Lectures of scientists of the University of Malta at the IPE RAS
Category: Общие
On Friday, December 14, 2018, at 14:40 in the IPE RAS Conference Hall lectures of scientists of the University of Malta will be held:
1. "50 years since the theory of plate tectonics and still exploring: Case studies from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Hawaiian plume" - Matthew Agius's lecture on the study of the deep structure of the lithosphere in the areas of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Hawaiian Plume.
2. "Transforming how research is performed" - Edward Duca's lecture on scientific communication in Malta.
Lectures will be held in English.
More about lectures and authors:
"50 years since the theory of plate tectonics and still exploring: Case studies from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Hawaiian plume" (Matthew Agius's lecture on the study of the deep structure of the lithosphere in the areas of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Hawaiian Plume).
Since the acceptance of plate tectonics 50 years ago the structure of tectonic plates have in general been well-determined thanks to the significant increase of seismic stations deployed across the globe. Despite this advancement, fundamental questions such as what is the driving mechanism of plate tectonics, their origin and evolution are still debated today. In addition, it is also unclear what role do mantle plumes have in the theory of plate tectonics. These have so far proven to be challenging to answer mainly because the processes happen deep beneath the oceans, which unlike continents have no seismic stations.
In recent years, a few large-scale seismic experiments have been undertaken to reveal these Earth mysteries, noteworthy the PI-LAB experiment across the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Hawaiian PLUME experiment. In these expeditions, tens of broadband ocean bottom seismometers were deployed in the ocean and left recording for one year. Results from these experiments suggest that the lower mantle contributes to the mantle dynamics above.
Matthew Agius will be sharing his experience in these experiments and discuss the results.
About the lecturer:
Dr. Matthew R. Agius is a Post-Doc at the Department of Geosciences, University of Malta. He uses seismic waves generated from earthquakes to study the deep Earth interior. During the last 10 years, he studied various tectonic processes from around the world including the India-Tibet collision, the Islands of Hawaii, Mongolia, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Mediterranean tectonics. Recently, he was part of an international team of scientists who deployed 78 stations across the Atlantic Ocean to study how plate tectonics actually form.
His research with the University of Malta involves working on real-time monitoring of earthquakes and tsunamis from across the Mediterranean.
"Transforming how research is performed" (Edward Duka's lecture on scientific communication in Malta).
NUCLEUS, a Horizon 2020, is a four-year project investigating how to make Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) a reality in universities and research institutions. It has studied best practice examples of how universities interact with other actors including civil society. The consortium is built by academic institutions, national science and technology associations, public policy organisations, national public engagement networks, and non-governmental organisations, which give a unique collaboration between 14 countries over 3 continents. One of its foci is identifying the barriers and opportunities that exist between universities and research institutions, and civil society. This talk will give brief examples of civil society partnerships with universities followed by opening up a discussion on the RRI agenda within this context, how science shops can connect to communities, the development of mutual trust & related topics.
About the lecturer:
Dr. Edward Duca is a Science and Innovation Communication Lecturer at the University of Malta, the Editor-in-Chief of the research magazine Think, runs the science communication STEAM Summer School, involved in several large EU funded projects, and has created and managed several science communication events through the NGO the Malta Chamber of Scientists. The largest activity being the national science and arts festival Science in the City attracting 6% of the population annually.
Related links:
Matthew Agius's profile on Researchgate.net
The official website of the journal about science, research and culture «Think Magazine» (L-Universita ta’Malta)
Website of the Summer School on Scientific Communications «STEAM»
Website of the non-governmental organization «Malta Chamber of Scientists»