Study Locations in Maastricht
January 2021 — By Bella Brüning
Studying at home can be nice — but sometimes you just want to get out and study in another setting. Or you are like me and can’t quite concentrate when studying in your own room. This is why it is crucial to know about the different study locations in Maastricht. In this post I am going to tell you about them and you can make sure to try them all to find your favorite!
University Study Places
Maastricht University offers different places to study, such as the Inner-City library and the Tapijn Kazerne on the West side of the city, as well as the Randwyck Library and the Paul-Henri Spaaklaan learning spaces on the east side. While the number of spots available to students is limited due to the anti-COVID measures, these locations are still open to students, as long as they maintain all the precautionary measures implemented by UM. This means checking in with your UM card, sanitizing your hands as you enter a building, wearing your face mask while walking through the building, and sanitize your workstation before and after using it. A small contribution which goes a long way in slowing down COVID-19.
Almost all study locations have a coffee place where you can buy yourself lunch or a snack. Furthermore, all of the university spaces are designed to fulfill your study needs. For example, there are group rooms so that you and your group can quietly work together on a facilitation or a group project. Besides that, the facilities offer quiet rooms and silent rooms if you want to be in an environment without noise distraction. The group rooms and some of the university rooms can be booked by students through the student portal to make sure that the room is available when needed.
Inner City Library (ICL)
The Inner City Library is probably the most obvious place to go to study — right in the heart of Maastricht. The ICL offers everything you need — group rooms, silent rooms, computer places and even a ‘Mindfulnest’ — a cabin where you can nestle down and relax. Here, you can catch your breath, listen to the meditation and mindfulness exercises offered, sit in silence or use your own meditation app. Also, since this location is in the middle of the city center, great spots to get lunch are really close by!
Tapijn
Tapijn, formerly known as Tapijnkazerne, used to be a military base and is equipped with two lecture halls, teaching rooms to support Problem-Based Learning and learning spaces for students. This is a really important building since most of your courses as a master student will take place here! This space is great because the design is modern and you can decide between silent rooms, group rooms or little booths beside the aisles! When you click here you can find a tour of the building!
Tapijn Loods V
Close to the main Tapijn building are the “Tapijn Loods V”, a building which also offers study places and cool couches to hang out on! I like that the atmosphere is not as formal and you feel more like in your living room. They even have a microwave and a small kitchen so you can prepare your lunch and eat it on a sofa!
Randwyck library
The Randwyck library offers similar facilities to the ICL and has over 300 study places. This place can be nice if you live closer to it than to the ICL or if you want a change in location some time!
Paul-Henri Spaak Learning Spaces
This new building of Maastricht University is quite unknown to current students, but it’s surely becoming more popular! It opened its doors to students this year, and the building hosts students from the Maastricht Science Program and the Data Engineering department. Suitable to host up to 100 students and equipped with amazing facilities (check out this article to see what I’m talking about), the Paul-Henri Spaak is a nice addition to the Randwyck study spaces.
Student Hotel lobby
This location might not be that obvious — a lobby to study in? However, during most exam periods the lobby is available 24/7 for all UM students for studying which is great for an all-nighter! The lobby is a safe environment and has a good WIFI connection.
Of course there are plenty of other spaces to study at — these were just my favorites! If you want to know more about all the locations at the University, make sure to check out the virtual campus tour. Also, most of the time several cafes offer students the opportunity to stay and study there. So when you come to Maastricht, you can find your personal favorite spot out of all of these! I hope this blog helped you a bit and as always, feel free to ask me any question!
Best,
Bella
