by Professor Rianne Letschert, President of Maastricht University
The past year has been marked by turbulence: major international conflicts causing immense human suffering, and closer to home, a new government in The Hague implementing significant budget cuts for higher education alongside measures to limit the intake of international students.
In these uncertain times, Maastricht University remains committed to its core values: an open outlook across borders, open science, international collaboration, tolerance, and innovation in teaching and learning.
As an international university in an aging border region, we contribute to the broad prosperity and liveability of our Limburg province. For example, at our four Brightlands triple-helix campuses we address complex societal challenges by bringing together students, researchers and entrepreneurs.
Appropriate policies and an international orientation are essential to keep our region competitive and future-proof. As an academic community, we remain steadfast in our ambition to grow as the pre-eminent European university in the Netherlands with a solid global outlook.
Looking ahead, we nurture hope: for breakthroughs toward peace in some of the world’s conflict areas; for recognition of the value of our international identity for the region; and for a reversal of budget cuts and greater investment in education and research at the national and European level.
We remain dedicated to fostering collaboration within Europe and beyond. The exchange of thoughts with, and joint positioning of, like-minded young European universities united in YERUN remains important and I personally look forward to celebrating YERUN’s 10th anniversary and its achievements so far. The objective of raising the voice of young universities in education and research policy remains as important today as when we launched the YERUN network in 2015. I greatly appreciate the efforts of all colleagues involved in YERUN over the past year.
With these thoughts, we wish you a peaceful holiday season and inspiring New Year.
