Master Facility and Real Estate Management

08/06/2026

Samed is currently a full-time student in the Master in Facility and Real Estate Management, while also working in procurement, a combination that fits together surprisingly well.

"What I have enjoyed most about this Master is how practical it feels. Many of our exams and assignments are based on real-life cases, which means you are constantly working on situations that resemble what professionals face in the field. Rather than studying from a distance, it often feels like you are already part of the industry."

Read his full experience in the Master FREM on our website!

Samed is a fulltime master student en shares why he recommends the Master Facility and Real Estate Management to you!

28/05/2026

Hi everyone! My name is Babelot and I am currently enrolled in the Master in Facility and Real Estate Management (FREM). However, I follow this programme part-time, which means I have two years to complete my thesis. During the first year, I only have classes on Fridays, while Monday to Thursday I work at the Municipality of Maastricht in the Real Estate department.

I truly enjoy this master programme. I chose it because I wanted to deepen my knowledge of real estate. This year, the main focus was on facility and real estate assets, which proved to be a natural continuation of my Bachelor in Facility Management. The diversity of courses, combined with a great mix of lecturers and guest speakers, made the experience extremely valuable.

One of my favourite courses was Strategic Facility Management, which explored the strategic side of the field in greater depth. During my bachelor programme, I learned a lot about identifying problems and understanding their root causes. This master, however, takes it a step further: challenging you to question whether a problem truly exists in the first place, and if so, how to approach solving it.

11/05/2026

Hi everyone! My name is Merle, and I am currently studying the full-time Master in Facility and Real Estate Management (FREM). As I have recently started working on my thesis, this journey is already approaching its end. For my thesis, I am researching how FREM can stimulate physical activity in the office environment to enhance employee vitality, an exciting and highly relevant topic!

Looking back, I have truly enjoyed this programme. It offered a strong focus on the strategic side of facility and real estate management, which was a perfect follow-up to my Bachelor’s in Facility Management. The diversity of courses, combined with both lecturers and guest lectures, made the experience very valuable.

One of my favorite courses was Workspace Solutions, where we developed a workplace design for a real client using SketchUp. Thinking about office layouts, workplace concepts, and how to reflect an organization’s identity in a physical space is something I really enjoy and would love to pursue further in my career.

After completing the Master, I am currently exploring job opportunities in the region between Roermond and Eindhoven. So if you have any tips or suggestions, feel free to reach out!

21/04/2026

Last week, our students attended a guest lecture by Joop van Duren, one of the founders of the master’s programme. He specialises in facility management, real estate, procurement, and value creation. The focus of the session was on how to align, monitor, and predict performance in strategic real estate management. In other words, the session explored how to ensure that real estate strategies actually deliver on their promises.

Joop guided our students through the skills needed to develop strong strategies and tactical plans, with particular attention to creating added value within facilities. He has a real talent for unpacking complex ideas in a clear and structured way, and his sense of humour kept the session both engaging and enjoyable.

The literature he drew on supported the session particularly well. Students examined the key building blocks of a strong corporate real estate strategy and worked through different approaches and models for aligning corporate real estate with broader business objectives. They also explored how these strategies move from theory into practice, covering everything from the planning phase to implementation and performance evaluation.

Overall, it was a highly engaging session and a strong introduction to strategic thinking in corporate real estate.

Thank you, Joop, for sharing your insights!

16/04/2026

On April 10, our students visited the headquarters of dsm-firmenich in Maastricht. During the visit, they gained insight into how the company approaches its real estate and sustainability efforts.

The building is a combination of a renovated historic structure and a newly constructed extension. The renovation focused on improving sustainability, aiming to meet so-called ‘Paris Proof’ standards. The new-build section has been developed in line with high sustainability benchmarks, including BREEAM Outstanding and WELL Platinum.

DSM-Firmenich manages its real estate largely in-house. A dedicated real estate department is responsible for maintenance and operations, helping ensure that sustainability objectives continue beyond the initial delivery phase.

Beyond the building itself, the visit also highlighted the company’s activities in science and innovation, particularly in areas such as fragrance, taste, health, and nutrition.

Thank you to DSM-Firmenich for the visit and for sharing their approach.

26/03/2026

Last week our students had the pleasure of attending an online guest lecture by Monique Arkesteijn, who teaches Built Environment at the Faculty of Architecture, TU Delft.

