Career
Career opportunities in Maastricht
Students who have graduated from a Maastricht university can apply to internship or workshop programmes and easily build their way into a successful company, such as BASF, Hewlett-Packard, Vodafone, Mercedes-Benz, DHL or CardioTek. The essential sectors of the economy of Maastricht are chemicals, life sciences and health, smart services, new energy, logistics, and leisure.
Employment opportunities are also available in international institutions, like Eurocontrol, European Journalism Centre, European Institute of Public Administration or European Centre for work and society.
Career events are organised regularly in universities and lead to opportunities for students to work even while studying.
Life
Maastricht city life
Maastricht offers students a vivid lifestyle, with festivals, small concerts and a range of coffee bars, restaurants, and other locals that enforce nightlife. But Maastricht is best known for its history. Some visiting recommendations are the Meuse River, the shopping streets ensemble Binnenstad, the old quarter Wyck, the modern neighbourhood Ceramique, or the old city fortifications. You can discover a lot of museums like Bonnefanten Museum, Museum aan het Vrijthof, Treasury of the Basilica of Saint Servatius or the Maastricht Natural History Museum.
The town also consists of parks and natural areas that help you gain your focus before an exam. Frontenpark, for example, incorporates parts of fortifications from 17th – 19th centuries.
Take advantage of the Dutch party lifestyle by participating in regular events and festivals like: the traditional three-day Carnival, Magic Maastricht a winter funfair and Christmas market, Jazz Maastricht, Bike racing festivals, and more.
The Maastricht stadium holds a football team, but one of the most famous names in sports is Maastricht Wildcats, a member of the American Football League.
International atmosphere in Maastricht
Today, Maastricht has become a welcoming place for international students who seek English universities in Europe. Here, you will find a multilingual society, thanks to the town’s location near the borders with Germany and Belgium.
Most of the visitors are not Dutch speakers, as locals speak English fluently, in keeping with the rest of the Netherlands. Also, French and German may sometimes be heard while walking through the tourist hotspots.
Universities gladly open their gates to students that aim for a degree abroad in the Netherlands and their number has now reached 5.700. Most international students come from Belgium, U.S.A., Germany, U.K. and France, but also Egypt, China, Romania and Yemen.
Weather Maastricht
Maastricht has warm summers and cold winters, due to the hills that surround the town. The average temperature is 2,7°C (37°F) in January and 19°C (66°F) in July.
Universities in Maastricht
Maastricht University (UM) is the most international university in the Netherlands and, with nearly 22,000 students and 4,400 employees, is still growing. The university distinguishes itself with its innovative education model, international character and multidisciplinary approach to research and education.
Zuyd is an ambitious university of applied sciences located in the heart of Europe, focusing on three core activities: education for students, research for companies and institutes, and training courses and study programmes for professionals.