University of Malta participating in the European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science – E-RIHS
E-RIHS is a pan-European Research Infrastructure that supports research on heritage science, to support heritage interpretation, preservation, documentation and management. It achieves this primarily through networking, joint research proposals, training and education, and above all by delivering access for heritage researchers to some of the best institutions in Europe, making available data, laboratories, equipment and facilities, and the supporting expertise. By integrating state-of-the-art European facilities into a distributed Research Infrastructure, innovation and advancements in heritage science research will be achieved, and a leading role within the global heritage science sector will be forged, and this by drawing together a cross-disciplinary community of researchers and users.
The Minister for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government, Hon Dr Owen Bonnici on Monday presided over the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Maltese heritage entities which will be forming the Malta National Node of E-RIHS. Further information can be found online. During this ceremony, the University of Malta was represented by the Pro-Rector for Academic Affairs, Prof. Joseph Cacciottolo.
Through this ground breaking Memorandum of Understanding, the University of Malta partners with the Ministry for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government, the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, Heritage Malta, the Restoration Directorate, the National Archives, Malta Libraries, the St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation and the Archdiocese of Malta, to collaborate on common heritage research questions. Within the University of Malta, the partners are the Department of Conservation and Built Heritage, the Department of Art and Art History, the Department of Classics and Archaeology, the Department of History, the Department of Library Information and Archive Sciences, the Department of Chemistry, the Department of Geosciences, the Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, and the Faculty of Theology. Professor JoAnn Cassar, Head of the Department of Conservation and Built Heritage, will be the Co-ordinator of the National Node.
The MoU signed also lays the foundations for the development of the National Research Agenda for Cultural Heritage, an outcome of the 2006 National Strategy for Cultural Heritage, being led by the Ministry for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government. This is led by Mr Joseph Magro Conti from the Ministry.