Established in 1974, Maastricht University (UM) is the most international university in the Netherlands, with almost 45% of the students and more than 30% of the teaching staff coming from abroad. The high standards of its teaching and research are reflected in rankings, e.g. Maastricht University, just 37 years old, climbed 82 places to 115th position in the 2012-13 Times Higher Education World University Rankings and has now grabbed a top 10 spot in the Times Higher Education 2013 ranking “100 Under 50”, occupying sixth place.

Maastricht University (UM) is known for its innovative Problem-Based Learning (PBL), its advanced research and its international orientation. As a ‘leading in learning’ university, UM is at the forefront of innovative teaching, and is embedded in a wide network of education professionals, academics and policy-makers. The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS) hosts the largest interdisciplinary European Studies program in the world. It is a leading centre of teaching and research in the field of EU studies. The project will be embedded at the faculty’s research centre “Politics and Culture in Europe” (PCE). PCE consists of some 30 active researchers, including two Jean Monnet chairs (Prof. T. Christiansen, Prof. S. Vanhoonacker) and several Marie Curie fellows. PCE members have attracted a long list of other fellowships and external grants at the national and the European level, including a Marie Curie Initial Training Network of 15 doctoral and post-doctoral researchers, a Jean Monnet Center of Excellence (Maastricht Centre for European Governance), a grant from the DG Home Affairs European Fund for the Integration of non-EU Immigrants, and prestigious grants by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), including a Vidi Grant and Research Talent grants. In a 2011 international research review, both FASoS and PCE received unanimous “excellent” and “very good” scores.