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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 8 NOVEMBER 2020 13 COMMERCIAL Ensuring STEM engagement, research and innovation remain at the forefront of the national agenda THE Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) has taken various initiatives, under- taken several projects and meas- ures to ensure STEM Engage- ment, Research and Innovation remain at the forefront of the national agenda. These are all highlighted in the Annual Re- port for 2019 which MCST has launched and covers the activi- ties of the Council in 2019 under the Executive Chairmanship of Dr. Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando. Through the support of the Par- liamentary Secretary for Finan- cial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation and the Office of the Prime Minister, MCST's efforts are being reinforced. Responding to the increasing demand and forecasted short- ages of STEM skills in Europe, MCST has been a catalyst in STEM-related fields by enacting the National STEM Engagement Working Group through Esplora Interactive Science Centre. This Working Group brought to- gether the major national stake- holders in the field of STEM including the University of Mal- ta (UM), the Malta College of Arts Science and Technology (MCAST) and MCST itself to create awareness and address the shortage of STEM skills. A posi- tion paper was launched which includes various STEM Engage- ment measures including the development of a consolidated Malta Science Communication Strategy. Hence, MCST through Esplora, would be turning to its STEM Working Group to offer a synergistic and holistic approach to STEM Engagament on a local, EU and International level. Esplora offered various events for schools and the public dur- ing 2019 including a new and revised school education pro- gramme in line with the Learn- ing Outcomes Framework, var- ious Family Science Days and Thematic Events for visitors of all ages. Among many other events, the latter included Car- nival at Esplora, Halloween and Christmas at Esplora. An inde- pendent survey carried out by MISCO International confirmed a 14% increase in the perception and attitudes toward Science and Technology among the pub- lic in 2019 when compared to 2015. Other statistics also show an increase greater than 10% in STEM subject uptakes at year 8 for 2019 when compared to 2017. Tying-in with the national drive to encourage a greater take up of STEM subjects by Maltese students, and to develop Malta's knowledge-based economy the ground work for EsploraNatura has started and will complement Esplora in that it will address particular STEM subjects, such as the natural and biological sciences. A Director was en- gaged in the latter part of 2019 for the forty million euro plus project. Work on the formula- tion of the terms of reference, for the issuing of calls for ten- ders for Topographical Surveys and for Geological Surveys of the site intended for the location, progressed at a steady pace. The works related to the re- habilitation of the foreshore around the Bighi peninsula pro- gressed to an advanced stage, and visitors to Esplora will soon be able to access the Science Centre from the Grand Harbour through the historic Cot Lift. Through these efforts, MCST will be offering a holistic visi- tor experience that is second to none in the Mediterranean. MCST's Technical units have achieved unparallel growth as in 2019, MCST set up a dedicat- ed Internationalisation Unit to deepen international collabora- tion amongst local and foreign researchers and stakeholders and to serve as a one-stop-shop for international initiatives in which the Maltese research community may participate. Of note is the work being done with Chinese counterparts, the Ministry of Science and Tech- nology, most notably through the Sino-Malta Fund. The first call was launched in 2019, with a total budget of €700,000 put forward by MCST and MOST to fund one project in the field of Maritime Science and another project focusing on Transport. Successful projects are foreseen to commence in 2020. In 2019, work intensified on plumtri - a platform for Research and Innovation - a one stop online portal for researchers wishing to connect with other researchers and/or find oppor- tunities on research openings and calls amongst other R&I ini- tiatives-to make it more relevant to local stakeholders whilst ex- panding the platform to partners operating in the Mediterranean region. It is remarkable to note that plumtri has been awarded as the Best eGovernment Initi- ative for 2019 in the eBusiness Awards. Strong commitment to re- search and innovation is pivotal to make Malta one of the leading knowledge-based economies in the world. Policy work, appro- priate systems put in place have that transformative power of creating close links between sci- ence, policy and society. To this end, the policy unit at MCST started the groundwork and consultation on the smartspe- cialisation and Research & In- novation Strategy. In 2019, var- ious steps were taken to collect as much information as possible from stakeholders on the future smart specialisation strategy and understand the key challeng- es that should be addressed in the next Research & Innovation Strategy. An important input in- to the new national R&I Strategy post 2020 was the Peer Review of Malta's R&I system, support- ed by the EU's Horizon 2020 Policy Support Facility. The out- comes and recommendations of the Peer Review report have been reviewed and discussions on their implementation have also commenced. This work will continue in 2020. The first edition of the Nation- al Space Education programme, particularly the CanSat Malta and AstroPi activities open to all Maltese schools, reached its cul- mination in 2019. Organised in collaboration with the Ministry for Education and Employment, ESPLORA and ESA, the annu- al Space Education programme seeks to improve not only the sci- entific and technical insight of the younger generation, but also soft- er skills such as problem solving, teamwork and communication. MCST also continued to provide invaluable support to the govern- ment on Space policy, to support the Space Taskforce which was launched in March 2019. MCST continued serving as Malta's official contact point or- ganisation in the administration of EU Framework Programmes. Horizon 2020, the biggest EU R&I programme, will be suc- ceeded by Horizon Europe - an ambitious €100 billion research and innovation programme which will kick off in 2021 and run till 2027. Malta has greatly benefitted from EU innovation funding within the Horizon 2020 programme. By the end of 2019, 133 Grant Agreements have been signed with the par- ticipation of 179 Maltese en- tities. The amount of funding received by Maltese participants amount to €25.3 million. There are currently 61 unique enti- ties successfully participating in Horizon 2020. The most active beneficiary is the University of Malta which is participating in 46 projects and received around €8.8 million since the beginning of the programme. FUSION, the national R&I Programme, has continued to attract the attention of the local research community through- out 2020, with a budget of €2.2M. Through the Commer- cialisation Voucher Programme (CVP) and the Technology De- velopment Programme (TDP), public and private entities have been able to test the viability of their ideas and engage in col- laborative research respective- ly, with the total budget for the fund being consumed. Follow- ing the successful completion of the projects under CVP, 12 projects were awarded funding for through TDP during 2019. A total of almost €2.8M were com- mitted to these projects, some of which will be completed in 2022. MCST is very proud to show that the Annual Report financial statements reflect the consoli- dated position that MCST has taken good care of its funds. The 2019 MCST Annual Re- port is available to interested parties via this link.