Exchange programme Japan
Akihabara, Tokyo
UM students head to Japan
for double degree By Graziella Runchina
Call it a kind of integration ritual. An extended introduction to Japanese traditions and customs, including soaking up culture in temples and shrines and attending a school festival in a kimono. This awaited the UM students of the European-Japan double master’s degree in Neuroscience (Edu-Neuro EU-JP) on their arrival in Japan. Initiated by the European Union, the programme in Biomedical Science and Neuroscience was launched in October 2013. “The partners are four European universities, including Maastricht University, and three Japanese universities”, explains Professor Harry Steinbusch, who
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founded the international exchange programme. Steinbusch is professor of Functional and Cellular Neuroscience and director of the School for Mental Health and Neuroscience (MHENS) at Maastricht University (UM). In his view, the project - which gives graduates both a Dutch and a
Japanese master’s title - provides an excellent springboard for UM students to serve as ambassadors in Japan. “They promote the AngloSaxon education system and give talks on the way we work at UM.”