University | The Maastricht Diplomat

Dec 12

Unravelling Dutch Politics: What international students should know about the government and its education reforms

As every student has probably deduced from the amount of emails UM has sent out, Dutch universities are not particularly excited about...

Finding the Academic Compass: UM’s Treasure Hunt in the Spam Folder

Head Editor - Sarah Hourquet

Nov 16

Finding the Academic Compass: UM’s Treasure Hunt in the Spam Folder

Last Wednesday (13th of November), chilling at the library, scrolling and making space in my Outlook student email, I went to the ‘Other’...

Cancelled Protests in Utrecht: an Isolated Event or a Threat to the Right to Demonstrate in the Netherlands?

Léa Besnard

Nov 15

Cancelled Protests in Utrecht: an Isolated Event or a Threat to the Right to Demonstrate in the Netherlands?

The nationwide protest against a 1 billion cut in the 2025 Dutch budget for higher education and research, originally scheduled in...

One Year of Grief and Resistance: Maastricht’s Response

Sarah Hourquet - Editor in Chief & Raquel Ureña - Co-head of Audiovisual

Oct 11

One Year of Grief and Resistance: Maastricht’s Response

It has been a year since the Hamas attack on Israel, following one of the deadliest operations by the IDF the world has seen. At least...

All Eyes on Rafah Protest March (23.05) & UM Statement (24.05)

Claire Anderson

May 25

All Eyes on Rafah Protest March (23.05) & UM Statement (24.05)

A pro-Palestine march, put together by local organizations began at 7:00 p.m. directly in front of Maastricht Centraal Station on...

Maastricht Encampment Update: The different narratives surrounding its [fall / undoing]

Claire Anderson

May 23

Maastricht Encampment Update: The different narratives surrounding its [fall / undoing]

Wednesday, May 22, brought about multiple developments in regards to the Pro-Palestine solidarity encampment established by Maastricht...

‘Rafah’s Garden’: The Maastricht Encampment

Claire Anderson and Jan Pöhler

May 15

‘Rafah’s Garden’: The Maastricht Encampment

UM students enter hunger strike until demands are met by Claire Anderson and Jan Pöhler Six protestors at Maastricht University (UM) will...

The Results of This Year’s UM Council Elections

Sofia van Trooijen

Apr 26

The Results of This Year’s UM Council Elections

The student elections for the 2024-25 University Council and Faculty Councils took place between the 22nd and 25th of April. During this...

In Requiem of Student Politics - A Case Against NovUM

Jane Hilgert

Apr 20

In Requiem of Student Politics - A Case Against NovUM

The result of a three-year-long investigation into election fraud by NovUM and DOPE and the lack of actions by Maastricht University.

Vanille Villez

Apr 17

inside the UC: what will your vote do?

Whether it be free condoms or free coffee, the campaigning for the university council (UC) sure takes up a lot of space within buildings...

Autonoma’s protest at UCM in response to UM’s inaction about the Israel-Palestine conflict

Sarah Hourquet & Jessica Giovanella

Nov 12, 2023

Autonoma’s protest at UCM in response to UM’s inaction about the Israel-Palestine conflict

On Wednesday 1st of November 2023, three weeks after the re-eruption of hostilities in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and followed by...

Marta De Grandi

May 8, 2023

University Council Elections 2023

This year, the University elections will run from the 8th till the 11th of May. In the case of the University Council, all students are...

Chiara Matschuck

May 8, 2023

FASoS Faculty Council Elections 2023

We are in the beginning of May and you know what that means - this year´s student elections at Maastricht University are finally coming...

Lisa-Marie Feldstein

May 8, 2023

FPN Faculty Council Elections 2023

The time of the year has come once again: students vote the representatives for the University Council and the faculty councils! Voting...

Anthi Likitsakos

May 8, 2023

FHML Faculty Council Elections 2023

Want to have more of a say on what goes on in FHML? Exercise your right to vote this year from May 8th to 11th for this year’s online...

