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Wednesday 28 May 2025 - It was the time to shine for no less than 206 researchers as over 400 academics, doctoral candidates, and researchers from the University of Malta gathered for the third edition of its annual research expo, UMRE, within the walls of the historically-rich UM Valletta Campus. Through a format of plenary sessions, parallel talks, discussion panels, and poster presentations, each researcher had the opportunity to discuss their current research initiatives.

Building on the success of UMRE23 and UMRE24, UMRE25 was a strong testament to how well Malta’s research momentum keeps growing, and a celebration of interdisciplinary collaboration, innovation, and the ever-expanding impact of emerging fields.

In fact, Hon. , Malta’s Parliamentary Secretary for Youth, Research and Innovation, called it “a testament to the creative ambition of the UM’s Research Community”.

Hon. Azzopardi Tanti proceeded to present two Doctoral Awards – to Dr Simone Azzopardi and Dr Karl Fiteni, from the Faculty of Arts and the Institute of Space Sciences and Astronomy, respectively – for the remarkable research they have conducted.

“UMRE is proving to be an incredible opportunity to bring together an incredibly diverse set of skills and knowledge at UM. It’s the collaborative spirit present among researchers that fuels further research growth – and so, Malta’s research momentum keeps growing,” said Pro-Rector Prof. Inġ. Simon G. Fabri (UMRE Chair), who provided the opening and closing remarks on the occasion.

Prof. , Assistant Professor in Organisational Behaviour and Research Methods at the Amsterdam Business School, University of Amsterdam, was the keynote speaker for this edition of UMRE, presenting his team’s very important research on the mental health of researchers. “The more tight-knit a community of people is, the higher the level of wellbeing of its members,” he told the audience.

A highlight of the event was the Panel Discussion on Artificial Intelligence (AI) moderated by Prof. Mario Aquilina, about ‘Reimagining the University in the Age of AI’. The pervasiveness of AI into everyday life and the requirement of interdisciplinary synergy to reach the strength of shared inquiry were both emphasised, so much so that the University recently formed an AI Research Cluster – a national hub for AI expertise and a multidisciplinary research initiative that aims to drive national and international research collaboration in AI, fostering stronger partnerships between academia, government, and industry.

In another first, the Master in Interpreting Studies students wrapped up their Interpretation of Mock Debates study-unit with practice at UMRE25. They independently researched the keynote topic and studies presented during the plenary session, familiarised themselves with the speakers’ research style, created shared glossaries, assigned interpreting slots, assessed their own performance, and gave each other feedback.

UM Rector, Prof. Alfred J. Vella, thanked the various offices, departments, and staff who collaborated to promote the ongoing research through this and other initiatives. In his address to the audience, he also remarked on the vitality of these thinkers of the future, mentioning the ever-growing number of doctoral researchers graduating from the University, which reached 77 in March 2025’s graduation ceremony.

Seven informational stands representing several streams of support available to doctoral students and researchers at the University were also present at UMRE. These were the , the Research Support ����������� Directorate (RSSD), the Knowledge Transfer Office (KTO), the Project Support Office (PSO), the Equity Office, the Malta University Press (MUP), and the European University of the Seas (SEA-EU).

Just as for the last two iterations of UMRE, , the University’s Research Magazine, will be publishing a special edition later this year, dedicated to the research featured during UMRE25. THINK also published in time for UMRE25, focusing on the theme of disciplines – celebrating the interdisciplinary nature of the day.

For more details about the UM Research Expo and to stay up to date on future events, you can visit the official UM Research Expo page.