The Department of Architecture and Urban Design in the Faculty for the Built Environment is responsible for addressing architecture and urban design issues with students, currently at bachelor level, and for promoting research activity at masters, doctorate and post-doctorate levels, in subjects which are related to the specialization of its resident academic staff members. The teaching and learning and research experiences provided by the resident and visiting staff of the Department have in recent years provided professionals who have, within the context of the B. E. & A. (Hons) course, been equipped with training in architecture or urban studies, particularly in the final two years of the current course system. This two-tiered pedagogical approach has led to improved applications in the architectural and urban fields, after graduation, whilst, at the same time, providing a firm platform for postgraduate studies at the University of Malta, or at other overseas universities, in various aspects of architecture or urban design. The Department is actively participating in the re-structuring of the Faculty’s degree course system, and, in the very near future, will be - within the new structure of a three-tiered foundation diploma-bachelor-masters education system - offering project-based professional masters degree courses in architecture and urban design. At present, the main research interests of the department cover the fields of History of Architecture, Architectural Theory, and Urban Design. The Department co-operates closely with the International Institute for Baroque Studies, while in the other fields departmental staff are involved in collaborative projects with their counterparts in operating units of overseas universities. The work of the department is annually monitored by the internal audit operating unit of the University of Malta, and by external examiners who are regularly invited by the University to participate in the examinations of the final year student projects.