Sofia Van Trooijen

May 8, 2023

SBE Faculty Council Elections 2023

The upcoming elections for the next student members of the Faculty Council are taking place between May 8 (starting at 8:00) and May 11...

Esther Neville

May 8, 2023

Law Faculty Council Elections 2023

The elections this year are taking place from 8 to 11 May. The law Faculty has a very international environment with over 2500 students....

Laura Osterreith, Maya Müller-Perron & Mercure Libbrecht-Gourdet

May 8, 2023

FSE Faculty Council Elections 2023

NovUM NovUM is Maastricht’s fastest growing party, and represents the student body in every single Council at the University Council and...

“Maybe next year, try to do something about it”

Brendan Hogan & Peter Pelzer

May 20, 2022

“Maybe next year, try to do something about it”

Esther Versluis, the Chair of the Election Board opened up the election results ceremony by asking for a round of applause and...

Brendan Hogan & Peter Pelzer

May 15, 2022

FPN Faculty Council elections 2022

The Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience has one of the smaller Faculty Councils at Maastricht University with just five student...

Valentina Giolli

May 14, 2022

SBE Faculty Council Elections 2022

The upcoming elections between the 16th to 19th of May will decide next year’s SBE Faculty Council members. The Faculty Council is the...

Brendan Hogan

May 14, 2022

FHML Faculty Council Elections 2022

It’s that time of year again, from the 16th until the 19th of May you will be able to cast your votes in the online student elections....

Anthi Likitsakos

May 13, 2022

University Council elections 2022

From the 16th to the 19th of May, Maastricht University holds online elections for the University’s Council. These elections are open to...

Leilani Radaideh

May 13, 2022

Law Faculty Council elections 2022

The elections this year for the Faculty Council are taking place from 16 to 19 May. The Law Faculty attracts students from all over the...

Lee-Ann Lichtenberger

May 13, 2022

FASoS Faculty Council Elections 2022

Another year, another round of FASoS student elections. But what exactly are these elections about? Well, I’m here to give you an...

Mercure Libbrecht Gourdet

May 13, 2022

FSE Faculty Council Elections 2022

Faculty Council Students The Faculty of Science and Engineering, which consists of the Maastricht Science Program, the Department of Data...

Dear Diary, I want to be elected to the University Council…

Guest Writer

May 11, 2022

Dear Diary, I want to be elected to the University Council…

Why did I decide to participate in the elections at the University of Maastricht? I was born in a country of Eastern Europe, lived there...

What it means to be a climate activist during the Covid-19 pandemic

Lee-Ann Lichtenberger

Apr 20, 2022

What it means to be a climate activist during the Covid-19 pandemic

Lockdown. People can only leave their homes for emergencies. Large events are prohibited. The immense momentum of the 2019 Fridays for...

Voices of the ‘Uni-cipality’: What do student political parties think about the local elections?

Brendan Hogan & Peter Pelzer

Mar 13, 2022

Voices of the ‘Uni-cipality’: What do student political parties think about the local elections?

From 14 to 16 March, municipalities all over the Netherlands call their residents to the polls to elect their municipal councils for the...

Study life has moved online and created an edu-business

Katherina Petersen

Feb 25, 2022

Study life has moved online and created an edu-business

8 AM: in which room is your class? 1 PM: what do you need to read for tomorrow? 4PM: have you gotten confirmation about the exchange for...

Dating in Maastricht: 5 crucial steps to master relationships

Leilani Radaideh

Feb 14, 2022

Dating in Maastricht: 5 crucial steps to master relationships

Ah, so you’ve caught feelings for that one person in your tutorial group months ago, and seeing them again at the resit really set your...

Housing in Maastricht: A Human Right Being Sold Off

Ana Navarro Bullo & Mercure Libbrecht Gourdet

Dec 12, 2021

Housing in Maastricht: A Human Right Being Sold Off

Travel or you’ll become racist, And you’ll end up believing That your skin is the only one that is right That your language is the most...

SBE Faculty Council Elections 2021: a brief synopsis on the parties

Dan Edwards

May 14, 2021

SBE Faculty Council Elections 2021: a brief synopsis on the parties

The decision for the SBE Faculty Council next year is set to be decided in the upcoming election between 17th to 20th May. The Faculty...

