University rectors and representatives at the NUSCT signing ceremony, held on Friday 2 March 2018. University of Malta Rector, Professor Alfred J. Vella, is 3rd from left, sitting next to Professor Miquel Nicolau i Vila, Rector of the University of Andorra, who hosted the meeting.
The European small and landlocked state of Andorra was where the signing of the agreement that establishes the Network of Universities of Small Countries and Territories (NUSCT) took place. NUSCT will advance cooperation and collaboration by European universities from small states and territories on various fronts, driven and inspired by the challenges and opportunities of small size and scale.
The initial founding members of NUSCT are the University of Andorra, University of Gibraltar, the University of Greenland/Ilisimatusarfik, the University of Liechtenstein, the University of Malta (UM) and the University of the Republic of San Marino.
As one of its first decisions, NUSCT agreed to endorse Small States and Territories, a new academic, open access, online journal edited by UM Professor Godfrey Baldacchino and institutionally based at the UM's Islands and Small States Institute.
The Network will hold its second meeting in Malta during 2019.