Commentary

It is widely acknowledged that to achieve the goals of the Lisbon Agenda, Europe, and more so Malta, needs more researchers. Yet, a career as a researcher is not an easy one. Suffice it to say that work experience in a foreign country is an essential part of any researcher's career development, and making the move to another country can be daunting. It can be a life-changing choice, for both the researcher and his loved ones, and therefore it requires much thought and preparation. There are various factors to consider - finding a house, a job, schooling for your children, social security and often learning a new language.

To help researchers make an informed decision, Fondazzjoni Temi Zammit (www.ftz.org.mt) has set up, by mandate of the Ministry of Education, Malta's first and only Research Mobility Centre (RMC-Malta). The European Union has helped set up several RMCs all over Europe. RMC-Malta is there to help by answering any questions a researcher might have about moving to another country.

RMC-Malta seeks to help incoming and outgoing researchers, to create awareness of the network of mobility centres and the mobility portal, and to provide a favourable environment for the mobility of researchers through co-ordination with national stakeholders.

The aim of RMC is to make the researcher's life simpler, and to give all the practical tips required.

RMC-Malta has also set up a portal (www.eracareers.org.mt) with all the information needed by researchers seeking to move to Malta. Such portals can be found in English for all the countries (over 30) which have set up their own RMCs and which are partners to the project. One may also find online the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers.

On the other hand, the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) has charted the way forward through the formulation of a strategic plan titled National Strategic plan for Research and Innovation: 2007-2010-Building and Sustaining the Research and Innovation Enabling Framework. The strategy presents a vision for R&I in Malta as well as a set-up of underpinning strategic principles which guided the formulation of the plan.

The R&I vision proposed for 2007-2010 is: "Research and Innovation at the heart of the Maltese economy to support value-added growth and wealth." The strategy is underpinned by a number of principles, including: 1. The government must leverage State R&I funding to address pressing national priorities relating to water, energy and the environment; 2. Government must focus its resources, energies and abilities towards a select number of value-added economic sectors in order to obtain value-added R&I; 3. The appropriate supporting framework must be put into place at the earliest to enable SMEs to innovate and flourish; 4. Government should facilitate the establishment of an enabling platform that will allow Maltese enterprises in partnership with overseas institutions and business to enhance imported knowhow and technology for exportation in the southern Mediterranean region; 5. The government's mainstream strategic objective is to establish the appropriate platforms bringing together parents, knowledge institutions and professions, and students to expand the science, engineering and human capital base; 6. The appropriate mechanisms for a business-to-academia nexus is paramount in order that R&I flourishes; and 7. Society must develop a national pro-innovation culture supportive of invention, risk-taking and entrepreneurship.

The National R&I Programme is one of the instruments proposed in the National Strategy in support of its aims. It is a funding programme for research and innovation carried out by local organisations and will be operated in accordance with the strategic principles and recommendations of the National Strategy.

All these efforts to promote R&I are closely related to the University. It is the University which should be the hub for research activity. The new Rector intends to see to it that Research and Innovation will flourish as one of the important pillars of the University. It is estimated that an additional Lm3 million are needed, besides last year's budgeted University grant.

We are convinced that the government will live up to its promise of realising the importance of R&I by funding the University with the funds required. There should be no need to remind the authorities that science-based departments are still without basic equipment, some of importance to the pharmaceutical industry - equipment which has been requested for the past ten years.

It is good to attract more students to join science-based courses and all should be congratulated for this success. However basic facilities now need to be provided with urgency.

Ibn Campusino and colleagues would like to wish a very warm welcome to all students joining the University for the first time next week and to all those returning to a more active academic life. Very few better things in life are worth having more than a rewarding lifelong education. Illiteracy has yet to be completely eradicated from our islands but more and more students are continuing with tertiary education - an encouraging sign.