Research in Education

"Maastricht University belongs to the top PhD programs in the world with high internationally recognized standards".

Jeroen van Merriënboer, Research Director

Educational research is essential for finding new and better ways to educate doctors, nurses, physical therapists and other health professionals. The general aim of all SHE research, including the PhD programme, is to provide support for research and innovation in health professions education.

SHE Research Programme

SHE’s research programme 2018-2023 is called Task-Centered Learning Environments in the Health Professions. The programme has four main themes: (1) goals and values of and approaches to evaluation, (2) approaches to instruction, (3) approaches to assessment, and (4) approaches to implementation. The full description of the programme can be found here.

Research on education is crucial to increase our understanding about how to optimally educate health professionals in order to prepare them for the delivery of high-quality care within the dynamic context of the healthcare setting and to support innovations in education. Current instructional design approaches emphasize the importance of using task-centered learning environments within training programs, in which learners either work on professional tasks in the clinical workplace or on learning tasks based on professional problems in the educational institute.

SHE Research Assessment 2012-2017

In the Dutch university system, research programs need to be accredited each six years. The SHE research program has been assessed for the period 2012-2017, together with programs in the field of educational research from the University of Amsterdam, Utrecht University, the University of Groningen, the University of Leiden, the Open University of the Netherlands, and the national research school ICO. Research programs were assessed on three criteria: Research quality, Societal impact and Feasibility. We are very pleased with the outcomes of the assessment of the SHE research program: Excellent for Research quality, Excellent for Societal Impact, and Very Good for its feasibility. The full assessment report can be found here.

Research Programme, SHE Maastricht University

SHE Publications

phD Programme SHE Maastricht University

PhD Dissertations/Ongoing SHE Dissertations PhD projects

NEW SHE Dissertation Award

In our school, we have about 10 PhD candidates each year that defend their PhD Thesis. Many of these theses are of very high scientific quality. To honor our PhD candidates and to celebrate scientific progress in health professions education it has been decided to offer an annual SHE Dissertation Award for the best PhD thesis defended in a particular year. A jury has studied all theses that were defended in 2018 and, after careful consideration, selected one thesis for the SHE Dissertation Award 2018. The winner was announced at the SHE Gathering, which was organized parallel to the AMEE conference in Vienna. We congratulate Alina Smirnova with this great achievement. The next winner of the SHE Dissertation Award 2019. will be announced at AMEE 2020 in Glasgow

SHE Research Publications

SHE Presents

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Research in Education

Jeroen van Merriënboer, Research Director

SHE Research Programme

SHE Research Assessment 2012-2017

SHE Publications

PhD Dissertations/Ongoing SHE Dissertations PhD projects

NEW SHE Dissertation Award

SHE Research Publications

SHE Presents

SHE Presents 31.05.2016

SHE Presents 11.03.2016

SHE Presents 10.03.2016

SHE Presents 09.10.2015

SHE Presents 19.08.2015

SHE Presents 12.06.2015

SHE Presents 05.03.2015

SHE Presents 25.11.2014

SHE Presents 03.10.2014

SHE Presents 23.04.2014

SHE Presents 14.03.2014