Every two years, FHML’s emeritus professors gather at thefaculty. This year’s gathering was dedicated to fifty years of FHML, featuring both a look back at the past fifty years and a look ahead to the future.

Before the programme got properly underway, the emeritus professors were welcomed with sandwiches and a cup of coffee.

Rijksuniversiteit Limburg

FHML Dean Annemie Schols took the emeritus professors on a journey back in time: to the founding of Rijksuniversiteit Limburg. The former professors supplemented the presentation with their own anecdotes. Why, for example, was the university’s name later changed to ‘Maastricht University’ and did ‘Limburg’ disappear? “That’s because of the famous Maastricht Treaty,” explained one of the emeritus professors. “Limburg wasn’t really well known at the time, but Maastricht was: even more so than Amsterdam.”

Key years for the faculty were highlighted, such as the start of construction in Randwyck. The dean asked the emeritus professors to raise their hands whenever an event was mentioned that they had physically attended. As the years progressed, more and more raised hands filled the hall.

Sputnik

A distinctive beep then rang out across the hall. “Who recognises this sound?”, asked Vice-Dean Pim Teunissen. He took the emeritus professors on a brief journey through history, beginning with the launch of Sputnik. Through a series of milestones, he demonstrated how education is constantly changing and evolving.

Ultimately, the journey led to the present day, with FHML as an innovator in the field of health and care education. The emeritus professors took the opportunity to ask questions, such as which universities inspire Pim when it comes to educational innovation.

AI and climate

How should we approach generative AI in education? And what are the consequences of climate change for our health? These questions were at the heart of the presentations given by Desirée Joosten-ten Brinke, Professorof Learning and Assessment at the School of Health Professions Education (SHE),and Hafez Ismaïli M’hamdi, Research Co-ordinator at the Climate Health Institute, respectively.

Groundbreaking technology and innovation

Six young researchers gave the emeritus professors a brief overview of their research projects. In five-minute pitches, Niels van Ingen, Jasmijn van der Vleuten, Lauren Reinders and Loes van Bemmel, Sophie van de Walle and Dorian Luijkx presented their work: from extracting valuable information from tears to detecting COPD in one’s voice.

The next fifty years

This gathering was, of course, organised to mark the FHML’s fifty-year history, but where does the faculty stand in the next fifty years?Annemie Schols posed this question, and the emeritus professors were invited to answer it.

They wrote down their thoughts on special cards and shared them with their former colleagues in the hall. The wish most frequently mentioned on the cards was for greater collaboration, both with the other faculties in Maastricht and with research institutes across Europe.

Exchanging ideas

At the end of the afternoon, the emeritus professors gathered for the traditional group photo. The drinks reception that followed provided a wonderful opportunity to catch up and exchange ideas, both amongst themselves and with the young researchers.

Text and photos by Joëlle van Wissen