B.A.(Hons)(Melit.),M.A.(Melit.)
Ms Raylene Abdilla joined the University as a Teaching Associate at the International School for Foundation Studies in 2019. She is responsible for delivering study-units in the Humanities Stream on the humanities and social science, psychology and communication theory.
Raylene graduated with a Master of Arts in European Politics, Economics and Law in 2015, with a dissertation titled "The European Political Landscape: A Cosmopolitan Approach". Prior to that she obtained a Bachelor of Commerce in Banking & Finance (Hons.) in 2011.
She is currently pursuing Ph.D. studies at the Institute for European Studies of the University of Malta. Her research interests include discourse theory and populism in the European Union, drawing on the works of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. She has published articles on the EU and guest edited a journal issue on the notion of utopia.
M.D.,M.Sc.(UCL),Ph.D.(Manc.)
Dr Claude Julien Bajada is a Lecturer working in the Department of Physiology & Biochemistry within the Faculty of Medicine & Surgery. His research focuses on three overarching themes:
He graduated from medical school in 2010. After completing his foundation training at Mater Dei Hospital, Dr Bajada proceeded to complete an M.Sc. in Cognitive Neuroscience from University College London (distinction). During the M.Sc. he investigated the structural connectivity of the inferior frontal gyrus to the inferior parietal lobule and the anterior temporal lobe, areas that have been implicated in phonological and semantic processing of language.
Dr Bajada completed his Ph.D. at The University of Manchester with his project involved developing mathematical and neuroimaging approaches to understand the connective anatomy of the brain’s temporal lobe.
Prior to joining the University of Malta, Dr. Bajada worked as a postdoctoral research scientist at the Forschungszentrum Jülich.
B.Sc. I.T.(Hons)(Melit.),M.Sc.(Melit.),M.B.A.(Henley),Ph.D.(King's)
Dr Josef Bajada is a Lecturer in Intelligent Automation at the Department of Artificial Intelligence. He has over 20 years of experience in software engineering, technical architecture, and computer science across various industries including Telecommunications, Oil and Gas, Transportation and Logistics, and iGaming.
Prior to starting his Ph.D. he worked as a Software Engineer at Go Mobile, and as a Senior Technical Architect at GO p.l.c., totalling over 11 years. During this time he obtained his M.Sc. in Computer Science and A.I. from the University of Malta and his M.B.A. from Henley Business School.
Josef completed his Ph.D. at King's College London in 2016, studying Automated Planning algorithms for problems involving rich numeric dynamics. This research was funded by the UK EPSRC through the project entitled The Autonomic Power System, a collaboration between various UK universities to investigate technologies that could enable intelligent Smart Grid automation. During this time he published in various high profile conferences such as the International Joint Conference on AI, the European Conference on AI, and the IEEE Intelligent Smart Grid Technologies Europe conference.
After completing his Ph.D. he held the position of VP Engineering for an iGaming company together with various technical consultancy roles with local companies. In 2017 he got engaged as an A.I. Technology Consultant for Schlumberger, a world leading oilfield technologies provider, to develop and apply intelligent automation technology for well drilling operations. He was also a Senior Visiting Lecturer at the University of Malta since 2016.
M.A.(Sheff.),Ph.D.(Sheff.)
Dr Charmaine Bonello is a Resident Academic Early Childhood and Primary Education within the Faculty of Education at the University of Malta. For the past twenty years, she has served as: an Education Officer Early Years within the Ministry for Education and Employment (MEDE); an Education Officer Quality Assurance Department (MEDE); a Senior Manager at the National Literacy Agency; a Kindergarten Educator; a Primary school teacher; and a Literacy teacher in the Maltese education system. Furthermore, she has worked as a policymaker at European level in areas concerning quality in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) and delivered various presentations on themes related to quality ECEC (0-7 years), the Emergent Curriculum and Literacy.
Dr Charmaine Bonello is also the co-founder and Vice President of the Early Childhood Development Association of Malta (ECDAM) and one of the Members of the Board of Administrators of The Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society.
B.A.(Melit.),M.A.(Melit.),Ph.D.(Melit.)
Maria Brown holds a Ph.D. in the Sociology of Adult and Non-Formal Education and Community Development, a Master of Arts in Sociology and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Italian.
She is a Resident Academic within the Department of Arts, Open Communities & Adult Education of the Faculty of Education. Dr Brown lectures and researches in the areas of adult education, community-based education, community action and community development, as well as in qualitative and quantitative research methods - with special interest in computer-assisted quantitative and qualitative data analysis (use of SPSS and NVivo).
Her experience also includes work for the European Commission, Eurydice, the Council of Europe, the European Co-operation in Science & Technology (COST) and the Ministry for Education and Employment (Malta).
She has carried out voluminous research that includes EU-funded projects and published in academic peer-reviewed publications:
Access her publications list.
B.Ed(Hons)(Melit),PGCEM,M.Sc(Bham)
Mr. Karl Cortis joined the Junior College as a Lecturer for Physical Education and Sport. He is responsible for delivering lectures in the field of Physical Education at intermediate level, as well as some study-units within the Institute for Physical Education and Sport.
