Photo by www.ICreatemotionStudio.com

T

he Rector, Prof. Juanito Camilleri, had a dream about the future direction of the University of Malta (UoM) that he outlined in the publication 2020 Vision or Optical Illusion. The document is full of strategy plans to transform the UoM, a vision whose fruit is being seen today. This article looks at some of the transformations that have turned ideas into reality.

The first section regards the creation of four new faculties and the substantial realignment of another. The second talks about the formation of several new institutes, centres, and a school, which reflect that interdisciplinarity that seems to be the hallmark of a dynamic, forward-looking university today.

The Faculties

A healthy profession

The Faculty of Health Sciences was born out of the Institute of Healthcare (IHC) which started up in the early 1990s to put nursing and other associated health care areas on a professional footing. Eventually, in 2010, the IHC became one of the first new faculties to be created under Prof. Camilleri’s rectorship and included ten departments. The IHC always had a very close relationship with the government’s Department of Health but the creation of the Faculty drew it more within the University’s structures. The new Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre (SAMOC, Mater Dei Hospital) catalysed the recent creation of a new department and area of study. The Department of Medical Physics was set up with its graduate students sent to train in the UK. SAMOC needed radiotherapists, who are now trained by the Department of Radiography through the Radiotherapy course with students sent to Wales for part of their training. Both opportunities are partly financed by the government.

The Faculty cares for the country’s health. It trains the nation’s dieticians and nutritionists (Department of Food Studies), both popular professions and necessary on islands ranking very high on the obesity index, such as Malta. Apart from the body, the mind has now been given more importance thanks to the setting up of a Mental Health Department.

‘Research is booming,’ says the Dean, Prof. Angela Xuereb with pride. Some 76 research articles have been published this year, while research student numbers have increased to 27 masters and 17 doctoral students, with the Malta Journal of Health Sciences also having been launched in April 2014. The Faculty has succeeded in applying for, and receiving, millions of euro in EU funding. ‘Being a faculty has made things possible and […] has led to [the achievement of] concrete results,’ says Prof. Xuereb.

Concretely innovative

The UoM’s star building is the new Faculty of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The Board of IT, set up in 1994, sat between the Faculties of Science and Engineering and in 2007 the Faculty of ICT was launched, but it quickly outgrew its original home and a new venue was proposed (see pg 86 for more).

The EU-funded building cost €17million. ‘It is a great space,’ says its Dean, Prof. Ernest Cachia, ‘which has changed the whole ethos of the faculty.’ The Faculty of ICT is designed to provide places for students and staff to meet up, as well as hot-desking areas for postgraduates, and new computer laboratories. All these pros lead to more students applying for courses, and more EU-funded research projects.

The Faculty of ICT Building. Photo by Jean Claude Vancel

The new building has impressed industry and is being used as a venue to launch innovative products while collaborating on research projects. Collaborative research projects help train the next generation of employees. ‘Most students have a job even before they finish the course,’ says Cachia ruefully. ‘Priority is given to creating and maintaining a faculty with a soul […]. What we are looking to do is to motivate our students to stay versatile and to become sought-after employees, creative innovators, or better still, employers.’

From ICT to wellbeing

One of the most challenging faculties to bring together was the Faculty of Social Wellbeing. When the discussions about this new Faculty began many declared an emphatic ‘Forget it! It is not going to work!’ They were proved wrong. The Faculty’s Dean, Prof. Maureen Cole, appears the epitome of calm and composure but even she admits moments of doubt.

Since then, wellbeing has become a buzzword which, says the Dean, ‘indicates a holistic and non-pathologising approach.’ These academics research the essence of human existence: gender, criminology, psychology, social policy and social work, counselling, youth and community, gerontology, the family, and disability. The research is diverse but also positive, from building resilience in schoolchildren to exploring sexual health.

