Group Members & Collaborators

Prof. Joseph Caruana // Group leader

Joseph’s research interests in astrophysics are in galaxy formation and evolution, reionisation, galactic dynamics, and night sky brightness. His other research interest is in the application of physics to hyperbaric medicine and geoscience.

Karl Fiteni // PhD student

Karl read for a B.Sc. (Hons.) in Physics and Mathematics at the University of Malta. For his final year project Karl carried out photometric measurements of variable stars. Following this, he pursued an M.Sc. in Galactic Dynamics with the Institute of Space Sciences and Astronomy (ISSA) at the University of Malta. Karl is currently working on his PhD in Galactic Dynamics, supervised by Prof. Joseph Caruana and Prof. Victor Debattista.

Connor Sant Fournier // PhD student

Connor carried out his MSc at ISSA on automating measurements of the Night Sky Brightness under the supervision of Prof. Joseph Caruana and Dr. Alessio Magro. Currently he is reading for his PhD at ISSA working with simulations and JWST data under the supervision of Prof. Joseph Caruana, Prof. Stephen Wilkins (University of Sussex), and Prof. Kristian Zarb Adami.

Prof. Victor Debattista // Collaborator at UCLan

We closely collaborate with the research group of Prof Victor Debattista at the University of Central Lancashire. Click here to visit the website of Prof Debattista’s group.

Lisa Marie Aquilina // MSc student

Lisa Marie read for a B.Sc. (Hon.s) in Physics and Mathematics at the University of Malta. In her final year project supervised by Prof. Joseph Caruand Prof. Victor Debattista she focussed on galactic dynamics. Currently, Lisa Marie is working in observational astrophysics, making use of ISSA’s observatory in Gozo.

Ryan Vella  // Collaborator at Max Planck Institute for Chemistry

Ryan Vella read for a B.Sc. (Hons.) in Physics and Mathematics at the University of Malta. His final year project supervised by Prof. Joseph Caruana involved the mapping of the night sky brightness (NSB) over the Maltese Islands.  In 2019, Ryan completed his M.Sc. in Geosciences (UM), followed by a fellowship in Earth Observation at the European Space Agency (ESA) as a Maltese National Trainee. He is currently reading for a PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany. Ryan continues to work with the group on projects relating to dark skies and light pollution.

2022/23 Group Photo of members working on Galactic Dynamics and Galaxy Evolution​​. From left to right: Prof. Joseph Caruana, Micole Miceli, Francesca Borg, Maria Aquilina, Prof. Victor Debattista, Karl Fiteni, David Attard, and Lisa Marie Aquilina.

Past Group Members working on Night Sky Brightness Studies

Denise Buttigieg
Denise worked on mapping the Night Sky Brightness of Malta between 2022 and 2023.

Keith Bajada
Between 2021 and 2022, Keith worked on mapping the Night Sky Brightness (NSB) in Gozo and Dwejra, and focussed on the effects of LED dimming on the NSB.

Daniel Spiteri
Between 2018 and 2019, Daniel worked on mapping the Night Sky Brightness of Malta.

Christina Julia Pisani
Between 2019 and 2020, Christina worked on mapping the Night Sky Brightness of Gozo and Dwejra.