Students from the Department of AI, in the Faculty of ICT at the University of Malta presented a prize-winner in the mini project competition of the 1st NEPOMUK summer school. Stephanie Buhagiar, an undergraduate from the department was a member of one of the winning teams and she also presented the group's research after two-days of intensive work.

NEPOMUK is an international research project funded by the European Union within IST 6th framework research program. The project consortium of 16 partners brings together researchers, industrial software developers, and representative industrial users. NEPOMUK develops the Social Semantic Desktop, a comprehensive solution for extending the personal desktop into a collaboration environment which supports both the personal information management and the sharing and exchange across social and organizational relations. NEPOMUK uses and extends the technological basis available from the Internet, the Semantic Web, and Web 2.0.

The NEPOMUK summer school took place at the Hotel Victoria between the 7th and the 13th of September, in Sliema, Malta. The Department of AI was involved in the local organisation of the Summer School through Mr Charlie Abela, Assistant Lecturer within the department.

28 Students from 12 different countries spent the week learning about semantic technologies and the Social Semantic Desktop in particular. While the mornings were dedicated to theoretical and conceptual lectures, the afternoons were spent in guided hands-on sessions which allowed students to collect experiences with the new techniques. Lectures and tutoring were performed by senior researchers from the NEPOMUK project team. Keeping balance between hard work and hard party, the evenings allowed the participants to enjoy Malta through boat trips, visits, music, and social events.

Thursday afternoon all students grouped in small teams and started to worked on mini projects of their own, aimed at using the newly-gained know-how to investigate and realize new, creative, and funny ideas. The groups presented a total of five prototypes and interaction designs on Saturday morning as the concluding highlight of the summer school.

"It has been a great experience working in such a collaborative setting" says Stephanie Buhagiar, "I got insights into large, cutting-edge research projects, learned a lot, and I enjoyed being creative and having the opportunity to express myself. I will miss everyone. I'd also like to thank the Faculty of ICT for giving us, Maltese participants, the grants so that we could make this experience", she concludes.

"It was a great experience working with different people from different cultures, with different backgrounds and different opinions" adds Samur, MSc student in computer science at the Pontifical Universidade Catholica at Rio de Janeiro. "It was the most important experience in my professional life".

"I was pretty fascinated by the inherently interdisciplinary work. It was interesting to see how all the pieces fit together" comments Navid, PhD student at Università Svizzera-Italiana in Lugano, Switzerland.

Hung, PhD student in his final year at the University Sud of Paris adds: "The practical knowledge about semantic technology will greatly help me in my own research."

Ioana, research assistant at DERI in Galway, Ireland, feels "meeting the people whose names I have read on many papers was so fascinating. I thoroughly enjoyed the intensive and inspiring cooperation at this summer school."

"Learning the new semantic technologies and new methods for fast prototyping and expressing ideas about an innovative project has been wonderful" concludes Nuno, professor at ISEP Polytechnic School of engineering in Porto, Portugal. "The encouraging discussions have been an excellent personal and professional experience".

NEPOMUK delivers open-source and well-published results and encourages active participation by interested parties beyond the original project consortium. For further information please click here.

The first European workshop of Sensorless Control of Electrical Drives, which took place at the University of Malta, was organized by Prof. R.Kennel of Wuppertal University and Dr C. Spiteri Staines, Dr C. Caruana and Dr M. Apap of the University of Malta. 

The aim of this workshop was to bring leading European researchers together to present their work and discuss the state of the art R&D in the field of control of electrical drives.  The first workshop took place in May 2007 at the University of Malta Campus and its successful outcome lead to the setting up of the second workshop which took place in August 2008 at the Warsaw University of Technology. This time the event was sponsored by the IEEE – Industrial Electronics Society (IES) and Power Electronics Society (PELS).  During this second workshop, there was an increase in the number of participants. It is expected that the event will continue to be held regularly on a yearly basis.

The Department of Industrial Electrical Power Conversion of the University of Malta was invited to present two papers at this workshop both concerned with sensorless control of electric drives. During this event, Dr Spiteri Staines, Head of Department, presented a talk about his department’s on-going research in this area.

The University of Malta’s Faculty of Arts has been offering the teaching of German since 1980, and a constant stream of students has graduated since then. The external examiner’s report for the B.A. (General) in German Studies attests that the qualifications reached are equal to the top 10% of non-native students reading German. Moreover, since only a limited number of students graduate in German, their studies make them immediately employable.

However, the teaching of German at the University of Malta had to be limited. The small nucleus of part-time staff within the Faculty of Arts provides services also to students registered for German within the Faculty of Education. Due to these and other limitations such as the lack of qualified full-time staff, the Faculty of Arts has not been in a position to offer an Honours Degree or any post-graduate degrees in German until now.

