UM Awards 2016 presented to two employees
The UM Award, the prize that is presented annually to really committed employees, was presented to Len Cuppens and Bakir Bulić at the New Year’s reception on Monday January 9th. Len Cuppens is the longest serving beadle, who perfectly guides PhD defences and inaugural lectures. Bakir Bulić is a project manager at the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, who managed several projects of strategic importance for both UM and the Maastricht UMC+.
This year, 33 employees were nominated by their peers. The criterion for the award is that the nominee has distinguished himself or herself with an administrative, academic or service achievement, or a particular social merit. Chairman of the jury, Nick Bos who is also UM’s vice president, handed over the awards consisting of a dinner cheque of 500 Euros and a sculpture by the artist Desmaret.
Len Cuppens works at the Maastricht University Office, and is the driving force behind both Phd defense ceremonies and inaugural lectures. “She met the enormous growth in the number of PhD defences last year with a radiant smile and steered them in the right direction. With her tireless efforts, she gives many PhD candidates and professors a memorable day, while simultaneously brainstorming at all levels about how to further optimise academic sessions”, said Nick Bos.
(Len Cuppens was interviewed about her job for the UM website. You can find it, after scrolling a bit, here)
Bakir Bulić is a young UM alumn with an impressive service record. “He was of great importance for the strengthening of the natural sciences, the adaptation of the science concentration at UCM, the arrival of research groups M4i and MERLN, and the development of Chemelot InSciTe from the side of UM and MUMC +. Inter-faculty cooperation is his top priority and he has a perfect feel for politics”, said Nick Bos.
Visit his personal website