THE
LUMINARY
UNIVERSIT Y OF MALTA ALUMNI NEWSLET TER
www.um.edu.mt/alumni
MAY 2015
The Farsons Foundation Prize
for best Honours History thesis
Three students from the University’s Department of History, Faculty of Arts were awarded the Farsons Foundation Prize for best History Honours thesis. The Prize was
set up in February 2014 as part of a Memorandum of Understanding between Simonds Farsons Cisk plc, the Farsons Foundation and the University of Malta. The Award
is funded by Farsons for three years in the first instance.
The Prize was awarded to Francesca Cassar, Simone
Atzori and Pierre Micallef who graduated B.A. Honours
in History earlier this academic year. Three students
qualified because they obtained the same number of
marks for their thesis. History Honours theses are usually based on original archival research.
Presenting the prizes, Mr Michael Farrugia, Director
at Simonds Farsons Cisk and Trustee on the Board
of The Farsons Foundation, said that the award was
evidence of Farsons’ and the Foundation’s commitment
to excellence in education.
Prof. Dominic Fenech, Head of the History
Department, recalled that Simonds Farsons Cisk used
to award a similar prize until the 1970s, adding that he
was very happy that this had now been revived. Adding
his congratulations to the graduates, he thanked
Mr Farrugia for this renewed association with the
Department of History, which he augured would be a
long one.
THE
LUMINARY
2
MAY 2015
The late Dr Donald
Sultana’s books
donated to the
Library
Opening of
Traditional
Chinese Medical
Centre
Professor Xu Jianguang, President of Shanghai
University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
(SHUTCM), and Professor Juanito Camilleri,
Rector of the University of Malta, recently signed an
historic agreement between the two Universities.
The signing took place at the conference hall of
the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese
Medicine.
As a result of this agreement, the two universities
will launch a collaborative Master programme in
Traditional Chinese Medicine and Culture at the
University of Malta. A Traditional Chinese Medical
Centre will be opened at the Msida Campus which
will allow healthcare and medical practitioners who
enrol as students, to acquire skills in clinical practice
of Traditional Chinese Medicine to complement
their theoretical studies. Professors from SHUTCM
practising at the Centre will not only be involved in
teaching, but, will also provide clinical services to the
general public.
The Special Collections Department within the
University of Malta Library has recently been the
recipient of a generous donation of approximately
950 books from Ing. Mark Sultana. The collection
of works, many of which focus on English writers of
the Romantic and Victorian period, came from the
estate of his late uncle, Dr Donald Sultana who was a
distinguished scholar and internationally recognised
authority on Coleridge and other Romantic figures
such as Sir Walter Scott. Dr Sultana taught English at the Royal University of
Malta but the greater part of his career was spent at
the University of Edinburgh where he held the post of
Reader in English Literature until his retirement. The
Collection reflects his particular interests and will be
known as, ‘The Donald Sultana Collection’.
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3
MAY 2015
100 Years of the Faculty of Science - Dean’s Awards
The Dean of Science’s Award ceremony started with a welcome address by the Dean, Professor Charles
V. Sammut and was followed by a
speech from the Minister for Education and Employment, The Hon. Mr
Evarist Bartolo. The Dean mentioned some of
the recent progress following an
injection of over 5 million Euro of
European Regional Development
Funds spread over six projects. This
has resulted in experimental and
computational research facilities
that are among the top in European universities in certain fields. He
also announced the birth of the Department of Geosciences, the sixth
in the Faculty. Minister Bartolo encouraged science students to help popularise science among school children through
various schemes that are being discussed in collaboration with the Education Department and other entities.
This year the sponsors were:
MEPA, Technoline Ltd, Methode
Electronics Malta Ltd, MCA, MCCA,
The Entomological Society of Malta
and Agenda Bookshop Ltd.
The award winners were: in Year
I Abigail Barbara (Mathematics &
Statistics & Operations Research),
Wayne Grech (Physics & Mathematics), Jasmine Spiteri (Biology
& Chemistry); in Year II Samwel
Cassar (Mathematics & Physics),
Jaromir Sant and Monique Sciortino (Mathematics & Statistics &
Operations Research); in Year III
Janet Chetcuti and Glen Farrugia
(Mathematics & Statistics & Operations Research), Maria Sultana
(Mathematics & Physics); in Year
IV Josette Carabott and Stefan
Cutajar (Mathematics & Statistics
& Operations Research) and Fabian Micallef (Physics & Mathematics) who also won the Special Prize
for Science, sponsored by Technoline Ltd. Annalise Sptieri (Biology
& Chemistry) won the Award for
The Best Environment Final Year
Project sponsored by MEPA and
the Award for The Best Final Year
Project in the Numerate Sciences
sponsored by MCA, went to Josette Carabott and Fabian Micallef.
Farewell Professor Wettinger
A farewell funeral service for
historian Godfrey Wettinger was
held at the University’s main
quadrangle in line with his wish for
a secular funeral. Family and friends
joined the academic community
in paying their last respects to the
University’s Senior Fellow, formerly
Professor of Medieval History, Head
of the Department of History and
Dean of the Faculty of Arts.
Together with Fr Mikiel Fsadni,
he discovered Malta’s oldest piece
of literature, Il-Kantilena ta’ Pietro
Caxaro in September 1966. He was a
founding member and past editor of
Melita Historica and past president
of the Malta Historical Society. He
was a formidable intellectual and
exemplary academic, responsible for
many seminal publications and tutor
to many generations of students.
This newsletter is published by the Communications and Alumni
Relations Office within the University of Malta.
All Rights Reserved 2015