[YouTube] OMRG Channel
The Oceanography Malta Research Group (OMRG) within the Department of Geosciences of the Faculty of Science aims to promote the field of oceanography through its applied research and teaching activities, making it the quintessential oceanography research group in the Maltese Islands.
The OMRG in fact integrates multifarious expertise through the background of its academic staff, such that it can address a diverse array of sub-disciplines linked with the field of oceanography. These sub-disciplines include physical oceanography, biological and chemical oceanography, geological oceanography and marine meteorology. The core academic staff within the OMRG include Prof. Alan Deidun, with an expertise in marine ecology, ocean governance and Marine Spatial Planning (MSP), Dr Anthony Galea, specialised in marine hydrodynamics and modelling and Dr Adam Gauci, whose areas of interest include Machine Learning (ML) protocols, remote sensing and oceanography instrumentation. The OM core group is then assisted by additional research staff, including Ms Audrey Zammit, Mr Alessio Marrone and Mr David Ramirez.
The Group’s collaborative portfolio is extensive, given that the research group is currently representing the University of Malta within a substantial number of externally-funded projects within the ambit of numerous EU and national funding programmes, including the Interreg MED, Interreg Italia-Malta 2014-2020, JPI Oceans, Erasmus+ and MCST Space Fund ones, even coordinating a number of the same projects, including CORALLO and CALYPSO. As a result, the research group delivers a substantial research output each year in the form of peer-reviewed publications and manages to expose the numerous post-graduate research students (PhD, MSc) it supervises to the deliverables of the same projects. The OMRG also coordinates the Master of Science in Applied Oceanography, which is offered on a full-time, taught basis over the course of one calendar year and which combines both theoretical and applicative aspects of oceanography, such that students can partake of overseas research visits, work placements and numerous instrument field deployments opportunities at sea. In addition, the OMRG actively participates in the Bachelor of Science undergraduate course offered by the Department of Geosciences and services a substantial number of alternative University of Malta Departments and Institutes through regular lecturing, include the Institute for Earth Systems, the Institute for Renewable Energy, the Faculty of Laws and MEDAC. The Group also manages, on behalf of the University of Malta, a long-standing fruitful relationship with the International Ocean Institute (IOI), with Prof. Alan Deidun (Malta’s Ocean Ambassador and CIESM national delegate for Malta) directing the IOI’s Malta Training Centre which delivers an annual, accredited, international course on ocean governance.
The OMRG also coordinates a total of three national citizen science campaign, as follows:
making the research group Malta’s foremost entity for the conduction of marine-oriented citizen science campaigns. The three campaigns are supported by the International Ocean Institute (IOI), the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) as well as the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA). Through these campaigns, the OMRG regularly liaises with a broad array of marine and maritime stakeholders, promoting good ocean literacy practice, consistent with the targets of the UN’s Ocean Sciences Decade (2021-2030).
Further information about the Oceanography Malta Research Group can be gleaned on our home page.
