Astrophysics 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.
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.
Kathleen Sammut // PhD student
Kathleen graduated with joint honours in physics and mathematics, and an MSc from the Institute of Space Sciences and Astronomy (ISSA) at UM. She is presently a PhD student in Galactic dynamics at the Department of Physics, under the supervision of Prof. Joseph Caruana and Prof. Victor Debattista.
Prof. Victor Debattista // Collaborator
We closely collaborate with the research group of Prof Victor Debattista at the University of Lancashire. Click here to visit the website of Prof Debattista’s group.
Dr Karl Fiteni // Collaborator
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. and PhD in Galactic Dynamics, supervised by Prof. Joseph Caruana and Prof. Victor Debattista, and is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Insubria.
Dr Ryan Vella // Collaborator at ETH Zurich
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 read for a PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany, and at present is a postdoctoral researcher in atmospheric physics at ETH Zurich. Ryan continues to work with the group on projects relating to dark skies and light pollution.
Past Group Members – Galactic and Extragalactic Astrophysics
David Attard worked in galactic dynamics and is currently pursuing postgraduate studies in astrophysics at the University of Sussex.
Francesca Borg worked in galactic dynamics. Subsequently, she pursued Master’s studies in astrophysics on the Erasmus Mundus programme. She will be commencing her PhD in astrophysics at the University of Cologne.
Micole Miceli worked in galactic dynamics and has recently completed her Master’s studies in astrophysics at the University of Padova.
Past Group Members – Night Sky Brightness Studies
Denise Buttigieg
Denise worked on mapping the Night Sky Brightness of Malta between 2022 and 2023. She later completed postgraduate studies in mathematical finance at University College Dublin.
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. Afterwards, Keith pursued postgraduate studies in aerospace engineering at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology.
Daniel Spiteri
Between 2018 and 2019, Daniel worked on mapping the Night Sky Brightness of Malta. Subsequently he completed postgraduate studies with the Institute of Sustainable Energy at UM.
Christina Julia Pisani
Between 2019 and 2020, Christina worked on mapping the Night Sky Brightness of Gozo and Dwejra. Subsequently, she went on to study at the Scuola Politecnica Design (SPD) in Milan.
Other past group members who worked on Galactic Dynamics
- Jake Cachia
- Maria Aquilina
- Lisa Marie Aquilina
- Francesca Sant