History

About MMSRC

In 1996, several research-minded students established the MMSRC foundation. The main goal of the foundation is to create an environment in which students are given the opportunity to present their research through oral and poster presentation to an audience consisting of fellow students. For both the presenting and the listening students the conference became a great learning experience and therefore a good preparation for the rest of their professional career.

The first conference, held in 1997, focused entirely on Dutch students and especially those at Maastricht University. Very soon though, the focus shifted towards an international conference. The number of foreign speakers increased and so did the number of international visitors. This resulted in a conference which is visited nowadays by students from all over Europe.

Every year the new organising committee’s objective is to maintain the successful aspects of former years, while adding their own colourful details to the day.

Honourary members

The Maastricht Medical Students Research Conference has existed for more than 15 years and during this time, there have been several people who played an important role in the growth and development of the conference. To honour these people for their shown support, the MMSRC foundation may decide to grant them the title of Honourary Member.

Honourary Member 2011

Prof. Luc Snoeckx, PhD
Head of Jury 2002-2010
Head of Scientific Advisory Board 2002-2010

Luc H.E.H. Snoeckx conducted scientific research at the cardio-vascular department of the Janssen Research Foundation in Beerse (Belgium) between 1969 and 1976. In between, he finished his master of Science education at the Universitaire Instelling Antwerpen (Belgium). Between 1982-1987 he was a PhD student at the Department of Physiology at the Faculty of Medicine at Maastricht University (the Netherlands) on the thesis ‘Ischemia tolerance of the hyperthropied rat heart’. In the same period (1983-1986), he finished his education as medical physiologist and instructed General Physiology at the Midwifes School in Heerlen (The Netherlands).

In 1988 he became assistant professor at Maastricht University and started a research group which concentrated upon haemodynamic and biochemical investigation of ischemic damage in the pathologically enlarged mammalian heart. In 1990 he received a two-years research grant from the Niels Stensen Foundation and studied molecular biology at Institut Natinonal de Santé et Recherche Médical (INSERM U-127) in Paris. In 1996 he became associate professor at the Department of Physiology at Maastricht University, and in 1997 professor of Physiology at the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology. He has always been interested in the physiological role of heat shock proteins in tissues and their role in protecting tissues against threatening situations. Aside from that, he conducts research aiming at constructing artificial tissue engineered blood vessels.

Luc Snoeckx has a large affinity for the scientific aspects of the medical education. Therefore he initiated the ‘Research Traject in Medicine’, currently called the Honours Programme at the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences (FHML) of Maastricht University. In this program students receive supplementary education in performing scientific research via long-term participation in research projects at one of the research institutes of Maastricht University. Since 2002 he had been the chairman of the scientific board and jury of the MMSRC and since 2005 he had been the chairman of the planning group of the sixth and last year of the medical curriculum in which students participate in two training projects, one in scientific research and one in patient care. Since 2007 Luc Snoeckx had been the overall coordinator of the planning group of Education of Clinical Investigator at the Master Program A‑KO of the FHML. Prof. Snoeckx retired in 2011.

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