Malta will for the first time this year join the rest of Europe in celebrating the work of researchers with a series of activities being organised by the Fondazzjoni Temi Zammit (FTZ), a foundation named after a Maltese researcher of worldwide repute.
All over Europe, a variety of entertaining and fun events are planned to run late into the night of Researcher's Day - September 28.
The aim is to give the public, particularly young people, the opportunity to meet researchers in a festive atmosphere to highlight the appeal of pursuing a research career.
FTZ is organising several activities on the theme Art Thou Researching? to improve the perception, held by the public, of research and bring it closer to reality.
The aim is to bring to the fore the value of research for society by highlighting the technologies making the events possible and which could also be used very effectively in art.
"Art can place the spotlight on research activities, while research may be essential for one to appreciate works of art," FTZ project manager Philip Serracino-Inglott told a news conference at Hastings Gardens yesterday.
He said that activities leading to the researchers' night had already started. A researcher was meeting young people and school children to explain the work of a researcher. He was also inviting them to take part in an art competition connected to this event.
The winners of the competition will be announced on September 28 and they will then take part in a competition at European level.
Mr Serracino-Inglott said that an art installation, which will be set up at St James Cavalier, had been commissioned.
A survey to get people's views on researchers was conducted and its results are currently being analysed.
An online forum to allow young people and researchers to interact is also to be set up.
On September 22, the first part of a two-part treasure hunt is to be launched. This will see participants learning about and visiting the sites where research is carried out in Malta, an exercise mimicking the work of researchers in their hunt for new facts and evidence.
The events are being organised with the help of the Manoel Theatre, which will host restorer Giuseppe Mantella for a lecture at the Sala Isouard on September 27. He will delve into the research which had to be undertaken prior to the restoration of the theatre.
On September 28, St James Cavalier will host an exposition of local research results and the best entries to the drawing competition. Later in the evening a party with live music would be held at Hastings.
The project is being accompanied by a mascot - Nosey The Ferret. The inspiration was the Maltese expression Lanqas Issibha B'Nemes - indicating the ferret as the ultimate finding tool.
Joanna Drake, the head of the European Commission Representation in Malta, said Malta was implementing more innovative projects with the one being launched serving as a good example.
Europe needed more research and the Commission was taking more initiatives in this regard, as with the issue of the Code of Conduct and Charter of Researchers, the Mobility Portal of Researchers (with FTZ manning and maintaining the national portal), which created 1,000 new jobs per month for researchers around Europe, and the ERA-More network, an information service for researchers.
She said that although results were encouraging, more needed to be done.
Valletta mayor Paul Borg Olivier said Valletta had a central role in the project since the city had been founded as a research experiment in its innovative structure with regard to its architecture and engineering.