Science Students’ Society to organise Seminar – Modern Science: Insanity or Essential to Humanity?

The Science Students' Society will be organising a weekend seminar entitled – Modern Science: Insanity or Essential to Humanity?, between Friday 19 and Sunday 21 March.

The seminar will be focusing on the value of science and research for the individual, the society at large and mankind. Talks held by professionals and academics in the field will explain the value of scientific research and the splendour of scientific exploration hitching over the areas of Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics, with special emphasis on the ethical implications concerning these modern scientific researches.

The seminar will be held at Qawra Palace Hotel and is mostly intended for youths and students however it is open to the general public. Attendance for the talks is free, whilst the price for those who wish to stay at the hotel on a half-board basis and participate in the social events organised on the same weekend (including the the themed party on Friday) is 70 Euros. The fee is also smartcard refundable and includes coffee breaks, refreshments and seminar material.

The Science Students' Society is supported by the University of Malta, MCST, The Malta Chamber of Scientists, the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport, Arrow Pharma Ltd, Actavis, GSK and Papier Plus
Studios. Throughout each academic year the society organises social and educational activities of this type for both its members and the general public.

More information is available on the society’s website or contact via email or mobile +356 99834244, +356 79923442, +356 99484075.

The Annual Pharmacy Students' Symposium will be held between Monday 22 and Friday 26 March 2010 at the Aula Magna, University Valletta Campus. 

During the symposium, final year pharmacy students are presenting their projects in various areas.  Fourth year students will be presenting progress on their project during poster discussion sessions while second and third year students are presenting a poster. Students reading for a Master of Science Degree in Pharmacy will be presenting their projects.  

The programme of the symposium is available on the department's website.

The Department of French in collaboration with La Petite Auberge de France will join 200 million Francophones in the 5 continents to celebrate the Journée de la Francophonie on Tuesday 23 March 2010 at the Erin Serracino Inglott Hall (Lecture Theatre 1 - LT1) under the distinguished patronage of their Excellencies the Ambassadors of France, Belgium and the Republic of Tunisia. 

The programme will this year feature a short scene from Albert Camus’ play Le Malentendu, which will be followed by three short quizzes.

The activity which will commence at 1430hrs, ending at 1600hrs.

Workshop

Participants
Mediterranean Institute, University of Malta
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia
National Research Council, Padova
National Research Council, Torino
University of Trieste

In attendance
University of Malta Geographical Society
University of Innsbruck

on Tuesday 23 March
at the Cospicua Parish Church at 1000 hrs

The Parish Church at Cospicua was built on a low cliff edge. As a result of the nature of the underlying rock strata, water seepage and the effects of the war the church foundations, the walls and cupola were damaged. By using specialized equipment that can identify hairline fractures an idea of the extent of any problems can be developed.  The aim of this Workshop is to demonstrate to participants the methods and equipment used in the detection process, to encourage an on-site discussion, and plan future mitigating measures.

To register interest kindly send an to email Simon Mercieca or Denise Formosa.

The Department of Physics will be hosting a talk by Mr Adrian Attard Trevisan on Playing around with brainwaves on Wednesday 24 March 2010 at 1430hrs in Room 216 of the Mathematics and Physics Building, Msida Campus.

Abstract
This talk will discuss a simple and portable system that is able to generate musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) output based on the inputted data collected through an electroencephalography (EEG) collecting device. The context is beneficial in many ways, where the therapeutic effects of listening to the music created by the brain waves documents many cases of treating health problems.

The approach is influenced by the interface described in the article 'Brain-Computer music interface for composition and performance' by Eduardo Reck Miranda, where different frequency bands trigger corresponding piano notes through, and the complexity of the signal represents the tempo of the sound. The correspondence of the sound and the notes has been established through experimental work, where data of participants of a test group where gathered and analysed, putting intervals for brain frequencies for different notes. The study is an active contribution to the field of the neurofeedback, by providing criteria tools for assessment.

For further information on this and other seminars organised by the Department of Physics click here.

The Geography Division of the Mediterranean Institute, University of Malta
The Institute for Sustainable Development, University of Malta
Department of Geography, University of Portsmouth
Department of Geography, University of Innsbruck
University of Malta Geographical Society (UMGS)

are organising a workshop on  

Sustainability and Quality of Life

Wednesday, 24 March 2010
Conference Room, University House, Msida Campus (near Senior Common Room next to the canteen)

Morning Session
1000hrs - 1230hrs     

Opening Address:
Dr Simon Mercieca, Director, Mediterranean Institute, University of Malta

Session Chair: Dr John A. Schembri, Geography Division, Mediterranean Institute

Workshop Leader: Dr Julia Brown, University of Portsmouth
 
Lecture: Water for Life

• different and competing uses of water
• the evidence of a global water shortage
• the situation in Malta, and ask whether we
• can we use water as a societal lens...?

• brief outline of the origins of sustainability and the range of perspectives that exist
• the issue of measuring sustainability
• the challenges of a participatory approach to developing sustainability indicators

• develop sustainability indicators
• identification of stakeholders’ priorities and challenges
• reconciliation

• sustainable indicators for Malta
• conclusion

On Wednesday 24 March the seminar series Work in Progress in the Social Studies (WIPSS) hosts a distinguished guest, Professor David Napier, Head of the Department of Anthropology and Professor of Medical Anthropology at University College London.