Law Faculty Council elections 2021: all the parties, all the programmes, all the networks

Peter Pelzer

May 14, 2021

Law Faculty Council elections 2021: all the parties, all the programmes, all the networks

The Faculty Council of the law faculty is up for re-election between the 17th and 20th May. The Faculty Council has twelve members, six...

Teresa Costa

May 13, 2021

FSE Faculty Council elections 2021

The elections for the FSE faculty council are taking place between the 17th and the 20th of May 2021. The FSE faculty (Faculty of Science...

FPN Faculty council elections 2021: All the parties looking for your vote

Brendan Hogan

May 13, 2021

FPN Faculty council elections 2021: All the parties looking for your vote

The elections are coming up and FPN is not exempt from this process, with students and staff heading to the polls (from the comfort of...

Valentina Couceiro

May 12, 2021

FHML Faculty Council elections 2021

The Council of the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences (FHML) is up for re-election between 17 and 20 May. The FHML Council has...

FASoS Faculty Elections 2021: the parties, their programs and the candidates

Jan Haverman

May 11, 2021

FASoS Faculty Elections 2021: the parties, their programs and the candidates

With a voter turnout of 23,120%, last year’s faculty elections seemed to go by unnoticed. This was not only the case for the Faculty of...

University of Maastricht Student Council Elections

Head Editor

May 10, 2021

University of Maastricht Student Council Elections

The University of Maastricht Student Council, a separate entity to the faculty-specific councils, is approaching re-election time. These...

Pan-European, pragmatic, and progressive – Volt Maastricht

Marence Jurgens

Apr 28, 2021

Pan-European, pragmatic, and progressive – Volt Maastricht

A while ago I had the privilege to meet with Konrad von Klitzing (City Lead Volt Maastricht). He shared with me his views on politics, wh...

The Backbone of the United Students of Maastricht: In Dialogue with the Party’s Founder.

Paula Cepeda Gallo

Apr 13, 2021

The Backbone of the United Students of Maastricht: In Dialogue with the Party’s Founder.

As Maastricht University boasts a reputation as the most international university in the Netherlands, it is interesting to note that...

Jan Haverman

Mar 28, 2021

DOPE: Large, Pragmatic and Dutch

Maastricht's biggest student party demands the best possible education, even in Covid times. When Rozemarijn Kahle (second year student...

Feb 28, 2021

The Delicacy of Quoting The N-Word

The n-word is the kind of language that you would never imagine that you can hear in a liberal bubble like University College Maastricht...

Valentina Couceiro

Feb 17, 2021

NovUM: New and Unprecedented?

New, fresh, novel, unusual, and unprecedented; that is what Novum means in Latin. Would the party NovUM at UM represent the same values?...

Teresa Costa

Jan 30, 2021

MD gets to know the KAN Party

The Maastricht Diplomat recently interviewed Friederike Leppert, on behalf of KAN (Klimaat Actie Netwerk or Climate Action Network)...

Charelle Abdallah

Dec 5, 2020

Homesickness in Times of Corona

Moving to the Netherlands has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, but it surely has had its difficulties. A lot of...

Peter Pelzer

Nov 11, 2020

Student Politics 101

Right now, as you are sipping your cup of tea, someone is out there in the bureaucratic wilderness representing you..

Head Editor

May 20, 2020

A New Voice in the Times of Rona

A New Voice in the Times of Rona Ezekiel Stevens – KAN Michael Keith – Upon meeting Ezekiel Stevens, a second-year physics student from...

What is happening to the value of my degree?

Head Editor

Dec 17, 2019

What is happening to the value of my degree?

As exams are nearly on our doorstep, the flow of students in the library has dramatically increased which is not a surprise to anyone who...

Head Editor

Feb 25, 2019

When Stress Takes Over

Mia Rose Penn Mental Health is a Bigger Issue in Maastricht Than You Might Think In the last few years, mental health problems have been...