Maastricht has secured the prestigious European Stroke Organisation Conference (ESOC) for May 2026, outmanoeuvring strong bids from other European cities.
The successful campaign was led by the Maastricht Convention Bureau and MECC Maastricht, with the great support of Professor Van Zwam.
The winning proposal was underpinned by the university’s internationally recognised stroke research, notably the MR CLEAN study led by Dr Wim van Zwam, which demonstrated the effectiveness of catheter treatment in acute strokes. The research, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, was hailed as “one of the most valuable clinical studies of the past 20 years.”
“Competition among European conference destinations is fierce,” said Jurgen Moors, director of the Maastricht Convention Bureau. “So you have to invest heavily in relationships and think very carefully about how we can position our region in a distinctive way.”
As reported by Maastricht University, the congress is expected to attract around 5,000 medical professionals from across the globe, significantly strengthening the region’s reputation as a knowledge hub for health sciences.