The Dean would like the Faculty to be housed in one building. ‘I think this is our biggest challenge at present—keeping us all united.’ The new home is planned but still in fieri. To overcome this, Cole has instituted several measures to help keep the Faculty together. She introduced committees for strategic planning and community engagement, seminars, research scholarships, awards, and publications—a slew of activities to encourage the departments to work together, especially to contribute to Maltese communities.

Foyer of the building housing the Faculty for Media and Knowledge Sciences.
Photo by www.iCreatemotionStudio.com

The media and so much more

Another new faculty arose from the Centre for Communication Technology. By the mid-noughties the number of students enrolling in the Centre was too big to handle. A solution was needed. In 2011 the Faculty of Media and Knowledge Sciences was born, incorporating the Departments of Cognitive Science, Corporate Communication, Digital Arts, Library Information and Archive Sciences, Media and Communications, and Information Policy and Governance. A Faculty for Media and Knowledge Sciences was a first in Europe. The diverse departments are ‘all linked to the creation and dissemination of knowledge—how knowledge is shared and stored, and how we process information, including through digital arts,’ points out Dean Prof. Noellie Brockdorff. The Faculty had to be rebuilt from the inside out, with two new floors added. The attention paid to detail was incredible: staff oversaw the design, colour schemes, furniture, and the building’s functionality. Because of the new facilities, the Faculty recently attracted €1.2 million in EU funding—a good return on investment.

Brockdorff emphasises human interaction. She would like to create hot-desking facilities for postdoctoral researchers and places where postgraduates and academics can mingle as she thinks it helps develop a sense of belonging and sharing of ideas. Brockdorff is pushing her Faculty to develop more Master degree courses and to increase doctoral student numbers—their first graduated last December.

Not just a name change

Some eight years ago, when Prof. Alex Torpiano became Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering, about 60 to 70 students were graduating each year. When he joined, the Faculty evaluated itself to see what it needed to offer students in the 21st century. Because of these changes, now hundreds graduate every year. ‘It was decided,’ the Dean recalls, ‘that we should encourage students to look beyond architecture and civil engineering […] and increase the content of each discipline.’ With the 2008 restructuring plan it became clear to Torpiano that the name of the Faculty itself limited their scope. Planning was becoming more important, conservation as well. The Faculty was reinvented as the Faculty for the Built Environment, even though this name was not immediately accepted. There are now seven departments, ranging from Conservation and Built Heritage to Construction and Property Management and the Visual Arts. At present, the students are going through the first six-year cycle that ends with a two-year Master degree. Torpiano is convinced that the flexibility of the course will offer the widest possible choices in an area that needs diverse skills and knowledge. Not every student starting the course will necessarily wish to become a warranted architect but if a student decides to stop at any stage they will still have a valuable qualification.

Changing course

Art installation by Lisa Spiteri and Andrew Darmanin as exhibited
in FLOAT (2015)
Photo by Mark Casha

Within the Faculty of Laws, as from October 2016, the Diploma of Notary Public and the Doctor of Laws courses will be replaced with Master courses in the respective subjects. After successfully completing a four-year Bachelor degree in Law, students may opt for one of these postgraduate courses on track for professional entry for notaries or advocates. Other postgraduate specialisations up to Ph.D. level degrees will now also be offered. Similarly, teacher education has recently undergone a reform in Malta. The Faculty of Education has introduced a two-year Master in Teaching &Learning (MTL). This course replaces the previous teaching routes, which included a first-cycle degree or a Post Graduate Certificate in Education. On completion of this Master degree, graduates can teach at Primary and Secondary level and are fully qualified in the pedagogical content knowledge of their area of specialisation. Studies have shown that teachers’ professional preparation is key in the improvement of educational standards. The MTL course will open for the first time in October 2016.