In view of the fact that the Maltese economy is intimately linked with the German one, particularly since Malta became an EU member, and since similar developments are currently being witnessed also in respect of Austria, the University sought to address the need for furthering German studies.

At its meeting of the 25th October 2007, Senate decided to recommend to Council that the University of Malta should take all the steps necessary to set up a Department of German within the Faculty of Arts and to bring German at par with other languages such as Italian and French.

The Department of German was set up towards the end of 2007, with the University of Malta funding one full-time post, and DAAD - the German Academic Exchange Services - supporting a second full-time member of staff and committing itself to support the Department through exchange visits and through the provision of technical materials.

The tasks of the new Department are to provide teaching in German at undergraduate and post-graduate levels, to service those faculties that require teaching in German, to provide basic language courses in German within the DegreePlus programme and to carry out research as is standard in all University departments. The staff of the Department will also be providing advisory services to the education authorities for the consolidation of German throughout the educational system.

Already in October 2008 a group of ten students will be joining the new M.A. programme in German.

Speaking at the Press Conference held at the Old University Building in Valletta, University Rector Prof. Juanito Camilleri said that knowledge of languages had always been essential to the Maltese. “International trade, interactions in the Arts and political exigencies required knowledge of other languages so that the Maltese could survive; the setting up of the German Department now seeks to fill an important gap,” he said.

To inaugurate the launch of the Department, Herr Günter Gloser, a Member of the German Bundestag, who is also Minister of State for Europe at the Federal Foreign Office, as well as Federal Government Commissioner for Franco-German Co-operation also addressed the press conference. (full speech attached)

Prof. Camilleri thanked Herr Günter Gloser for his presence and support adding that the Maltese people would surely benefit from the ripples created through this Department. The Rector expressed his sincere hope that this would be the first step in a continuing and lasting relationship between DAAD and the University of Malta, in joint efforts to promote intercultural dialogue and understanding, for which command of the language was a necessary prelude.

Name of publication:         Fungal and fungal-like plant pathogens of the Maltese Islands
Authors:                           Dr Angelo Porta-Puglia, Roma & Dr David Mifsud, Malta Published:                       As a special issue in the scientific journal /PETRIA/-Giornale di Pathologia delle Piante, Rome. ISSN 1120-7698

This scientific work includes the work carried out by two scientists in the past 7 years. It includes 233 fungal pathogens recorded in the Maltese Islands and for each the following information is provided, previous local records if available and source citation, common name were available, all Maltese localities from where collected, host plants affected, pathogenicity and other relevant information such as agricultural impact in Malta and control measures.

Previous works on this subject were carried out by Prof. Saccardo in the early 1900s who studied material send to him by the Maltese naturalists at that time, namely Prof Borg and Count Alfredo Caruana-Gatto. In the 1950s Dr Brian Wheeler made another contribution on this subject following a six months stay in Malta. Since then, this subject was mostly neglected and it was high time to bring together all information updated and publish it. The current work also included some 30 fungal pathogens which were never previously reported for Malta.

The book includes also three appendices so as to fascilitate cross-referencing. These include, all host plants and the respective fungal pathogens found on each one of them, a list of fungal pathogens by common name and a list of host plants in English, Latin and Maltese.

The University of Malta understands that the two unions representing academic staff, UMASA and MUT, have asked academics to boycott the opening ceremony of the academic year scheduled for tomorrow morning.

The Rector wishes to emphasise that he has been personally involved in the drafting of the collective agreement and has also had several meetings with Government to assist with the process of negotiation of the financial package.  

The text of the new collective agreement has been finalised and agreed upon in principle. The outstanding issues pertain to the financial package on which agreement has not yet been reached.

The University of Malta invites all freshers to attend the opening ceremony tomorrow, as previously announced.

The annual conference of European Association of Archaeologists took off at the Old University Building in Valletta, yesterday evening. Some 600 delegates, all members of the EAA, hail from practically every European country, as well as from the USA. The conference is being organized by the University of Malta and Heritage Malta.

With participants being practitioners in diverse areas of archaeological study, the conference provides an excellent opportunity for networking. Academics from the University of Malta as well as representatives and curators from Heritage Malta are participating.

In her opening address, the Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports, the Hon. Dolores Cristina, referred to the Valletta Convention, of which Malta is a signatory. 'This Convention aims to protect archaeological heritage as a source of Europe’s collective memory and as an instrument for historical and scientific study. This is an aim that Malta cannot but support since we have our own rich archaeological heritage, which is so intricately linked and embedded in the public conscience,' the Minister said. 'Aware as it is of this archaeological wealth, the Government of Malta has striven over the years to do all it could to preserve what is not just its national patrimony but, indeed, the world’s patrimony.'

