. It is a time that offers great opportunities, but also poses serious risks. We are appalled by terrorist suicide bombings on our doorsteps. We are appalled at murderous fanaticism in our own country. All of a sudden, the events in Israel or Afghanistan are no longer something that happens on the other side of the world, even though we realize that what we experience is no more than a tiny fraction of the insecurity felt in other countries.
This is a time in which the majority of Dutch and French citizens decided to retract from a stronger role of Europe in the world. Apparently they believed that their cocoon of identity and culture could safely withstand the gale of globalization on its own.
It is also a time in which in Gleneagles the G8 gave in to the popular call of Bob Geldof, Bono and many other pop stars and decided to change its attitude towards poor countries substantially, giving them a better chance for social and economic growth. It is, moreover, a time of peaceful transitions towards democracy in countries like Georgia and the Ukraine.
We tend to capture the changes in our time under the catch-all phrase of globalization, which means that many people all over the world are influenced or affected by the reduced time and cost of bridging distances and of acquiring information, which leads to tremendous new opportunities as well as risks in the movement of ideas and goods.
Too often, globalization is viewed as an inevitable process, with an inevitable outcome, ignoring that the outcome is very much determined by the agreements we have made on globalization. In a recent book I focus on three aspects of globalization that require urgent change. Firstly: trade in agricultural products. The present rules are highly in favour of rich countries and virtually bar poor countries from developing their main economic sector, which is agriculture. Secondly: development cooperation, where the lack of harmonization still leads to disproportionate overhead costs for poor countries. For example, Tanzania still has to write, every 3 months, 2,400 reports to all of its donors. Thirdly: there are too few rules to fight the corruption in poor countries that is caused by outside parties. A substantial part of the corruption in poor countries finds its origin in the dealings between internationally operating firms and the local bureaucracy. There are no international sanctions against such dealings.
At Maastricht University, these topics are studied and taught widely, but in particular in the newly founded Maastricht School of Governance and in the new merger of the United Nations University INTECH with the MERIT Group of our Economics Department.
I am tremendously pleased to have Noreena Hertz with us today. She will deliver a keynote speech on globalization and universities. She believes that we ourselves choose the course globalization should take. Noreena is not only an accomplished academic. She is also the author of the bestsellers "The Silent Takeover" and "I.O.U." on the debt threat. I am looking forward to hearing her views on the potential role of universities in this world characterized by globalization.
There are groups of committed young people who have turned their back on globalization calling themselves anti-globalists. Artists, like Hirschhorn, but also here in our city- Maries van Osch, feel that a countervailing force is needed against the present form of globalization. Maries van Osch has been so kind to present some of his art here today to accompany the keynote speech of Noreena Hertz. We very much appreciate the support of the Bonnefanten Museum that allows us to have his work exhibited here.
Not only will Noreena Hertz speak about new directions in globalization (and how our alumni might contribute to them). She will also address the implications of globalization for the future world of academia.
We had hoped for the presence of Mr. Saakashvili, President of the Republic of Georgia. He is a fine example of a leader who has been shaped by globalization, with an early experience of studing abroad. Unfortunately, he had urgent last minute obligations which prevented him from being here today. Instead he has sent us a message which will be read by one of our students from Georgia.
Maastricht University is very much part of a globalizing world. Our university listens to demands from the outside world and translates these in its strategic approach. Hence the key words that summarize the choice we make are innovative and international.
It has been our decisive course to provide Dutch as well as foreign students with a climate of joint participation. Maastricht University was the first European University on the continent to seriously open itself to foreign students and faculty by offering full bachelors and masters degree programs in the English language. Now 30% of its student intake comes from abroad, with a mix of nationalities that are increasingly more diverse and less concentrated in the border region. Substantial emphasis is placed on the internationalization of the curriculum, and a period of study abroad has become a regular part of the university's courses.
"Innovative" means to us a commitment to problem based learning as a major improvement in university education. In the Netherlands, this drive has yielded Maastricht University a top ranking. This is associated with much appreciation by employers for our alumni's team spirit, problem solving capacity, as well as competence in their specific discipline. There are few international comparisons of the teaching quality at universities. Yet, we feel, from the scant evidence available, like the rating of our economics faculty by major employers in Germany, that Maastricht University not only has a prominent place in the Netherlands, but that its teaching quality may well be second to none in Europe.
This academic year will mark the redefinition of our strategy for the period 2006-2010, which succeeds the existing strategy for the period 2001-2005.