The UoM offers undergraduate degrees in most subjects to fulfill the basic needs of the country. On the other hand, through its institutes, centres, and schools, it tries to offer specialised postgraduate degrees in areas of local or world-importance.

institutes, centres, and a school

Cast sculpture houses by the Diploma in Design Foundations Exhibition
Photo by Mark Casha

Let’s game

Apart from pushing for new faculties, the Rector emphasised innovation through specialised institutes and centres. Take digital games, for instance: Prof. Gordon Calleja moved from the world-leading IT-University of Copenhagen, along with a number of other researchers, to set up the Institute of Digital Games in Malta. Practically overnight, Malta became a hub for digital game research in areas ranging from games that adapt to their players, to games that can make games, to game philosophy and art.

The Institute offers a Master degree in Digital Games, which has two streams, a technological stream and a more humanities–leaning stream so that undergraduates in practically any subject—and with a love for the virtual world—can find a place on the course. Both teaching and research take place at the Institute as well as in other University areas such as the Department of English, the School of Performing Arts, ICT, and Engineering. Even some medics come down from Mater Dei Hospital to train at the Institute.

‘Projects and outreach efforts enrich the Institute with new talent, new ideas,’ says Calleja. The professor feels the games industry in Malta needs to be homegrown by smaller companies. This system is more difficult initially but more sustainable in the long run. Larger companies tend to come and go depending on what benefits the company as a whole. Locally grown companies are more loyal. As Calleja puts it, ‘we need stickiness and an international reputation. This leads to more students, better incubation, further funding, and with a strong reputation we can start to advise on policy.’ The Institute also makes sure it is visible wherever possible, participating in career fairs, the Science in the City science and arts festival, the Notte Bianca cultural festival, to name a few. The Institute has also introduced Malta to indie games, creating a community around them.

The Institute’s biggest activity is the Malta Global Game Jam, the local chapter for a creative event where participants team up to make a playable game in 48 hours. The event has brought people from all over the world to Malta to participate.

Tourism culture

The Game Jam is one way through which Malta attracts tourists but the University has other channels through which it does so. In 2010, the Institute for Tourism, Travel and Culture was established due to the sector’s importance to Malta’s economy at around 25% of GDP (data taken from The Contribution of the Tourism Industry to the Maltese Economy report prepared by E-Cubed Consultants, March 2015). The Institute’s Director, Prof. Andrew Jones says, ‘we are a small entity but we certainly punch above our weight.’ The ITTC provides undergraduate and postgraduate courses, and participates in EU projects —all with a staff of seven. Jones saw the need for a good strategy plan to give the institute direction. The analysis enabled the ITTC to move forward in the appropriate areas. Together with the School of Performing Arts, they developed a joint Master degree in Event Management.

‘Internationally,’ Jones points out, ‘the University of Glasgow is interested in leading an EU programme to develop a joint Master degree in Sustainable Cultural Tourism. ‘What we need to do,’ says Jones, ‘is to look at what we do and then try to do it more cleverly.’ This is because the Institute has limited financial and human resources. ‘The UK tertiary institutions have a commercial goal, which necessitates collaboration courses which are meaningful and robust. We need to do the same and get more collaborators on board.’

Bionic human

Malta Global Game Jam 2015

In 2011, electronics engineer Prof. Ing. Kenneth Camilleri set up the Centre for Biomedical Cybernetics, fusing the subjects of engineering, ICT, natural sciences, medicine, and health sciences. The Centre brings all these disciplines together with the latest technology in an applied way. Cybernetics is the science of communications and automated systems in both machines and living things. ‘So if there is a data collector and data processing,’ comments Camilleri, ‘cybernetics is there.’