Professor Napier is a key figure in contemporary American as well as British anthropology. His paper is entitled 'Non-Self’ Help: How Immunology is Re-framing the Enlightenment. In it, he argues that the classical immunological paradigm is predicated upon the body’s ability to recognise and eliminate  'non-self'. However, the 'self/non-self' model has yet to facilitate any resolution of the field’s major concerns, and may thus prove to be of limited use. The juxtaposition of 'self' and 'non-self' persists in research practice, in clinical settings, and in everyday practice despite the best efforts of theoretical immunologists.  Instead, the very conception of 'selfhood' may prove to be key. Replacing immunology's prior and persistent 'self' with less static concepts derived from non-Western contexts, not only resolves immunology’s famous paradoxes, but offers a new and more accurate model that allows immunology to reframe what may become an outmoded Enlightenment construct of 'self'. In such a new paradigm, immunology’s well-known system of protection and defense is replaced with a view in which 'non-self' becomes the body’s primary mechanism for the creative assimilation of difference.

David Napier received his first graduate degree in Philosophy (Leuven) and his D.Phil. in Social Anthropology (Oxford). He has taught or been a fellow at several universities - Oxford, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, New York University, and now University College London. He is the author of four books - Masks, Transformation, and Paradox, Foreign Bodies, The Age of immunology, and The Righting of Passage. He has engaged in more than two decades of fieldwork: with doctors in clinical settings; with bench immunologists; with the elderly in rural and remote locations; and among vulnerable and disadvantaged populations and the homeless. He has been a consultant or co-investigator on a number of projects relating to health-care in developing settings (Bhutan, Indonesia, Native North America, Romania); vulnerable populations (Myanmar); migration, trafficking, and return-migration (Albania); immunisation and disease control (Pasteur Institute); and the relationship between environment and health (The Lancet Commission on Climate Change and Health). He is a founding member of the Network for Student Activism, and Indigenous Legal Mentoring Limited. He is founding Director of the University College London Centre for Applied Global Citizenship. He is also the founding Director of Students of Human Ecology, a registered non-profit that facilitates academically-integrated, university-level internships in the areas of medicine, environment, and culture.

Wednesday 24 March 1800hrs -1900hrs followed by discussion. Mediterranean Institute Room 124 opposite University Library by the Arvid Pardo Study Area behind HSBC on campus. Entrance from Carpark 4. The public is cordially welcome.

Geography Division
Mediterranean Institute
University of Malta

Department of Geography
University of Portsmouth

University of Malta Geographical Society

Joint Field Session on
Techniques on Focus Groups

Programme
Thursday 25 March 2010

0900hrs - 1000hrs
Presentation
Dr John A. Schembri
Human Geography of the Maltese Islands
a talk to University of Portsmouth Geography Students
Venue: Lecture Centre (LC) Room 216

0900hrs - 1000hrs
Presentation
Dr Julia Brown
The importance of Focus Groups
a short talk to University of Malta Geography students
Venue: Lecture Centre (LC) Room 217

1000hrs - 1200hrs
Focus Groups:
Introduction: Dr Julia Brown
Venue: Gateway Building Hall B2

Fieldwork and Evaluation
On Campus

To register interest send an email to Maria V. Attard or John A. Schembri.

The Department of Economics is pleased to invite you to a seminar which seeks to explore the points of intersection between economics and psychology. Behavioural Economics is an exciting field with increasing academic prominence and real-world applications. Participants will be introduced to core areas of economics and psychology such as judgment, rational choice, intertemporal decision making and emotion-based decision making. The course will be valuable to people with a strong intrinsic interest in human behaviour and a desire to apply theories from psychology to real-world problems in the public and private sector. It provides a foundation for later graduate work in this area. It will also be valuable to those involved in policy research, market research, government policy agencies and related fields.

Sessions include Rational Choice, Judgement Heuristics and Biases, Intertemporal Choice, Identity, Motivation and Incentives, Emotion and Decision Making, Neuroscience, Psychology and Economics, Well-being and Economics, Consumption, Finance and Economics, Behavioral Macro, Public Policy and Behavioural Economics.

The seminar will be delivered by Dr Liam Delaney, a senior research fellow at University College Dublin's Geary Institute, holding a joint appointment with the School of Public Health and Population Science and School of Economics. He lectures econometrics, health economics and behavioural economics in University College Dublin and supervises post-graduate students in Economics, Psychology and Public Health. He is currently Irish co-ordinator of the Survey of Health Ageing and Retirement in Europe, principal investigator of the Irish Universities Study, Irish country representative for the International Association for Research in Economic Psychology and leads a number of studies relating to human behaviour, well-being and health. He is also on the management committee of the UCD Geary Institute and was recently awarded the Barrington medal of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society.

The seminar will be held at the Msida Campus at the University of Malta between 1700hrs and 2030hrs on Thursday 25 and Friday 26 March 2010 (room to be announced). Materials will be distributed by email prior the seminar.

