In May 2018, the Research Management Task Force welcomed 24 delegates from 15 different universities from across the Utrecht Network to their fourth annual workshop.

This year the University of Malta hosted the event in their beautiful buildings in the heart of Valletta.

Programme and speakers

The programme for the three-day event was based around five key themes and many of the delegates presented as part of the programme in order to share good practice and their knowledge. These themes were:

• Organising quality research support;
• Developing approaches in research support;
• Open data;
• Changing research environments;
• Getting ready for Framework 9.

We were honoured to have Dr Sean McCarthy, a renowned expert and consultant in European research, as our keynote speaker for the last of these themes. He worked through how we can monitor the development of the next Framework Programme and shared advice on designing European research strategies.

Visit at the Institute of Sustainable Energy

On the final morning, we visited the Institute of Sustainable Energy in nearby Marsaxlokk to see an ERDF funded project in action – the University of Malta’s Solar Energy Lab.

Professor Luciano Mule Stagno presented his experience with sourcing research funding to develop this state of the art facility, which now hosts visitors and students from all over the world and is the first in Europe to develop floating solar panels for use at sea.

Tour in Malta

During the three days, we made the most of meeting new people and enjoying Malta!

We had a very informative walking tour of Valletta one evening and delegates were invited on a tour of the Three Cities of Malta after the workshop. This tour was a nice relaxing way to finish off what had been a very busy and productive workshop.

Feedbacks and plans

The Task Force received excellent feedback on the workshop through delegate evaluations. Attendees stated how relevant they found the content of the event in relation to their work.

Plans are now starting to be made for the 5th workshop to be held next spring.

All details here.

Author: Pam Jackson