The Minister also remarked that Government recognised the role of archaeology, not just in education but also in promoting cultural heritage generally, and saw this as conducive to the formation of a solid national identity within a larger Mediterranean and specifically European identity.

Minister Cristina referred to the great strides made in the area of Heritage Management, especially in the past six years since the enactment of the Heritage Act. These developments were also possible thanks to the existing pool of personnel who had been professionally trained over the years in various subjects, including Archaeology, at the University of Malta, and were available for employment in this field, she pointed out.

As from October 2006, the Institute of Conservation and Management of Cultural Heritage within Heritage Malta, in collaboration with the University of Malta and MCAST, introduced a post-graduate degree programme in Management of Cultural Heritage.

The University of Malta Rector, Professor Juanito Camilleri noted that the participant list of this very prestigious event read like a 'Who's Who' of archaeology in Europe with delegates from the top universities and institutions from the United Kingdom to Romania and from Russia to Italy.

Prof. Camilleri remarked that each set of people who ruled our island had left a mark however that mark was not indelible but needed to be nurtured both from a physical point of view and from a sociological one.  'The University of Malta has, since its inception, provided and continues to provide, in the true spirit of tertiary education, an universitas of disciplines. Archaeology is an important part of that universitas and has a unique role in the development of questions of identity filling those gaps in the annals of man that History proper cannot fill,' the University of Malta Rector pointed out.

Archaeology imparts skills that are applicable to other areas of life and is therefore part of a rounded and joined-up education. It is an enriching field of study in every way.

This conference provided an excellent opportunity to bring Malta and its heritage to the knowledge of so many archaeologists.

The aims of the EAA, as set out in its statute, are focussed on promoting research and the exchange of archaeological information; the promotion of our European archaeological heritage and of ethical and scientific standards; the promotion of the interests of professional archaeologists and cooperation with other organisations with similar aims.  

The Opening Ceremony was also addressed by Prof. Anthony Harding, President of the EAA, Prof. Anthony Bonanno, Head of Department of Classics and Arheology of the University of Malta, who gave a keynote speech 'Maltese Archeology: What Future?', and Mr Joseph Said, Chairman Heritage Malta.

During the Opening Ceremony Prof. Willem Willems, Chairmain of the EAA Heritage Prize Committee presented the Annual Heritage Prize to Jean Paul Demoule from Universite de Paris, France.

Minister Cristina awarding the Annual Heritage Prize to Jean Paul Demoule, as Juanito Camilleri, Willem Willems, Chairmain of the EAA Heritage Prize Committee, and Anthony Bonanno look on in the background.

Staff and students on Campus this week will notice a large number of participants who will be here for the annual Archaeology Conference of the European Association of Archaeologists. The conference is being organized by the University of Malta and Heritage Malta.

This is probably one of the largest conferences to have taken place on the island with nearly 600 delegates.  The participants are all members of the EAA and hail from practically every European country from Russia to Italy and from Spain to Romania as well as from the USA.

All the participants are practitioners in diverse areas of archaeological study with representatives from English Heritage, University of Cambridge, the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage, the State Historical Museum in Moscow and hundreds of other famous institutions.  This is a magnificent opportunity for networking and academics from the University of Malta as well as representatives and curators from Heritage Malta will be participating. Students from the University’s Department of Classics & Archaeology will be helping throughout the conference.

Every year, many people who have potential or are even qualified, fail to make it to university because of life circumstances. The University of Malta is offering a stepping-stone program, called ESTEEM/Leonardo and part-financed by the EU, to give information, encouragement and relevant skills to such people in order to help them succeed to join the course of their choice.

UoM academics are encouraged to take an interest and give support to this initiative.  Information meetings about it will soon be held.  Meanwhile, help is needed from lecturers to produce a 1 ½ -hour presentation of their course for program participants who want to know more about that particular course of studies.

The University of Malta’s Department of Social Policy and Social Work is offering a stepping stone programme for persons capable of taking up higher education, for example at University, MCAST or ITS, but who have faced difficulties in making this happen.

Higher education is for many people the key to better and higher-paid jobs, however, some find it hard to take up this opportunity. A number of people have been held back by disability or family problems, while others have missed the opportunity through lack of encouragement or having become parents at the age when their contemporaries were continuing studies; other people may have been slower to integrate in schools having come from a different culture, ethnic group or educational system. Other persons may have faced hostile attitudes, lack of resources or the need to earn money.  

