The speech of the rector of the University of Malta, Juanito Camilleri, during a lunch for members of the media on the occasion of the university's foundation day, focused on recent developments in ICT on campus, especially the creation of the new Faculty of ICT.
"After months of internal consultation the university set up a new Faculty of Information and Communication Technology. The setting up of the Faculty of ICT created the context for a major restructuring of the Faculty of Engineering involving the repositioning and merger of some departments and the expansion of others," he said.
The rector explained how the new faculty involved the creation of new departments, namely the Department of Artificial Intelligence and the Department of Microelectronics and Nanoelectronics in the ICT faculty.
The creation of the Faculty of ICT also saw a range of degree programmes emerge in the discipline, including a number of three-year undergraduate programmes focusing on different aspects of ICT; an evening undergraduate programme in ICT; the expansion of a conversion master's programme in ICT focused on giving graduates in other disciplines an entry point into ICT; and a means of combining ICT undergraduate programmes with entrepreneurship and linguistics, among others.
Moreover, the Faculty of Science was also given the opportunity to assess its activity. Consequently, the birth of an Earth Systems Science Unit is underway, bringing a multidisciplinary approach within the faculty, dealing with a broad range of issues related to the environment.
The Faculty of Science also launched a degree programme in collaboration with the Faculty of Economics, Management and Accountancy, combining finance with operations research and statistics.
The rector also revealed that the university is actively involved in research projects.
"At present the university is engaged in circa 70 projects which are mostly funded externally through EU and other instruments. The total value of the University of Malta's portion of research projects that are underway is €6.75 million. These projects mainly involve departments of the Faculties of Engineering, Medicine, Science and ICT, but with some interesting projects also in European and Mediterranean studies and other humanities."
ICT also featured when Prof. Camilleri spoke of the administration of the university. "At present the university has issued a tender for the purchase of an integrated ICT system to streamline operations in its finance, human resources and logistics departments. This system will be integrated with the existing student management system and is expected to provide the much-needed infrastructure required to support the day-to-day activities of the university on all fronts of administration."
He also referred to the recently-launched new university website which, on completion, will have around 20,000 pages. It is accessible at www.um.edu.mt.
"Looking ahead, the university has submitted requests for funding under the ERDF and ESF programmes of a value of circa €30 million. These projects include the construction of an IT services centre; the construction of an extension of 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 in the Sciences and Engineering."
The university is still waiting for a reply on these submissions, the rector said.
"After months of internal consultation the university set up a new Faculty of Information and Communication Technology. The setting up of the Faculty of ICT created the context for a major restructuring of the Faculty of Engineering involving the repositioning and merger of some departments and the expansion of others," he said.
The rector explained how the new faculty involved the creation of new departments, namely the Department of Artificial Intelligence and the Department of Microelectronics and Nanoelectronics in the ICT faculty.
The creation of the Faculty of ICT also saw a range of degree programmes emerge in the discipline, including a number of three-year undergraduate programmes focusing on different aspects of ICT; an evening undergraduate programme in ICT; the expansion of a conversion master's programme in ICT focused on giving graduates in other disciplines an entry point into ICT; and a means of combining ICT undergraduate programmes with entrepreneurship and linguistics, among others.
Moreover, the Faculty of Science was also given the opportunity to assess its activity. Consequently, the birth of an Earth Systems Science Unit is underway, bringing a multidisciplinary approach within the faculty, dealing with a broad range of issues related to the environment.
The Faculty of Science also launched a degree programme in collaboration with the Faculty of Economics, Management and Accountancy, combining finance with operations research and statistics.
The rector also revealed that the university is actively involved in research projects.
"At present the university is engaged in circa 70 projects which are mostly funded externally through EU and other instruments. The total value of the University of Malta's portion of research projects that are underway is €6.75 million. These projects mainly involve departments of the Faculties of Engineering, Medicine, Science and ICT, but with some interesting projects also in European and Mediterranean studies and other humanities."
ICT also featured when Prof. Camilleri spoke of the administration of the university. "At present the university has issued a tender for the purchase of an integrated ICT system to streamline operations in its finance, human resources and logistics departments. This system will be integrated with the existing student management system and is expected to provide the much-needed infrastructure required to support the day-to-day activities of the university on all fronts of administration."
He also referred to the recently-launched new university website which, on completion, will have around 20,000 pages. It is accessible at www.um.edu.mt.
"Looking ahead, the university has submitted requests for funding under the ERDF and ESF programmes of a value of circa €30 million. These projects include the construction of an IT services centre; the construction of an extension of 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 in the Sciences and Engineering."
The university is still waiting for a reply on these submissions, the rector said.