Innovative and international will remain the key words for our university, perhaps with an even deeper meaning than in the past. Yet, more than ever, we will have to choose where we want to fit within the huge diversity of Dutch and European universities.
The development of universities was given a substantial stimulus by the book by Cardinal John Henry Newman: "The Idea of a University", published in 1854. Unfortunately, his writings have led many people to believe that universities should all be alike, despite the fact that his texts suggest the opposite. To quote: "If then a practical end must be assigned to a university course, I say it is that of training good members of society. Its art is the art of social life, and its end is fitness for the world." It is clear from this quote that no one size can fit all university education. Also, one should take into account that the context has changed. In Cardinal Newman's time, maybe 1% of the 18-25 year olds studied at a university in Europe. Today this percentage is closer to 20%. In his day, the globe was perceived as vast, with huge costs attached to the acquisition of information or the movement of people or goods over large distances, while we speak now of the world as flat and a village.
Universities nowadays have to cater for a wide variety of talents of potential students and an even larger variety in the demand for human capital. No single university can satisfy all these demands at the same time. Universities do well to differentiate and to specialize for particular talents of students and particular demands for human capital. In doing so, they should take their specific location, including its 'feel' and academic potential, into account. For example, Maastricht University is housed with its city campus in one of the most historic and picturesque academic environments in Europe, close to the administrative capital of Europe, Brussels. The city of Maastricht provides an attractive environment for an active student life.
As part of its differentiation from other universities, Maastricht University has chosen first of all to maintain its exceptional position as regards teaching. It is not without reason that Maastricht University puts teaching and learning first on its website, where most Dutch universities mention research first. This choice for a top position in education, which was first expressed by the founder of the university, Sjeng Tans, in 1970, will be maintained in the future. We have made this choice even against the grain of the government's recent move to make the provision of good education financially less attractive. The government does so by its new funding system in which student presence plays a larger role and student achievement receives a lesser rewarded, all of which takes place under the appealing, but highly misleading name of "learning rights".
The new strategy paper takes the bachelors/masters degree system as its point of departure. Europe may be proud of the harmonization of its higher education systems, thus making the European higher education area more accessible to students. Meanwhile, this new bachelors/masters degree system does provide universities in general, and Maastricht University in particular, with a new challenge, namely to attract students from all over Europe as well as from outside Europe on a substantial scale. Thus the introduction of the bachelors/masters degree system has brought some of the challenges of globalization right to our doorstep.
In recruiting international students, we have the advantage of our reputation for teaching. However, masters students select their master's degree course on the basis of the reputation for research of the university as well. Maastricht University has been increasingly able to develop a good reputation in a number of fields and topics.
The new strategy will be built upon a broad, university-wide discussion of the challenges implied in the changes of our context, of our external environment, so that the strategy can be implemented because it is shared, because we own it. In the process, external regional stakeholders will be widely consulted, making it a strategy that is also owned by the region (which is the South East of the Netherlands and the Euregion).
The Management Team of Deans and the Executive Board defines its approach as follows: By 2010, the university will have a student intake of approximately 3,000 bachelors students and approximately 3,500 masters students each year. 35% of the bachelors students will come from abroad (80% from the EU, 20% from outside the EU); 50% of the masters students will be coming from other countries (35% coming from other EU countries and 15% from countries outside the EU). Each year, some 200 PhD students will graduate from Maastricht University. These are substantial challenges, which imply a growth of bachelor students by 20% and of master students of even 60% as well as a doubling of PhD graduates.
In research, so we have stated for 2010, Maastricht University will have succeeded in substantially adding (national and international) project funds to national funds. The increase in research funding will not only be due to successful fundraising, but, more importantly, to contract research in partnership with the industry and social parties. The university concentrates on two clusters: the bio-medical and life sciences field, and the study of society and its governance from a humanities and social science perspective.
In a university-wide strategy debate on April 29, 2005, 71% of the participants thought that the use of the English language as a means of communication in the university should be promoted. 79% was convinced that the university should be selective for the top echelon of talented students. 85% supported the notion that research funds should be allocated on the base of merit and achievement. These are rough indicators of the attitudes of the university population towards the strategic ambition for the year 2010, based on innovation and internationalization.
