University seeking €30m in EU funds

The University of Malta has made requests for funding to the tune of €30 million under the European Regional Development Fund and European Science Foundation programmes, according to Rector Juanito Camilleri.

The funding is required in connection with projects that include the construction of an IT services centre, an extension to the Junior College, the construction of the building to house the new faculty of ICT and the furnishing and equipping of state-of-the-art laboratories for science and engineering, he said.

Prof. Camilleri, who was speaking during an event marking Foundation Day on November 22, said the University is in the process of designing a number of joint/dual international Masters programmes in collaboration with American and European counterparts.

In academic year 2008/9, it will be launching the first two of these programmes, one on sustainable environmental resources management and the second one on integrated marketing communications.

Prof. Camilleri said it is envisaged that such dual/joint international programmes will be run principally from the Old University building in Valletta with the intent of returning the building to its former stature.

Finally, to support the growth in the number of students, the expansion of academic programmes, the range of administrative support services, and the research programmes and collaboration with industry, the University this year employed about 100 additional staff: 75 academics in a broad range of disciplines and 25 technical and support staff. The event was one of several being held to celebrate the university's Foundation Day when, on November 22, 1769, Grand Master Manoel Pinto issued the decree transforming the legacy of the Collegium Melitense into a public university in the Bologna tradition.

Today, the University has over 10,000 students, over 1,500 of whom are following postgraduate courses.

Seven hundred international students from about 80 countries follow full-time or Erasmus courses.