News

Dani Shanley and Joshi Hogenboom on synthetic data, the pains and gains of interdisciplinarity, and why AI likely won’t release us from having to study the world we live in. 

Including in-depth interviews with colleagues who were brave enough to discuss their academic failures

On the 18th of April, the Fair & Smart Data (FSD) Spearhead hosted the second event of its farmer-centric data governance event series. The event, titled “The Business Case for Farmer-centric Data Governance in the Global South,” aimed to explore the desirability, feasibility, and viability of applying farmer-centric data governance principles in the data ecosystem. Through this event, FSD continued the important dialogue on shaping the future of farmer-centric data governance in agriculture.

The number of young adults in South Limburg continues to decline. The resulting labour shortages could lead to companies abandoning the region. UM’s international student population can offer a lifeline.

Researchers from across the world have mapped the genetic relationships of the majority of flowering plant genera. Maastricht University helped with this massive effort, which completes the evolutionary tree of life of plants like never before. The famous scientific journal Nature published their research this week.

An international research consortium, including NUTRIM researcher Zlatan Mujagic and other researchers from Maastricht, has investigated the effects of stress on the gut. At last, this research has unraveled how stress leads to worsening inflammatory bowel diseases. This knowledge opens doors for new treatments for IBD. The study was published in the leading journal Cell and recently summarized by Zlatan in the Dutch Journal of Medicine.

Healthy nutrition, sufficient exercise and cultural and talent development are important for the growth of every child. These key elements will be an integral part of every school day, thanks to the concept of Healthy Primary School of the Future. Maastricht University was one of the initiators of this concept.

When talking about the commons, it is worthwhile to go back into history of the commons. One historical landmark is the Magna Carta, established in 1215 ensuring the rights for people to access the woodlands for fuel and heating. Back in these days, the woodlands were what these days fossil fuels are, the material tool for survival. The traders and the bourgeoisie (the city people), wanted this part of the Magna Carta not to be mentioned. 

The surgeon who, defeated, leaves the operating room after hours of surgery, to tell the relatives that, unfortunately, the patient did not make it. This role, which most people only know from films and TV series, was one that vascular surgeon Michael Jacobs had to play more often in his career than he cared for. He never thought that he would also be assigned the role of patient. “All I thought was: I'm in the wrong movie. But I learned so much from it.” As he reaches the age of 67, he reflects on the 'four lives' he has had. And the fifth, which is about to begin.

According to sociologists Rolf van der Velden and Arie Glebbeek, education is in a deep crisis. More and more people are pursuing higher education in order to stay ahead of the rest, creating a veritable education race. Changes in education policy are not going to sufficiently turn the tide, the two warn in a recently published memorandum.