The Dean:

• operates on a mandate by and in strong cooperation with the Executive Board of the University, to which she/he reports. She/he is ultimately responsible and supervises the Faculty together with the Faculty board. The position of Dean bears integral responsibility, which means being responsible for the objectives in terms of education, research and societal impact, as well as for the financial, personnel and organisational solidity;
• provides guidance to the Faculty Board as Chair and is hierarchically responsible within the faculty;
• works closely together with the Executive Board and the Deans of the other five Faculties of Maastricht University to implement the overall strategy of the University;
• is a member of the Board of Deans which oversees academic quality and makes recommendations on research and education of the University;
• achieves support and mutual involvement within the Faculty by being visible to the staff and investing in an open and stimulating working environment throughout all departments of the faculty;
• establishes good relationships with the academic community and the Faculty representative advisory bodies (e.g. the Faculty Council);
• clearly communicates the strategic course of the Faculty in relation to the most important internal and external opportunities and risks, setting clear priorities in the process; knows how to maintain the balance between change and preserving what is already good;
• actively monitors the relationship between course and strategic personnel planning, including diversity;
• meets the Faculty objectives as they are described in the Faculty's long-term plan, together with the Faculty Board, department heads, programme directors and research institute directors;
• stimulates inclusiveness and interdisciplinary collaboration across the boundaries of the departments and schools;
• encourages employees’ own responsibility within the agreed framework of the Faculty, actively pushes to identify and utilise everyone’s talents and provides space for achieving results;
• pursues an active policy on the further development of the strategic vision on subsidy acquisition and external funding of research and education, and in the process also secures the financial position of the Faculty;
• contributes proactively and constructively to the management and strategic development of Maastricht University;
• invests in a strong representation of the Faculty and the University in the cooperation with external relations;
• is able to build and maintain an external network, with special attention to the (EU) region;
• invests in a coherent development of the various disciplines united in the Faculty in coordination and cooperation with fellow Deans in the country.

The Dean:

• is an academic of standing and as a professor enjoys national and international recognition within the faculty’s field of research and teaching;
• motivates, encourages and enthuses staff and students;
• has demonstrated good results in giving and coordinating education and setting up and maintaining education programs;
• is able to act as the faculty’s undisputed standard bearer at the internal and external levels, and has an eye for the diversity of research themes within the faculty;
• has a good understanding of developments in the field of teaching and research and recognises opportunities and possibilities for responding to these;
• has a visionary perspective on teaching, research and impact and is able to translate this into daily practice at the faculty, with an eye for the continuity of recently launched initiatives and activities;
• has broad administrative experience;
• promotes collaboration with the other UM faculties, other knowledge institutions and partners in the business community and government;
• takes responsibility for the development and implementation of the faculty strategy and visible co-responsibility for the development and implementation of the general UM strategy and UM policy;
• has a sound understanding of financial processes in the academic world and the various flows of funds occurring in this area;
• is internationally oriënted;
• has a mature vision of inclusivity within the university community;
• has a clear vision of leadership and career policy within the academic world;
• is a bridge builder and has an enterprising mindset;
• possesses excellent communication, (strategic) leadership and organisational skills.

The terms of employment of Maastricht University are set out in the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities (CAO). Furthermore, local UM provisions also apply. For more information look at the website http://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl > Support > UM employees.

Maastricht University

Maastricht University is renowned for its unique, innovative, problem-based learning system, which is characterised by a small-scale and student-oriented approach. Research at UM is characterised by a multidisciplinary and thematic approach, and is concentrated in research institutes and schools. Maastricht University has around 18,000 students and 4,300 employees. Reflecting the University’s strong international profile, a fair amount of both students and staff are from abroad. The University hosts six Faculties: Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Faculty of Law, School of Business and Economics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience.

Maastricht University is looking to appoint a new Dean of its Faculty Psychology and Neuroscience. The Dean holds ultimate responsibility for education, research and management of the Faculty and is expected to work closely with the Executive Board to develop and implement the strategy and vision of Maastricht University. The successful appointee will be an inspiring, passionate, transparent and collaborative leader with a visionary perspective on further developing the faculty’s profile and at the same time maintain its open culture.

The relatively young Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience (FPN, 1996) currently consists of about 2000 students and over 300 academic and support staff who work daily on education and research. The education within FPN is problem-based and receives excellent evaluations. Apart from the general bachelor psychology, the faculty facilitates various master programmes. The research, with a main focus on biological and cognitive psychology and neuroscience, is of an outstanding quality. Students and academics are supported by employees of the faculty office which consist of various teams like communication, Instrumental Engineering, ICT, Education office and research support.

The yearly budget of the faculty is around 30 million euro.