A balance should to reached between the requirements of industry and society and the flexible and multi-layered learning afforded to students, university rector Juanito Camilleri said this morning.

Welcoming 3,370 freshers at University this morning during the opening ceremony of this academic year, Prof. Camilleri said students would then be capable of using their creativity in building the new industries of the future.

He appealed to students to read and learn well beyond their prescribed texts and to ask for help when needed.

Prof. Camilleri addressed the topic of institutional research in particular areas of key relevance to Malta, based on coordinated programmes involving various researchers over a number of years and acknowledged that this required substantial funding and sophisticated equipment.

Although there has recently been significant investment in strengthening the university’s infrastructure, including the laboratories and the library, further long term investment in institutional research would help implement Malta’s national strategy, he said.

The university’s aim, the rector said, should be to help develop the Maltese identity, Maltese society and the Maltese economy, as a sovereign European Union country with an important Mediterranean dimension.

“The success of the University of Malta must be measured against its contribution in influencing the country’s way forward by creating its required intellectual capital and assisting Parliament and the civil service with the best counsel possible,” he added.

The number of Maltese undergraduate and post graduate students accepted by the university to date is 2,756. Non-Maltese new students total 354.

International students this year hail from 55 different nations worldwide. They will be following study-units in a number of areas, the most popular being units from the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Economics, Management and Accountancy.

The admissions office is currently working to process applications from students who sat for the Matsec and the University’s September supplementary session and whose results have just been published.