The University of Malta was chosen to hold a pilot run for a unique interdisciplinary European Joint Master’s Degree programme in the science of performative creativity. The nascent M.A. programme is being designed jointly by the five partner universities which make up the network that will eventually run it – the University of Malta, Paris 13, Roma “La Sapienza”, De Montfort (Leicester, England) and Adam Mickiewicz (Poznan, Poland). The University of Malta being the coordinating university, the steering group decided that the trial run would be held in it.

When launched, in October 2007, the two-year Master’s programme will inquire into the genesis of creativity by focusing on what seems to take place in memory systems and learning processes as a result of certain sophisticated training regimens. The approach taken by the Master’s programme involves a number of disciplines which bridge the sciences and the arts, the five core disciplines being Cognitive Neuroscience, Cognitive Psychology, Philosophy, Sports Sciences and Performer Studies.

The intensive twenty-four day trial run, with its ninety hours of lecturing, involved the running of the core element of one of the six study-modules – the one seen to be at the foundations of the programme of studies. In all, twelve academics and thirty students took part to the event, hailing from universities in England, Italy, France, Poland, Switzerland, Turkey, China and Malta.

To mark the successful conclusion of the pilot run, the rector of the University of Malta, Professor Juanito Camilleri, hosted the lecturers and the students to drinks at the rectorate. Special guests to the reception were the heads of diplomatic missions of the countries of the EMA-PS network universities as well as the cultural attaches of those missions; present were H.E. the British High Commissioner, Mr. Nick Archer, H.E. the French Ambassador, M. Jean-Marc Rives, Mme Anne-Louise Debeusscher, Director of the Alliance Francaise in Malta and Mr. Ronald Micallef, Director of British Council Malta.

The next two events in the EMA-PS calendar, running up to its official launch in October 2007, are a conference to be held in Poland on the 8 and 9 December and another conference to be held in Malta on the 30 and 31 January.

For more information on the EMA-PS European Joint Master’s Programme, which will be launched in October 2007, please visit www.EMA-PS.com or contact the EMA-PS Administrator Ms Katrina Baillie on kbail01@um.edu.mt

The four-week trial run of the EMA-PS Joint European Master's programme of saw 30 students and 13 lecturers from Italy, France, UK, Poland, China, Turkey, Switzerland and Malta engaged in ninety hours of joint lectures bridging a wide range of disciplines, in an inquiry into the foundations of Creativity. "