Graduating as a teacher of Physical Education, Karl spent nine years teaching at the Archbishop’s Seminary School. Karl graduated as a teacher mentor in 2018, mentoring trainee teachers and newly qualified teachers. In 2019 Karl graduated with a Master of Science from the University of Birmingham, School of Sport and Exercise Rehabilitation Sciences, with a dissertation on Physical Education Assessment in Maltese Secondary Schools.
During the past years, Karl has worked in various sports fields, including that of a masseur with the Pieta F.C. U-17 team. In 2010 he was awarded the Annabelle Vassallo award for most committed coach with Sport Malta. Karl spent 4 years as Head Coach at different venues, coordinating a variety of events. He was also responsible to deliver Outdoor Education units with the institute for education. Karl was also a visiting lecturer within the Institute for Physical Education and Sport as well as with the Faculty of Education.
M.A.(Melit.),Ph.D.(Sussex)
Dr Daniela DeBono is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Anthropological Sciences, University of Malta. She was previously Senior Lecturer in International Migration and Ethnic Relations at the Department of Global Political Studies, and Marie Curie COFAS Research Fellow at the Malmö Institute for the Studies of Migration, Welfare and Diversity, both at Malmö University (Sweden). She was a research fellow at the European University Institute (Fiesole, Italy) for two years between 2016-2018. Broadly, her main research interests lie in the migration-human rights nexus. Currently she is looking at the impact of the EU’s migration and border policies on the daily life in Mediterranean border towns, with a focus on Lampedusa, Malta and Western Sicily. She obtained her Ph.D. from University of Sussex.
An anthropologist by training, she has conducted ethnographic projects on irregular migration in Malta, deportation practices from Sweden and hospitality practices on the external borders of the EU with a focus on southern Italy, Sicily (incl. Lampedusa) and Malta. In relation to these projects, she has published on irregular migration in the Mediterranean, hospitality in the immigration field, on return and deportation from the EU, on citizenship and on children's rights. Her research has been funded by the Marie Curie Actions of the EU, Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (FORTE), European Return Fund, Malmö University’s Rektor’s Funds, the UK Government (Commonwealth Funds) and the Commissioner for Children’s Office of Malta.
Apart from Malmö University, she has lecturing experience at the University of Connecticut in London, the University of Malta and the University of Sussex.
B.Eng.(Hons)(Melit.),Ph.D.(Melit.)
Dr Ing. Marija Demicoli is a Lecturer at the Solar Research Laboratory within the Institute for Sustainable Energy at the University of Malta. She carried out her doctoral studies at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) and received her doctoral degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Malta. Her doctoral research investigated the thermo-mechanical response of Large Hadron Collider collimators in case of defined novel beam impact scenarios. She completed her postdoctoral work through the REACH HIGH Scholars Programme within the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Malta, during which she developed silicon-based microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), in particular microgrippers, for the deformability characterisation of human red blood cells.
She has presented her work at numerous conferences and published articles in renowned international journals. Her research interests include finite element analysis, computational and experimental work in areas of thermo-mechanical analysis, structural mechanics, silicon-based microelectromechanical systems and solar materials.
Ph.D.(Greg.)
Rev Dr Nicholas Doublet is a Lecturer in Church History at the Faculty of Theology, and also teaches Palaeography and Diplomatics in the Department of Library Information and Archive Sciences, within the Faculty of Media & Knowledge Sciences at the University of Malta. He is the director of Diocesan Archives of the Archdiocese of Malta. He obtained a Doctorate in Church History at the Pontifical Gregorian University and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the University of Malta. His main research interest is in Vatican diplomacy in the contemporary period.
M.Sc.,F.C.I.I.,C.F.I.R.M.
Mr Andre Farrugia commenced his professional career working in the insurance industry before moving to the Malta International Training Centre where he occupied the post of Director of Studies. He is currently part of the academic staff within the Insurance department at the University of Malta. He has achieved the Fellowship of the Chartered Insurance Institute (FCII-UK), the Fellowship of the Institute of Risk Management (CFIRM-UK), an M.Sc. in Risk Management and is currently reading for a Ph.D. with the University of Malta. Andre has published several articles and papers and has delivered various lectures at renowned Universities in Latvia, Serbia, Kosovo, Dubai and Ghana. Andre is currently a Board member of the Malta Education Consultative Council, President of the Malta Insurance Institute, founder member of the Malta Institute of Loss and Risk Management and Honorary member of the Malta Association of Risk Management. On the European front, Mr Andre Farrugia represents Malta on the European Forum of the National Institutes for Professional Insurance Institutes and on the Board of EFICERT.
B.Eng.(Hons)(Melit.),M.Sc.(Melit.),Ph.D.(Melit.)
Dr Lawrence Farrugia is a Lecturer in product design and manufacturing technology at the Department of Technology and Entrepreneurship Education. He graduated in mechanical engineering from the University of Malta in 2011. In the same year, he commenced an M.Sc. as a postgraduate researcher within the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at the University of Malta. In 2013 he graduated with an M.Sc. and subsequently enrolled as a doctoral candidate within the same department. He obtained his Ph.D. from UM in 2017 for research on product development and human emotion. Dr. Farrugia has a particular interest in technologies such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and 3D printing. He has participated in EU partnership projects which have successfully promoted the use of such technologies in the domain of education.
