Claudia van Oppen new director University Library 

Dr. Claudia van Oppen was appointed as the new director of the University Library on 1 February. She succeeds Ingrid Wijk, who has found a new challenge within Maastricht University (UM) after working for 12 years as director of the library.  

As of May 2022, Claudia van Oppen already functioned in the role of acting director of the University Library and developed the strategy 2022-2026 ‘Towards the Academic Library of the Future’ together with library staff. 

Van Oppen: “With this new strategy as a basis, I am happy to look back on the past year with Highlights 2022 in which we as University Library present the projects and results we have worked on over the past year. 

Considering the further development of the library into an Academic Library of the Future, I take on this new challenge as director full of enthusiasm and motivation. I thank the Executive Board and UM colleagues for their trust and look forward to a wonderful collaboration.”   

New department manager for Research Support & Development  

Also on 1 February, Dr. Mariëlle Prevoo was appointed as the new department manager of Research Support & Development (RS&D) and UM’s Chief Open Science. 

Mariëlle Prevoo has been working as an Open Science officer at the library since 2019 to promote Open Science within UM. The University Library fulfills an important role in making scientific information available and, in this role, provides support for scientists in areas of the Open Science themes such as Open Access and Research Data Management. As Department Manager RS&D, Mariëlle Prevoo is motivated to give further direction to the library support of the various Open Science themes. 

In her role as Chief Open Science, Mariëlle Prevoo represents UM at the national Open Science meeting of the Universities of the Netherlands. In this meeting, Open Science topics are discussed where national cooperation can or must be achieved. 

Now that the UM Open Science policy 2022-2026 has been adopted, Prevoo starts her combined role as Department Manager of Research Support & Development and Chief Open Science. Prevoo: “Research Support & Development is essential to achieve the ambition of making Open Science the norm within UM. We want to support scientists in such a way that Open Science is not a hurdle to be taken, but a way of working that increases impact and transparency.”