When I arrived in France 5 weeks ago to take up my research post I was extremely fascinated by the experience for me to get more immersed in the mathematical area behind audio called “Ambisonics” ( and more specifically Higher Order Ambisonics). Sharing office and labs with some of the people that mostly contributed to this area ( such as Dr Jerome Daniel and Dr Rozen Nicol) I felt a bit like a 7year old landing in Eurodisney . 5 weeks down the line and indeed the experience and the down to earth personality of these mentioned people (and others) made it possible for me to be able to build up on the work done in the area .
My work here has made me reflect on why Malta does not actually host such a research facility . At the center of Orange Labs I work we are about 5000 people coming from 500 nationalities , with the main resource being the knopwledge and will to experiment in order to create new technologies and ideas that can be used to improve the day to day life of the common citizen . Since Malta can only count on the human resources as a main income , I truly beleive that the improvement and investment in such facilities can contribute heavily to the national economy.
Of course this cannot properly happen as our Maltese University continues to offer restricted courses ( I was one of those unlucky guys that had to move ot Uk to complete educational formation ). The university needs to diversify more the type of courses offered and allow more Interdisciplenary collaborations between its own department ( basically trying to function like a realistic Research Center rather than just as an Educational one) . I think that once Malta has something like this going on , it will provide quality of service that we as Maltese are known for and will make less professionals leaving the Maltese shores .
This is just something I felt I needed to share .
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Hey Adrian – just a thought. I don’t think it is particularly feasible to diversify the number of courses given at UoM as the UoM is not catering for the number of students other universities do! It wouldn’t be feasible to have a course for one or two students in a lot of cases. Also, would you want to be taught by lecturers who only have a basic knowledge of the subject, as would probably be the result, or people who actually know what they are talking about? I do agree that Research Centres are something Malta should think about, though I would say that they should focus on where the strengths already lie rather than just trying to cover all bases and failing miserably in all.
Comment by annmucc — June 3, 2010 @ 10:40 am
Good afternoon ann
Well Ann , what I wanted to say is that the UOM for example got people which have good grasp of Neurosciences for example but they are not even able of coming up with an undergraduate degree in it . I mean they could offer that kind of thing and then maybe also guide potential post graduates to do masters and ph.d abroad ( like that they could also hold a database to use in the future as well)
Another point ( and I think without this a research center will only remain a dream shared by few people) would be to have departments within UOM behave like a research center and integrate multi departemental and multi disciplenary approach rather than not sharing information … I’m sure you would agree on this point .
Malta holds this strongpoint that is being heavily underestimated , and working in such a center makes me wonder!
Comment by adytrevisan — June 3, 2010 @ 10:54 am
Yeah Ok – if there are people who know the subject then sure! However e.g. as far as I know there is a masters in neuroscience. I do think that having a broad undergrad means you can get a good grasp of more specific subjects in later degrees and have a broader base to tap into.
Hehe – would love to see Maltese departments working like research centres even more (there is some multi-departemental work going on but nowhere near enough). Let’s hope
Comment by annmucc — June 3, 2010 @ 11:22 am
Unfortunately they don’t offer a neurosciences masters but a biomedical sciences one .. very unfortunate as neurosciences can be looked at from so many other aspects ( for example I like the engineering aspect ot it) . I beleive that if departments start working more in synch with each other …. Malta would attract more expats back
Comment by adytrevisan — June 3, 2010 @ 11:59 am
Ok – I know there is something about neuroscience – don’t think it is the engineering aspect though – quite sure it is the biomedical one. Hehe to the expats back
Comment by annmucc — June 3, 2010 @ 1:52 pm