B.Com.(Hons)(Melit.),M.A.(Econ.)(Melit.),M.Sc.(Econ.)(Warw.),Ph.D.(Econ.)(Lough.)
Dr Daniel Gravino is a resident academic at the Department of Economics of the University of Malta with research interests in public economics, industrial organisation and international trade; in particular tax competition and multinational firms. He obtained a Ph.D. in Economics from Loughborough University, an MSc in Economics and Industrial Organisation from the University of Warwick, and an MA and a BCom (Hons.) in Economics from the University of Malta.
During the thirteen years prior to joining University, Daniel held posts in both the public and the private sector, including Director (Economic Advisory Services) at Grant Thornton, Director at the Office for Competition, Head (Economic Research) at Malta Enterprise, and Senior Economist at the Economic Policy Department, Ministry for Finance.
Daniel was also a member of the European Commission's Working Group responsible for the development of methodologies to assess structural reforms; served as adviser to the Office for Competition on several high profile mergers; and as consultant to the European Parliament on matters related to tax avoidance by multinational firms.
B.A.(Hons),M.Litt.,Ph.D.(QUB Belfast)
Dr Paula Guzzanti (Argentina-UK) is a dance artist and scholar, Tai Chi and meditator practitioner committed to generating wellbeing opportunities in isolated and vulnerable communities. Her research interest is in the fields of affect theory, critical improvisational studies, and participatory research methodologies.
She completed her practice-as-research Ph.D. at Queen’s University Belfast (2019), exploring the role of affect in collaborative performance-making practice. She obtained an MLitt by Research from Trinity College Dublin, investigating the role of community arts in peacebuilding in Northern Ireland. Most recently, Paula won the Higginson Leadership Award of the year to facilitate a wellbeing project for Nicaraguan refugees in Costa Rica. She is currently working on a postdoc research project focusing on understanding the corporeality of violence in the context of forced migration.
In 2020, Paula has joined the Dance Department at the University of Malta. She is responsible for delivering study-units in the area of artistic research, interdisciplinary practices, and dance and technology.
B.Psy(Melit.),M.Sc.(MMU),Ph.D.(LJMU)
Dr Adele Muscat graduated with a Bachelor in Psychology in 1998 and went on to further her studies in Sport and Exercise Psychology at the Manchester Metropolitan University. Adele completed her Ph.D. in 2017 at the Liverpool John Moores University. Her specialisation area is in athlete transitions with her Ph.D. thesis looking into the 'Challenges experienced by footballers when they migrate to play professional football overseas'. She has over the past 20 years worked extensively as a sport psychologist with Malta’s elite and young athletes in various sports and has been the sport psychologist with the Maltese contingent at several Olympic, Commonwealth, Mediterranean and Small Nations Games.
Over the past years she has worked in sport management at MCAST, as sports psychologist at the National Sport School and the Malta Football Association. She was also the sport psychologist as well as a Director at the Maltese Olympic Committee for a number of years. Adele has been a visiting lecturer within the Institute for PE and Sport as well as the Department of Psychology at the University of Malta for a number of years.
B.Educ.(Hons.),M.Ed.(Ca' Foscari),Ph.D.(Edin.)
Dr Jane Spiteri is Lecturer at the Department of Early Childhood and Primary Education. An educator by training, Jane received her PhD in Early Childhood Education for Sustainability from the University of Edinburgh, her MEd from Ca’ Foscari University, and her BEduc (Hons) from the University of Malta. Currently, she is reading for a postgraduate diploma in gifted education at Radboud University.
Jane has extensive professional experience in different sectors of education. Her research interests are early childhood education, sustainability education and gifted education. She has published articles in international peer-reviewed journals, presented at international conferences and presently acts as a reviewer for three international journals in the fields of environmental education and early childhood education.
B.A.(Hons)(Melit), M.A.(Melit), M.St. (Oxon.),D.Phil (Oxon.)
Dr Abigail R. Zammit is a Lecturer in Classical Hebrew and Northwest Semitic Epigraphy at the Department of Oriental Studies. Her specialisations comprise Northwest Semitic inscriptions and related archaeology of the Levant.
Before joining the Department of Oriental Studies as visiting lecturer in 2017, she trained in archaeological research and practice. She graduated with a B.A.(Hons) and a M.A. in Archaeology from the University of Malta. Her Masters research traced the continuity of Punic culture in Roman Malta, Sicily, and Pantelleria. She was later awarded a M.St. in Jewish Studies at the University of Oxford, where she honed her training in Classical Hebrew, and completed her doctorate (D.Phil) in Oriental Studies at the same university. Her doctoral research re-investigated the "Lachish Letters" and their significance during the last days of pre-exilic Judah.
Dr Zammit joined the Żejtun Roman Villa Project, Malta, within the Department of Classics and Archaeology, serving as the project’s Finds Coordinator since 2009 and as Teaching Assistant in Post-Excavation Analysis since 2013.