In the first presentation, Making Value Defensible, Monique introduced alignment as a multi-valent relationship. Not a single connection, but a hierarchy of strength-related sub-relationships. It manifests in multiple forms: artefact → plan → process → state → behaviour, built on 4 building blocks and 15 components. The key insight: alignment is not just one thing, it is many, or all of these things at once.

In the second presentation she spoke about Corporate Real Estate Alignment & the PAS Model. She showed how organisations can better connect their real estate strategy to their corporate goals. Monique's solution is the PAS model: a structured procedure that moves CRE decision-making away from gut feeling to direct measurement of added value and preference, resulting in a transparent and evidence-based strategy.

Thank you for your insights Monique!

16/03/2026

Last Friday, students had a guest lecture during the Strategic Real Estate Management module. Dion Mevis, lecturer at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences at the Faculty of Facility Management, spoke about financial risk management and financial calculations in real estate with the Monte Carlo Analysis. This is a computerized mathematical technique that forecasts a range of possible outcomes for uncertain variables.

During the lecture, he explained the theory and directly showed how it can be applied in Excel, which made the calculations easier to understand.

Because the topics were previously discussed during the master's programme, it was good practice to see the concepts again and apply them in a different case. Overall, a productive and interactive guest lecture!

Thank you Dion, for your time and insights.

13/03/2026

Student for a Day

Hi my name is Annemarth! I had the opportunity to spend a day joining the programme, which was a really great experience! The day was enjoyable, educational, and it confirmed my choice to choose the master FREM.

The day started with meeting my buddy, who welcomed me on campus. She was very kind and guided me throughout the entire day. I was able to ask her all my questions. Then we had lunch, where I met all the other students. Everyone was very warm and welcoming. After that, I attended a guest lecture, where the speaker shared a lot of practical experience from his work. I found this very interesting, and I also liked that it made the material feel more realistic. At times we were also divided into small groups and encouraged to think about the topics ourselves. I had conversations with my buddy, the rest of the class and the lecturers.

This day made me even more enthusiastic and gave me a good idea of what the programme looks like, so I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to see if the Master FREM might be for you!

Are you interested in our programme? Join an online info session, or sign up to be a Student for a Day yourself! https://www.hotelschoolmaastricht.nl/en/master-FREM/opendays

23/02/2026

A couple of weeks ago, we visited House Modernes in Utrecht during a field trip. Read the experience of one of our students below.

"As I progress in my master's degree journey, I realize each day I made the right decision by choosing this programme. In the academic world, emphasis is often placed on theoretical knowledge. However, I am someone who learns by putting knowledge into practice and experiencing it in the field. That's why it's invaluable to me that our programme doesn't stay in the classroom, but is intertwined with the real world.

The Strategic Asset Management guest lecture given by Linda van Son-Bos and the subsequent visit to House Modernes are a concrete example of this approach. In class we analyze properties through complex Excel spreadsheets and financial reports. However, numbers alone are not enough to understand the value, risks and potential of a building. When we examined House Modernes, we learned that the concept of lettability is not just a mathematical ratio. We saw how the physical condition, location and atmosphere of the building can radically change strategic decisions.

These experiences prepare us for the reality of business life, not only theoretically but also with practical and strategic thinking skills. In my opinion, our greatest strength to solve the problems we will encounter in the future."

28/01/2026

Last week, during the class Strategic Asset Management, we had a guest lecture by Jos Hesselink. This lecture was about market dynamics and the importance for Real Estate investment.

Jos works at Cushman & Wakefield as an Associate Research Lead within the Real Estate Strategy & Innovation serviceline. As Research Lead, Jos is responsible for the daily management of the Research team, including data collection, data interpretation, and reporting on market developments and trends. He is trained as a social geographer and urban planner and has over 14 years of experience in the real estate sector and related research fields.

During the guest lecture, various topics related to the real estate market were discussed, such as the economic overview, offices, living, industrial & logistics, and retail. With questions from the students and links to actuality, it was a very interesting quest lecture.

The main message of his lecture was: While data is essential, it should never replace critical thinking. Trust and develop your own instincts, question the data you are presented with and remain critical of facts and the cost of capital.

Thank you for your time and inspiring lecture!