The Centre’s research links humans and machines. Many of its projects focus on human health. With electronics measuring brain activity and computers interpreting this information to carry out actions like moving a cursor on a screen simply by looking at different parts of the screen, or moving a wheelchair by thinking about it—the possibilities are endless. By working with doctors, the Centre is looking into identifying diabetes by heat sensors alone. This Centre’s aim is to develop cheap automated alternatives to high-end technology using clever algorithms in order to enable those who have some form of disability. Apart from this dream, Camilleri envisions a new type of academic: a new breed who fuses clinical expertise with engineering skills. ‘This [goal] will inevitably [be achieved] with the kind of sophistication built into today’s equipment.’ Towards this aim, the Centre offers an M.Sc. in Cybernetics and is developing postgraduate research programmes. Camilleri wants physicians, engineers, and other academics to collaborate in resolving the challenges of today’s society.

powering the future

A major challenge is developing clean energy sources. To advance these solutions, the Institute for Sustainable Energy was recently consolidated off-campus in the Island’s south. Lack of equipment had previously held back its research. Four years ago, Institute Director Prof. Luciano Mulé Stagno, sought funding for a solar research lab. The resulting €5 million EU, ERDF funding helped transform the Institute into one of the best-equipped labs in Europe. Microscopes, furnaces, wet testing facilities, and other equipment are now attracting international attention.

Mulé Stagno is eager to develop international collaborations. ‘Cutting edge research projects will probably come from overseas,’ but he hopes local companies will also benefit. Thinking ahead, he aims to create a nucleus of sustainable energy leaders by collaborating with architects and scientists. ‘The ultimate goal is the analysis of research materials in sustainable energy: wind, bio fuels, and transport.’ The wheel has started to turn; now it needs to be pushed down the hill.

A changing world

Another world problem is human-caused climate change. To solve this issue the Institute for Climate Change and Sustainable Development was set up. As a group of islands in the centre of the Mediterranean, climate change and the accompanying sea level rise are pertinent issues for the Maltese Islands. The Institute brings together researchers from many different disciplines to look into the social change that climate change will bring.

Sustainable development is a worldwide goal. Institute Director Prof. Maria Attard realised that her limited team could not tackle these major world problems head-on so she homed in on key issues in Malta: transport and sustainable mobility. Malta suffers from heavy traffic: the largest pollution source. Owing to her efforts, Malta is now involved in major networks, with international research collaborations hosting conferences in sustainable transport and climate change.

Flying High

One of the most significant transport polluters are airplanes. Malta is involved, through the Institute of Aerospace Technologies (led by Director, Prof. Ing. David Zammit Mangion), in the largest studies ever conducted to minimise aviation pollution. The research is EU funded and brings together industry partners, research centres, and other universities. Apart from research into the highest environmental standards, the Institute aims to focus on avionics, flight operations, flight simulation, aerospace systems and other special areas based on three pillars: teaching, research, and national matters.

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) — malta.skatelescope.org

reaching for the stars

An alternative form of transport is space travel. Even a small country like Malta has space ambitions. Prof. Kristian Zarb Adami dreamed big, and was responsible for the setting up of a Space Sciences and Astronomy Institute [ISSA] at the UoM in 2014. This Institute brings physicists, engineers, and ICT specialists together. Engineer Dr Alessio Magro leads the biggest project that ISSA is working on: the Square Kilometre Array [SKA] sees thousands of telescopes being built in South Africa with parts of the project in Australia to create a globally connected telescope. ISSA is involved in designing the antennas and the digital processing systems needed to crunch the massive data produced by SKA.

‘The project is an international collaboration,’ says cosmologist Dr Jackson Levi Said (also part of ISSA), ‘but dedicated meetings and international conferences are not enough. You really need to have a solid base on campus where you are talking to your colleagues face to face.’ Magro expands on this, noting that ‘at ISSA we have a Ph.D. student who read Biology and Chemistry but he is passionate about the subject and is prepared to extend his skills set. ISSA will give him access to diverse areas. A problem-solving aptitude is probably our students’ key skill.’

Apart from the SKA, ISSA runs Master and other postgraduate research. Magro’s work in radio astronomy has also attracted interest from the Italian army and several commercial companies. Said strongly believes in engaging the public and inspiring the next generation of physicists by regularly visiting schools with his students and colleagues. He has even built a mock satellite in the heart of Malta’s capital, Valletta, for the Science in the City festival.

