This was stated by Louis Galea, Minister of Education, Youth and Employment, when he addressed the second National Chemistry Symposium (NCS2) organised by the Department of Chemistry at the University of Malta.

The concept behind the National Chemistry Symposium is to provide chemists, especially younger local chemists, the opportunity to publicly present their research work.

Three chemists of distinction - Prof. Ivan Gutman (University of Kragujevaz, Serbia and Montenegro), Prof. Christian Degrigny (Malta Centre for Restoration, Malta) and Dr Jonathan Bonello (Firmenich SA, Switzerland) presented papers at this symposium.

Other speakers in this symposium presented papers outlining the results of original research work carried out in Department of Chemistry over the past few years by local undergraduate and postgraduate students under the supervision of the academic staff of the department. The quality is well comparable to research carried out in other academic institutions worldwide.

The National Chemistry Symposium also provided an opportunity for the local business community to publicly show their support towards the Department of Chemistry, which year after year produces a number of qualified and well?trained chemists who contribute significantly to the creation of wealth in the manufacturing and other sectors.

A handful of companies have positively responded to the call and this signifies that these companies have understood that it is solely through a healthy academic-industrial partnership that the tradition of excellence in higher education can be guaranteed in the coming years.

In his opening speech, Dr Galea spoke about the need to invest in Research, Technological Development and Innovation (RTDI).

Dr. Galea said that investments in RTDI have direct and indirect impacts on the more effective fulfillment of national policy priorities in the economic and social domains, as well as in meeting more political and strategic national priorities, such as competitiveness, employment generation, and innovation. “The switch to the knowledge-based, innovation-driven economy requires countries to invest in appropriate structures and mechanisms to achieve this transition, at least in the long-term.”

Dr Galea said that designing effective structures and implementation mechanisms depends on strategic policy research activity based on systematic policy approaches. These policy approaches are based on the development and use of RTDI statistics such as the EU Community Innovation Scoreboard and the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report, which show Malta’s strengths and weaknesses in RTDI.

Dr Galea said that Malta has been investing in strategic policy approaches, in recent years through work being carried out at the Malta Council for Science and Technology’s (MCST). “The new RTDI Strategy approved by Cabinet in 2003, based on a proposal submitted by the MCST, makes the case for new systemic approaches to RTDI policy based on ‘whole of government approaches’ to research and innovation policy.”

Dr Galea announced that this week a call for expressions of interest will be launched as part of the National RTDI Programme. This programme is aimed at encouraging public-private sector partnerships and cross-sectoral synergies by providing financial support for scientific research over the whole research and innovation chain.

Potential participants of the programme include SMEs, university, public and private bodies including foundations and authorities. These objectives will be achieved through three sub-programmes - Capacity Building, Scientific Research and SME Collaborative Research.

The programme has a budget of Lm300,000 for 2004, and will fund between 8 and 12 competitive and scientifically relevant projects. The funds are to be allocated on the basis of a public call for proposals and an external peer review system. The call is open to all legally established entities in Malta. Projects in all scientific areas may be submitted for review