Full-time, one-year course opening October 2021
This is the right course for those who want to sharpen their talents and wish to shape their career to fit the future challenges of the knowledge based society which will rely more extensively on our sustainable relationship with the sea, and the smart minds of the human resource in the marine and maritime sector of this decade. Whether you are a student just finishing your first degree or an already qualified professional wishing to enhance and diversify your career, this course offers the ideal opportunity to unleash your drive.
The course builds on the core principles of oceanography in coastal and open sea domains, with a focus on operational oceanography and the versatile and broad spectrum of disciplines and offshoot applications related to it. The main target of the course is to match the human resource needs in the evolving marine sector at local, European and global scales, providing professionals with wide ranging skills to exploit the outcomes of marine research and technology in favour of the competitiveness of the industry and service sectors. It is also set against a background of the rising industrialisation of seas and oceans with increasing human impact (such as from renewable energy provision, oil and gas extraction, fishing and leisure industries) and the extended quest for achieving sustainable development by protecting the marine ecosystem, minimising the impacts of climate change, natural hazards and anthropogenic influences, whilst maximising benefits to society.
The course is intended to train post-graduate students and professionals on state-of-the-art methodologies and tools to measure, understand and predict the marine environment, and derive sustained benefits from the sea. It is elaborated over a course programme spanning and merging the scientific, technical and applicative aspects of oceanography to offer students a wide-ranging integrated approach, linking science to management, putting technology at the service of users and stakeholders, and providing tools and training for more efficient service oriented applications. Targeted areas of such applications include: environmental monitoring and surveillance, assessment and mitigation of risks, marine science-based policy development and strategic planning, climate change, sustainable resource exploitation, ocean governance, marine industries and service provision, and the overall empowerment of human resources to face current and emerging challenges in the marine domain.
While retaining the necessary scientific elements related to the acquisition and use of data and its transformation into knowledge, the course targets to put an emphasis on achievement of skills, and to empower students to excel on applications and operational practices.
The course is delivered with the participation of an international faculty including high profile experts in operational oceanography. It is run by the Physical Oceanography Research Group of the University of Malta following the course concept launched in 2014 by Prof. Aldo Drago. It is supported by the AquaBioTech Group, an international consulting company located in Malta and operating globally with clients and projects covering a variety of aquaculture, fisheries and aquatic environmental projects, and Deltares, an independent institute in the Netherlands dedicated to applied research and smart solutions, innovations and applications for people, environment and society in the field of water throughout the world, working on four Mission Areas: Future deltas, Sustainable deltas, Safe deltas and Resilient infrastructure. Both partners offer their support to train and give research opportunities to students following this course.
Related job opportunities:
- Marine impact assessment and specialised analysis of environmental risks
- Research fields in oceanography and the marine environment
- Management of coastal/marine resources and activities
- Policy-making and governance
- Environmental monitoring and surveillance
- Marine observations and forecasting
- Data mining, management, quality control and archival
For further information, please contact course co-ordinator, Prof. Aldo Drago.
For more details on the course and the available scholarships, please visit the course website or the course announcement on the University page.
For online application and advice, please refer to the admissions advice page.