Welcome to Malta – Host of the NUCLEUS Annual Conference 2018

Save the date and share the news: The next NUCLEUS Annual Conference will be held in Malta, 11-12 October 2018!

Our host will the University of Malta – one of the institutions that will host an “Embedded Nucleus” in the coming two years. Together with Edward Duca  and his team we are looking forward to welcoming all NUCLEISTS, plus engaged colleagues from the fields of RRI, Public Engagement and Open Science. Find out more about our consortium partner in Malta and enjoy some impressions of the beauty of your coming conference venue!

The University of Malta has a rich tradition of research and teaching since its foundation in 1769, following the previous Jesuits Collegium Melitensis, founded in 1592. Nowadays, it is Malta’s highest teaching and leading scientific research institution, employing the largest number of researchers. There are over 10,000 students, which include 750 foreign/exchange students from nearly 80 different countries, all following full or part-time degree and diploma courses. advancing its historic humanistic approach, the university performs research in a broad range of fields, especially being occupied with Engineering, Medical Genetics and Novel Materials and investing in ICT and Astrophysics. The IT department seeks to continue building its research portfolio alongside its strong teaching capabilities.

Down to the present day, the university has been involved as coordinator and partner in numerous EU-funded projects under various programmes including FP5/6/7, Lifelong Learning Programme, Culture 2000, Tempus and various other international and regional programmes and initiatives. Since 2008, the University has attracted over €44 million from ERDF and ESF funding. This investment is a critical step towards Malta achieving its Europe 2020 goals. The university is also represented in a number of European and international university networks and groups.

Being eager to promote its achievements, the University of Malta has established a Communications & Alumni Relations Office as the public relations arm of the University, handling the institutions branding and public relations activities. This includes the university’s web portal, press releases, tours, events, festivals and other communication activities. Some of the biggest events organised and conducted by the office include the cultural festival “Evenings on Campus” and the open week “Discover University”, which over 5,000 school children attend per year. It also handles the “Think” magazine www.um.edu.mt/think, the university’s research magazine that tells stories behind university research.

Apart from 7,000 printed copies, the magazine has been viewed over 2 million times online, attracting readers from Malta and worldwide. The office also runs the festival “Science in the City – European Researchers’ Night”, which has become the biggest science-related activity in Malta. The EU-funded festival is led by the university, which coordinates a group of partners and corresponding bodies including media and logis-tics partners and the principal educational bodies of Malta linked to education and science-related fields. The festival attracts nearly 5% of Malta’s population every year.
The University of Malta accredits itself an important role in the socio-economic development of Malta, since attracting research funds is a vital source of economic expansion for a nation as small as Malta. Assuring and reinforcing its position in Malta’s society and its meaning on the international stage, the University of Malta is very eager to engage in international research and support actions, fostering and extending its communication activities. Occupying a special position in the NUCLEUS consortium by being the only mid-sized university on an island, this circumstance enables greater control with outcomes more quickly seen. The University of Malta therefore qualifies perfectly as an ideal platform to test new ideas, developments and strategies. As an open-minded and progressive institution, the university is willing to serve as a test bed for innovative structural and institutional changes, which makes it a unique and precious consortium partner.