This year a total of 1,532 graduands will be toasting to their success with a record 66 students obtaining their doctoral degree.  

Two ceremonies are held daily at the Basilica of Our Lady of Safe Haven and St Dominic, Merchants Street, Valletta with every ceremony livestreamed on the UM’s website and social media channels, and for the first time ever, broadcast live on Xejk TV. 

Prof. Cristiana Sebu from the Faculty of Science delivered the oration during the PhD ceremony, whereby she compared commencing a doctoral program to embarking on an intellectual odyssey, navigating unchartered territories of knowledge and pushing the boundaries of human understanding. 

“Your aim is to try to nurture a culture of adaptability, openness and inclusiveness and to foster research collaborations across the disciplines in order to break down the walls that can limit traditional disciplinary approaches”, she told the new graduands.  

Doctor of Philosophy graduand, Ms Elaine Marie Grech, said “today, we celebrate knowledge creation. Each graduand has contributed value to their research field. With this insight and knowledge, we cannot be complacent. Let us challenge the status quo and always aim for excellence in our work.” 

In a first for the University, Rector Prof. Alfred J. Vella, addressed the graduands via a short congratulatory video.

“You are now carrying a responsibility bigger than the one before you reached this milestone – that of contributing to the future of the society you’ll be part of.” He also reiterated that knowledge exchange is above all else a human process, which means “there is a diversity to respect and a recognition that finding solutions requires various competencies to be integrated”. 

Together with the Chancellor, Pro-Chancellor, Pro-Rectors, Secretary and Academic Registrar, and alongside many academics attended the ceremony, the Rector was present throughout the ceremony as well. 

The University of Malta congratulates all its graduands on their achievement.

The full programme of events may be accessed online.