An advert appearing in the local media is a sign that things really are moving with regard to a project in Gozo.

The Malta Enterprise advert calls for accommodation for 30 people in single rooms with en-suite bathrooms, noting that the number could grow to 100 or more as time progresses.

The advert does not give away any information about the project itself, noting only that it is for an international client setting up in Gozo by 2016.

The list of requirements is comprehensive, including laundry and WiFi, a gym in-house or nearby, and with a half-board service. According to sources, however, the advert refers to student accommodation for a university campus.

The government announced that an memorandum of understanding was reached last February to open a campus of Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, which is the medical and dental school of Queen Mary University.

It was subsequently revealed by Times of Malta that the campus would be in Gozo.

In the Budget 2015 speech last Monday, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said that the final agreement was at a very advanced stage.

UK government research ranked Barts first in London in 2008 for the quality of its medical research and fourth country-wide.

The Health Ministry believes that setting up the medical school at the Gozo General Hospital would elevate its status to a teaching hospital “and earn it international acclaim”.

Queen Mary staff would provide teaching during the early years of study while Maltese hospital staff would provide clinical teaching in the last three years of the course.