UNIVERSITA TA MALTA

Their core work

The University of Malta is a comprehensive public university and Malta's primary research institution, active across science communication, marine and earth sciences, AI, and security research. They bring strong expertise in public engagement with science, open access infrastructure, and Mediterranean-specific environmental research including geomorphology, groundwater systems, and marine geology. The university also contributes significantly to digital innovation through virtual reality, explainable AI, and natural language generation research, while serving as Malta's main gateway into European research networks and e-infrastructures.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early H2020 period (2014–2018), the University of Malta focused heavily on science communication, open access infrastructure, and networking — building connections to European research networks (GÉANT, OpenAIRE) and running public engagement events. From 2019 onward, their portfolio shifted toward applied AI (explainable AI, natural language generation), Mediterranean environmental science (resilience, sedimentology, numerical modelling), and co-creation methodologies. This evolution suggests a university maturing from infrastructure-building and outreach into more specialized, research-intensive domains.

The University of Malta is pivoting toward applied AI and Mediterranean environmental resilience research, making them an increasingly relevant partner for projects needing AI expertise combined with small-island or coastal perspectives.

How they like to work

With 54 participant roles versus 20 as coordinator, the University of Malta primarily joins consortia rather than leading them, though their coordination rate (~27%) is respectable for a small-country university. Their 829 unique partners across 60 countries indicate a broad, non-exclusive network — they are a connector rather than a closed-circle player. This makes them easy to approach for new partnerships, and their experience in large CSA and RIA consortia means they understand the administrative demands of multi-partner projects.

With 829 unique consortium partners spanning 60 countries, the University of Malta has one of the most extensive collaboration networks relative to its size. Their geographic reach extends well beyond Europe into Latin America (BELLA-S1) and the broader Mediterranean region.

What sets them apart

As the sole university of a small EU island state, the University of Malta offers a unique combination: Mediterranean-specific environmental expertise (coastal, marine, groundwater), strong EU project experience relative to country size, and a bridge position between European and North African research communities. Their 75 H2020 projects make them a disproportionately active player for Malta's scale, and their breadth across science communication, AI, security, and earth sciences makes them a versatile consortium partner who can fill multiple roles.

Highlights from their portfolio

• MARCAN
  Their largest single grant (EUR 932K) as coordinator — an ERC-style project on groundwater-driven geomorphology, demonstrating deep earth science research capacity.
• ESSENTIAL
  Largest participant-role funding (EUR 716K) in an interdisciplinary security science project, showing they can handle substantial work packages in complex consortia.
• TrainMALTA
  Coordinated a bioinformatics training network (EUR 430K), positioning Malta as a capacity-building hub for high-throughput sequencing in the Mediterranean.