For further information please contact Daryl Borg by email or phone on: +356 2340 2734

Participants are requested to confirm their attendance by Friday 12 March.

Workshop

Friday 26 March
1100hrs - 1500hrs
Anchor Bay

Demonstration of Techniques and Equipment for
Measuring Rock Spreading

organised by
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia
National Research Council, Padova
University of Trieste

Participants
Geography Division, Mediterranean Institute, University of Malta
University of Malta Geographical Society

Equipment
GPS
Extensometers
Fissurimeters
Georadar

To register interest send an email to Maria V. Attard or John A. Schembri.

The Department of Public Policy has joined forces with Għaqda Studenti tat-Teoloġija to organise an interactive seminar on the latest encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, issued by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009. The activity is to be held on Saturday morning, 27 March 2010 at Il-Katekumenju, Mosta (behind the Rotunda church).

Apart from identifying contemporary economic and political realities that are impacting the standard of living of nations and peoples alike, the Papal letter emphasises the principle that the human person must be right at the centre of any economic and political development. The document draws on the living tradition of Catholic social thought and provides an ethical foundation that embraces and transcends politics in addressing the current crises and emerging signs of the times.

Though the seminar is open to the general public, it is of special interest to people who are engaged in public affairs. For this reason, present under/post graduate students in the Department of Public Policy and graduates are especially welcome to attend and participate. Students from the Faculty of Theology will also attend.

The event programme includes key note speeches from the two organising academic bodies, together with a panel of experts who will discuss the implications of the Papal Letter and interact with discussants from the floor.

The activity starts at 0900hrs and comes to an end at 1230hrs a reception will follow.

MALTA:
Recent Studies on Elements of Maltese Medieval Art and Architecture

Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum, Mdina in conjunction with the Department of History of Art of the University of Malta is organising a cycle of Sunday morning monthly lectures, during which established and emerging researchers and academics will present the results of their recent research on aspects of medieval art and architecture of the Maltese islands.

7 March 2010 at 1030hrs
The Ogee Arch in Maltese Architecture
Lecturer: Charlene Vella B.A. (Hons)

11 April 2010 at 0930hrs
Investigating the Water Management Systems of Palazzo Falson, the Civitas and Select Rural Areas
Lecturer: Keith Buhagiar M.A.

2 May 2010 at 1030hrs
An Evaluation of the Maltese Roundel Carving with particular reference to the Palazzo Falson Specimens
Lecturer: Robert Galea B.A. (Hons)

13 June 2010 at 1030hrs
The Architecture of Medieval Mdina
Lecturer: Perit Karm Farrugia

Lectures will be held at
Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum
Villegaignon Street
Mdina

All lectures are free of charge however pre-booking is required.
Please contact tel no: 2145 4512
or bookings@palazzofalson.com 

The Chaplaincy will be organising the following activities during the month of March:
4 March at 1930hrs
Q & A Evening - Asylum Seekers and their situation...
Fr Joe Cassar and team

8 - 13 March at 1930hrs
Eżerċizzi Għaż-Żghażagħ (Lenten Reflection for Young People)
Fr Martin Cilia mssp and animation taken care of by Maranatha' Youths

16 - 23 March
Week of Guided Prayer

17 March at 1930hrs
Q & A Evening - Poverty in Malta?
Ms Nora Macelli

19 - 21 March
Silent Retreat with Reflections in English
To register for this events please fill in an application form that is available from the Chaplaincy

22 - 26 March at 1230hrs
Eżerċizzi tar-Randan
Mgr Charles Cordina

A symposium on Mediterranean Legal Hybridity: Mixtures and Movements is to be held in Malta on Saturday, 12 June 2010. The event is hosted by the Department of Civil Law of the Faculty of Law and the Mediterranean Institute, both of the University of Malta. It is organised in conjunction with Juris Diversitas.

Studies of Mediterranean legal and normative diversity have been isolated, sporadic, and too often framed within narrow disciplinary constraints. The symposium addresses this lacuna by fostering an international and interdisciplinary network of experts—in law, history, and the social sciences—to investigate legal hybridity and diffusion in the region.

Those interested in making a presentation (twenty minutes long) should email Dr Seán Patrick Donlan by Monday, 29 March 2010 with a short (250 word) proposal.

The conference fee is €100; transportation and accommodation are not included.

For more information click here. 

The 7th International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC) for Human Language Technologies will be organised in Malta in May 2010 by the European Language Resources Association (ELRA) in cooperation with a wide range of international associations and organisations including the University of Malta.

In 12 years – the first LREC was held in Granada in 1998 – LREC has become the major event on Language Resources (LRs) and Evaluation for Human Language Technologies (HLT). The aim of LREC is to provide an overview of the state-of-the-art, explore new R&D directions and emerging trends, exchange information regarding LRs and their applications, evaluation methodologies and tools, ongoing and planned activities, industrial uses and needs, requirements coming from the e-society, both with respect to policy issues and to technological and organisational ones.

The Conference will be held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre between 17 and 23 May.

Click here for full details.