The Social Policy and Social Work Department is offering a short preparatory course to make it easier for such persons to make this step.  The course, called ESTEEM/Leonardo and supported by EU funds, is not there in order to give participants a new academic qualification.  In fact, it is open to people who are already within a year or two of getting the qualifications needed for their higher education course.  
Those accepted for the course will take part in seven weekly sessions that help them learn how to do well in life and include topics, such as study skills, relational skills and skills in managing life’s challenges. The learning groups will be small, so that participants can take active part and acquire deeper personal learning.

Participants will also be asked what courses they wish to follow.  Information sessions about the desired courses will also be given.  Every student will also have a mentor, a university student specially trained to share their experience, to support and answer queries on a friendly, equal-to-equal basis. Participants are introduced to the University premises and services, and to the use of Moodle, the Online Learning Platform of the University of Malta and also to available help in career guidance.

A tool, consisting in a folder and supporting website, is also being developed to help participants to take in hand their own career direction and progress. The folder will contain questionnaires students answer for themselves as a help to deciding what line to take in their education and job quest.  A section will help them compile a record of useful experiences – such as leading a group, using a computer, being responsible for an activity, entertaining, following instructions, etc. Such non-formal qualifications can open doors to jobs or courses in the future.

A website will also be developed in which would-be students can get information about what resources there are for career and study guidance, including local bodies, as well as links to websites that help the individual tackle questions about future studies and jobs suitable for their abilities and backgrounds.
This is the second time that the Department of Social Policy and Social Work is offering such a steppingstone programme. In this EU-funded international project, the University of Malta is in partnership with Marie Curie Foundation and Social Services Department of Sliven (Bulgaria), Sakarya University (Turkey), e-ISOTIS, Greece  and de Montfort University, Leicester, (UK)  who are the co-ordinators of the project.   

During the first project, the University worked locally in partnership with the National Commission for Disability and in cooperation with MCAST.  This time, the University is extending its contacts with these and other bodies active in the field, especially ones providing higher education, ones looking after the interests of groups that face social disadvantage, and entities that help in career guidance and in the promotion of employment.

'This course gave me a good taste of University life and how it would be like as a student,' said Simon who attended the last course. 'It helped me become more self sufficient and I really enjoyed getting to know new people from the wide variety who attended.'

Those who wish to apply or to request more information (whether on their own behalf or on behalf of an interested organisation) are invited to contact Andrea Dibben or +356 2340 2976. Applications for the edition of the course starting in 2008 must be received by September 28. The project website is at present under construction.

The University of Malta is once again holding a special celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of the graduation of students following courses leading to professional qualifications and ending in 1958.  

The event will be held on Saturday 8th November 2008.  The programme for the morning includes a ceremony and a concelebrated Mass at the University Church in Valletta, followed by a courtesy visit to the President of Malta at The Palace, Valletta. A dinner is being held in the evening.  

Any golden graduates or their widows or widowers who have not been contacted by the Office of the Chancellor are kindly requested to contact Ms Rowena Leontijevic on tel +356 2340 1575 or via email by the 15th September.

A black sea flooded the Instituto Italiano di Cultura as 45 European students, all dressed in their specially-made Summer University black t-shirt, basked in the limelight of AEGEE-Valletta's Opening Ceremony. On Friday, 22 August, the participants, originating from 17 different countries, were welcomed by special guests being the first secretary of the Italian Embassy Dr Domenico Bellato, Mr Frans Borg the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture and Dr Alexei Dingli the Major of Valletta.

A Summer University is usually a two-week event organized by an AEGEE antenna where students come together from all over Europe. Summer Universities are organized by students for students with the aim of offering new perspectives of the multicultural dimension of the European continent. It also promotes understanding among European students, removing national borders and creating a European feeling.

Indeed, AEGEE-Valletta’s Summer University entitled ‘MalTeasers Ahoy!’, as Dr. Bellato acclaimed, is a “cultural cocktail just as were the Knights of Malta who founded Valletta”.  In fact the students will be hosted by AEGEE-Valletta from the 21st of August till the 3rd September and will be treated to a jam-packed two-week programme including various hot spots from the temples to the beaches, from Mdina to Marsaxlokk, the three cities to Valletta. All this is to make sure that the participants realise what Mr Frans Borg stated that 'Malta is the smallest island in the European Union, yet its size doesn't define its importance.'

The ceremony ended by an informative speech about Malta’s capital city by the Mayor of Valletta and a welcoming note by Mr Pierre Vassallo La Rosa the President of AEGEE-Valletta. This was followed by a small reception kindly organised by the Instituto Italiano di Cultura.

Elizabeth Borg AEGEE-Valletta would like to thank its’ sponsors since without their help such quality events would not take place. The organisation would like to thank the Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture, EF, Cisk Export, Igaming academy, Malta Tourism Authority.

For more information please visit the aegee website or send an email.