Franz Palm is an international authority in the field of econometrics, specialising the econometrics of time sequences and panel information. His contributions towards multivariate time sequence analysis have been crucial for understanding and predicting economic developments. Together with colleague Bertrand Candelon, he -for example- predicted that Greece would become problematic for the EU in a 2010 edition of the Dutch magazine De Economist.

In 2000 Franz Palm became a member of the KNAW and in 2005 he became a KNAW academy professor. In addition to his scientific efforts, he serves as an advisor to organisations such as DSM and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. He also trained many talented young scientists; the scientific future of Maastricht University's School of Business and Economics.

Belgian artist Fred Eerdekens created the art piece for the lecture hall. The piece spells out the word “Unpredictable”, though the word can only be seen when you look at it from a specific angle.