Radboud University and Maastricht University plan to collaborate more intensively. A shared master’s programme in biotechnology will be established in Venlo, and the Radboud Teachers Academy will offer its services in Maastricht, reports rector Han van Krieken.

The concrete reason for the collaboration between Radboud University and Maastricht University is that both boards of directors consider it important to put the east and south-east regions of the Netherlands more solidly on the map, said Rector Magnificus Han van Krieken in a Zoom conversation. ‘This puts us in a stronger position vis-à-vis collaborations between universities in the Randstad.’

Do you have to impose top-down collaboration? Don’t scientists like to find their own partners?

‘That’s true. That is why we as executive boards did not immediately come up with such a collaboration statement. We prefer to let collaborations grow bottom-up, and where your chosen collaborator works doesn’t matter very much.

‘On the other hand, there have been more intensive collaborations with Maastricht in recent years, especially within the medical centres. For example, some departments fall under the same department head. Genetics has become a single centre, and my own field, pathology, is also collaborating on molecular diagnostics. That spurred us to say: let’s do more together, that is also good for our region. That kind of agreement can then act as a flywheel.’

Why is regional collaboration important?

‘We hope this will also allow the business community to be more attracted to our regions, especially the innovative companies. That is important for the university, but also for the province, for example. That is why we also work together with the provinces of Gelderland and Limburg, and they are very enthusiastic.’

Isn’t there already a lot of innovation in Nijmegen, such as on the Noviotech campus?

‘Certainly, but there could really be more. There are interesting opportunities – especially around technology.’

Aren’t Wageningen or Eindhoven more logical choices geographically than Maastricht?

‘Wageningen and Eindhoven have been working together with Utrecht University for a while. And the University of Twente has opted for the Vrije Universiteit.’

‘But apart from that, Maastricht University is an interesting partner anyway. For example, Maastricht University has a campus in Venlo, where, among other things, the master’s in Health Food Innovation Management is taught. There are already many innovative biotechnology companies at that location – the former Floriade site. They would like to see a master’s degree in that field, and we will now develop one together with Maastricht. We have a lot of biological knowledge, while the companies bring the technological expertise. Those companies are also ideal for internships.’

Do you think students want to go to Venlo?

‘We expect so. I drove there last week – it actually takes no time at all to get there from Nijmegen. Of course there are already Maastricht students there, and we hope that such a master’s degree will soon attract students from all over the country.’

There will also be collaboration on the teacher training.

‘That’s right. Maastricht does not yet have a teacher training, and there is a serious teacher shortage in South Limburg. We have agreed that students from our Radboud Teachers Academy (RTA, ed.) will also be able to do an internship in South Limburg; we expect this to be possible from the beginning of 2021. For students from Maastricht, this means that they can follow teacher training with us but do an internship in their own environment.’

So there will be no RTA extension programme in Maastricht?

‘For the time being, the training will remain here in Nijmegen. That is also easy, now that so much is online. Ultimately, we want students to be able to follow the training in Maastricht as well, but whether that happens in the form of an RTA extension or our own teacher training programme will be decided in the coming years.’