The present developments in research are encouraging for the strategy set out in the statement of the Management Team of Deans. Maastricht University has, as a young university with Tilburg University and Erasmus University in Rotterdam-, a substantial deficit in its basic research funding by the Government. If Maastricht University would be financed on an equal footing compared to the older Dutch universities, it would find its research funding increased by about ¤ 30 million a year. Parliament has corrected this deficit for some 10% by a series of amendments to the government budget, initiated by the Members of Parliament Van der Laan and Bakker, for which we are most grateful.
In the meantime, Maastricht University is doing better, year after year, in competitive research, both within the Dutch and the European research area. The number of the winners of grants from NWO, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, the share of Maastricht University in these grants, the share of Maastricht University in professorates awarded through the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), they all exceed the share that Maastricht University is given in Dutch basic research funding, and equals or exceeds the share in Dutch university students. Only two years ago, at the opening ceremony of the academic year, we formulated this as a long term goal. It has been very quickly achieved, which demonstrates the research strength of Maastricht University.
Research cooperation with industry is on the rise. We appreciate the recent (July 2005) decision by DSM to focus on innovation next door, in Geleen, partly in conjunction with Maastricht University. We appreciate the decision by Philips to create the Center for Molecular Medicine together with the Technical University Eindhoven and us. In both instances the cooperation with the Maastricht Academic Hospital has been strengthened, and the cooperation was substantiated in a new University Medical Centre. This cooperation will enter a new phase this academic year, when, by January 1, 2006, we aim to finalize a contract for the joint administration of both the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine, and the Academic Hospital. During the years 2006 and 2007, the two faculties will gradually merge. In that way we facilitate the emergence of graduate schools across both faculties and the Academic Hospital.
Our research cooperation with industry is further enhanced through the new cooperation in the Leading Technological Institute for Pharmacy and in the extended cooperation in the Wageningen Center for Food Sciences, the name of which we hope will be changed into the Dutch or International Center for Food Sciences, to express the substantial involvement of partners like Maastricht University.
The university is also engaged in other disciplines than health and medicine, by focusing its research in institutes, which can be national and international points of concentration for research on major societal issues. This is very much spurred on by the Government's drive to found and fund leading technological institutes and social top institutes with a formula in which social parties either industry or other commercial parties participate on an equal footing with the respective universities, with the Government matching the joint contribution of social parties and universities.
In this Academic Year we hope to see the participation of Maastricht University in a number of leading technological institutes and social top institutes.
Our research effort is strongly supported by the Province of Limburg. The University takes centre stage in the prospects for the future economic structure of the Province in the context of the Government Memorandum "Peaks in the Delta", including the so called "Acceleration Agenda" of the Province. We feel that it is part of our "raison d'être" to contribute to regional development. At the same time, we hope that the drive towards a regional knowledge economy can strengthen the absorption capacity of this region for our graduates.
Ladies and Gentlemen, let me conclude.
We feel privileged that so many students have chosen for a bachelors degree in Maastricht, making us the university with the largest growth in numbers of new students. We have more than met the targets set out in the strategic document in terms of the intake of first-year bachelor students, and are currently ranking no. 6 among the 14 Dutch universities in market share.
The present numbers of new master students are not yet in line with our strategic prospects. This was hardly to be expected, as many EU countries are not yet fully engaged in the bachelors/masters degree structure. The number of European masters students therefore is still in a state of flux. At the same time, in this academic year we will reflect on new initiatives for masters degree courses tuned to the tastes and preferences of students and the needs of society as well as our strong points in teaching and research. In this process we will keep in close contact with "like minded" partner universities in Europe, organized in and around a consortium in development, in which, provisionally, University College Dublin, the University of Kopenhagen, the University of Mannheim, the University of Toulouse and Warwick University participate. Also, the regional links with the University of Hasselt, with Liège and with Aachen will be important as a source of inspiration and potentially for the purpose of organizing joint degrees.
In other words: we have changed to accommodate the demands of globalization. So, do we then still need critical reflection on our existence, on our role in globalization, on our role in society? Yes, very much indeed. As Noreena Hertz will argue, there is much to be desired from our institution. We firmly believe that Maastricht University is reflecting on those desires and challenges. With another quote from Hirschhorn: "I will grapple with reality in all its complexity, massiveness and incomprehensibility ... I will be brave, I will not be lulled to sleep, I will work on and be happy.
I firmly believe that this quote from Hirschhorn will guide us, the management, faculty, staff and students of Maastricht University alike, in shaping our 'unique' future in the globalized world of tomorrow.
Thank you for your attention.