Prof. Kristian Zarb Adami […] was responsible for the setting up of a Space Sciences and Astronomy Institute in 2014.

Mapping the Maltese genome

The Malta Biobank. Photo by Elisa von Brockdorf

Biobanking is another unexpected field in which Malta is involved. Biobanks store human samples and tissue for research. Since the 1990s, the UoM has had a biobank in which the core blood from all babies born in Malta is kept and stored. This means that the University has access to the DNA of all babies born in Malta for the past 20 years. The biobank has tens of thousands of other samples, a treasure trove of genetic data but also a great responsibility to manage it all for the social good. Stemming from this research, Malta has now sequenced dozens of people and is compiling a Maltese reference genome to be able to know every single gene in the Maltese population and to see whether it differs from nearby regions.

Following on from this, the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Biobanking was set up in 2016. The large volume of researchers took 20 years to nurture. ‘These situations don’t just ‘happen’,’ says Prof. Richard Muscat (Pro-Rector for Research), ‘they have to be engineered and coupled to a vision.’ The Centre will house leading researchers in new state-of-the-art laboratories, some of whom have published in world-leading journals such as Nature Genetics. The Centre was built using €4.2 million self-generated funds.

‘Looking towards the future,’ says Muscat, ‘we need to translate this research into practical solutions. Medics need to be trained in basic sciences and research to use their knowledge from both fields to help their patients.’ Such work requires patience due to the complexity of the human body and the time needed to develop this research into new therapies.

Dr Joseph Borg. Photo by Dr Edward Duca.

Cultivating Resilience

Apart from the human body, the human mind needs strength. In 2009 the Centre for Resilience and Socio-Emotional Health was setup to focus on research projects that inform evidence-based practice into the resilience, and social and emotional health of children and youths. The Centre brings experts from education to social science together to address Malta’s needs while publishing in international fora. Towards this end it serves as a base for ENSEC, a European network for researchers and practitioners working in the area of social and emotional competence.

Careers also need certain resilience. One key skill is the English language. In 2012 the UoM setup the Centre for English Language Proficiency (CELP) together with with the Department of English to meet this need. English serves a crucial role in education. The Centre helps international and Maltese students develop their writing and oral skills thus empowering them to become autonomous learners. Through practice and tuition their competence in writing and presenting English will increase. English has a distinct role in our society; it is part of our identity but also our passport to the rest of the world.

The performing arts and beyond

The School of Performing Arts [SPA] emerged from the Theatre and Music divisions and the Dance Programme (previously part of the Mediterranean Institute). An important target has been the School’s interdepartmental and interdisciplinary interaction. This has engendered a dynamic and motivated group of academics who are all deeply involved with the School’s running and initiatives.

‘The School,’ says Chairperson Prof. Vicki Ann Cremona, ‘aims to create graduates who are well grounded in theory and practice, but who are versatile enough to work in different art-related fields.’ The School’s graduates work in teacher-training, cultural management, and as performance technicians, to name a few. Several graduates hold decision-making positions within the cultural field.

The School maintains visibility through its intense programme of international conferences, symposia, workshops, and seminars. It has created a collective performance involving its three departments, which also organise a theatre festival, concerts, and an international dance tour. Its outreach programme provides lifelong learning possibilities for other sectors of the public. To this end it has created programmes, like scriptwriting, in collaboration with the Arts Council Malta and the creativity centre Spazju Kreattiv. SPA’s biggest hurdle is adequate space, facilities, and equipment for the three departments. The fact that the departments are not housed under one roof is a big disadvantage because it blocks closer collaboration. Studio space and properly equipped music rooms are also lacking. There are plans for a school housed at the heart of the University, though finances are an issue.

Looking to the future

The plans laid out in 2020 Vision or Optical Illusion were far-reaching and ambitious. Not everything has been achieved but plenty has been accomplished. The breadth of vision does not simply refer to the bricks and mortar but to the mentality of staff and students: consolidating a solid past with a freedom to experiment towards an innovative future.