Prof. Luciano Mule’ Stagno, the Director of the University of Malta’s Institute for Sustainable Energy, a Professor within the same Institute, and Group Leader of the Solar Research Lab, has been elected as the Chairperson of the COST Scientific Committee.
The COST Scientific Committee (SC) advises the COST Association about the quality of the Open Call and in particular, the procedures related to the submission, evaluation, and selection of proposals. It also oversees the monitoring and final assessment of COST Actions.
The news was made official on the COST portal, together with the announcement that Dr Orla Murphy has been appointed new Scientific Committee Vice-Chair.
Prof. Mule’ Stagno is succeeding Dr Jari Hämäläinen.
He has been involved with COST for over 10 years and has since 2018, been a member of the Scientific Committee.
Previously, Prof. Mule’ Stagno was the Director of Worldwide Labs at MEMC Electronic Materials Inc (USA) with responsibility for labs in Asia, Europe, and the US. His major expertise is in the characterisation, engineering and synthesis of semiconductor and solar materials.
Prior to this, he was CEO of Heritage Malta from 2007 until 2009. He is currently Executive Committee member of Din L-Art Helwa, the National Trust of Malta.
Commenting on this recent appointment, Prof. Mule’ Stagno said “It is a privilege and an honour to contribute to the COST mission. The reason COST remains so popular among European researchers is that it is a unique program that focuses on establishing connections. Whether a leading researcher in your field or a newly minted PhD, you want to meet, discuss, learn, and exchange ideas with your peers in your field. Moreover, the topics chosen for COST Actions are often inter-disciplinary making them even more interesting. COST Actions advance science, result in new ideas and research proposals”.
For more information about the Scientific Committee, please visit this website.