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Award of the IOI Elisabeth Mann Borgese Bursary, 2021

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  • 13:08, 14 Oct 2021

The Elisabeth Mann Borgese (EMB) Bursary of the International Ocean Institute (IOI) was established as a means of demonstrating recognition to the host country of the IOI – Malta – for hosting the IOI Headquarters and for providing facilities for staff and offices at the University of Malta’s Msida Campus.

The Bursary is financed through the IOI and constitutes a further recognition and acknowledgement of the role of Prof. E. Mann Borgese, founder of IOI, and of her considerable achievements.

The 2021 EMB Bursary is being awarded to Mr Justin Cauchi, a Master’s student with the Department of Biology under the supervision of Dr Julian Evans and Prof. Patrick Schembri. The research carried out by Mr Cauchi aims to address the gaps in current knowledge by mapping and characterising the subtidal Dendropoma cristatum bioconstructions present along cliff shores. The results will be collated with data from previous studies to understand factors affecting vertical distribution of the mollusc and the potential drivers that give rise to different types of local vermetid bioconstructions.

The EMB bursary funds will be utilised to enhance the current research work by supporting the rental of a boat with skipper to carry out fieldwork at cliff sampling sites, to fund the purchase of an underwater housing for a DSLR camera and for genetic studies. All equipment purchased with these funds will be available for use at the University of Malta after the research period, and recognised as a donation from he IOI. 

The 2020 EMB Bursary awarded to Ms Joanna Causon Deguara to enhance her research titled “Assessing Erosion and Mobility of Boulder Sized Clasts Along Selected Rock Coasts of the Maltese Islands” has now come to an end. This Bursary funding supported the purchase of specialised software and hardware that greatly facilitated her research analysis by making it possible to obtain clear overhead images as and when required. The Bursary has enabled her to carry out research using comparable technology and methodology to that used in similar studies elsewhere. 

The award ceremony for this year’s Bursary was held on 8 October at the Arvid Pardo Study Area on Campus. Present at the Ceremony were Pro-Rector Professor Joseph Cacciattolo, Professor Louis Cassar, Ms Antonella Vassallo (IOI Managing Director), Mr Justin Cauchi (EMB2021 awardee) and Ms Joanna Causon Deguara (EMB2020 awardee). 





Elisabeth Mann Borgese (24 April 1918 - 8 February 2002), founded the IOI in 1972 as a knowledge-based non-governmental, non-profit international organization devoted to the sustainable development of the oceans. IOI works to uphold and expand the principles enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea for the benefit of humankind as a whole, with particular consideration of the poor.  The mission of the International Ocean Institute is to promote education, training and research to enhance the peaceful uses of ocean space and its resources, their management and regulation as well as the protection and conservation of the marine environment, guided by the principle of the Common Heritage of Mankind.

Malta is the host country of the International Ocean Institute Headquarters. As an island state straddling the centre of the Mediterranean Sea, it has a long history of dependence on the sea as well as a strong tradition of maritime, fishing and seafaring occupation. Its membership of the European Union confers on it an obligation to adhere to the European maritime and fishing policies as well as conventions and regulations which are global in scope.

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