{"id":5,"date":"2019-09-10T18:13:38","date_gmt":"2019-09-10T17:13:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/?page_id=5"},"modified":"2025-12-19T23:31:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T23:31:13","slug":"about-joseph-caruana","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/about-joseph-caruana\/","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"5\" class=\"elementor elementor-5\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-97df85d elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"97df85d\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-51ec617\" data-id=\"51ec617\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-903dc3b elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"903dc3b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;_animation&quot;:&quot;fadeIn&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"799\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/head_shot-799x1024.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-1853\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/head_shot-799x1024.jpg 799w, https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/head_shot-234x300.jpg 234w, https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/head_shot-768x984.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/head_shot-1199x1536.jpg 1199w, https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/head_shot-800x1025.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/head_shot.jpg 1561w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 799px) 100vw, 799px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-17ed764\" data-id=\"17ed764\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a822618 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a822618\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;_animation&quot;:&quot;fadeIn&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>I am an associate professor at the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.um.edu.mt\/science\/physics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Department of Physics<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.um.edu.mt\/issa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Institute of Space Sciences &amp; Astronomy (ISSA)<\/a>\u00a0at the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.um.edu.mt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">University of Malta<\/a>.<\/p><p>Between 2012 and 2016 I was a postdoctoral researcher in astrophysics at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aip.de\/en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Leibniz-Institut f\u00fcr Astrophysik (AIP)<\/a> in Potsdam, Germany, working in the Galaxies &amp; Quasars group and the <a href=\"http:\/\/muse.univ-lyon1.fr\/spip.php?article97\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MUSE Consortium<\/a>.<\/p><p>Previously, I carried out my doctoral research in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www2.physics.ox.ac.uk\/research\/galaxy-surveys\/high-redshift-surveys\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">high-redshift group<\/a>\u00a0within the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www2.physics.ox.ac.uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Department of Physics<\/a>\u00a0at the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ox.ac.uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">University of Oxford<\/a>, where I read for a DPhil in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www2.physics.ox.ac.uk\/research\/astrophysics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">astrophysics<\/a>\u00a0as a Marie Curie research fellow in\u00a0a network associated with the NASA\/ESA\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.jwst.nasa.gov\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>James Webb Space Telescope<\/u><\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.jwst.nasa.gov\/nirspec.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>NIRSpec<\/u><\/a>\u00a0Instrument.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-a423e14 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default elementor-invisible\" data-id=\"a423e14\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;animation&quot;:&quot;fadeIn&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-8f99be0\" data-id=\"8f99be0\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-432a52f elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"432a52f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-44ad913 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"44ad913\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;_animation&quot;:&quot;fadeIn&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Research<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-eb8dbc8 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"eb8dbc8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;_animation&quot;:&quot;fadeIn&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p style=\"font-size: 14px;\">My research interests in <strong>astrophysics<\/strong>\u00a0include:<\/p><ul style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><li style=\"font-size: 14px;\">Reionization<\/li><li style=\"font-size: 14px;\">Galaxy formation &amp; evolution<\/li><li style=\"font-size: 14px;\">Lyman-alpha emission<\/li><li style=\"font-size: 14px;\">Galactic dynamics<\/li><li style=\"font-size: 14px;\">Light pollution<\/li><li style=\"font-size: 14px;\">History of astronomy<\/li><\/ul><p style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\">Within astrophysics, my work is largely aligned along two streams: (1) the Early Universe (exploring distant, high-redshift galaxies), and (2) Galactic Dynamics. I make use of both simulations and observations (employing ground-based and space-based observatories for imaging and spectroscopy).<\/span><\/p><p style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\">I am involved in a number of collaborations. On Galactic Dynamics, my group collaborates with the research group of <\/span><a style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.star.uclan.ac.uk\/~vpd\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Prof Victor Debattista<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\"> at the University of Lancashire; and on galaxy formation and evolution with the group of\u00a0<\/span><a style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\" href=\"https:\/\/stephenwilkins.co.uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Prof. Stephen Wilkins<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\"> at the University of Sussex. I have served on the management committee (representing Malta) on the Europe-wide\u00a0<\/span><a style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mw-gaia.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MW-Gaia COST Action<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\">\u00a0(<\/span><a style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\" href=\"https:\/\/sci.esa.int\/web\/gaia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gaia<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\"> is a <\/span><a style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.esa.int\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">European Space Agency<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\"> observatory) and am a contributing scientist to <\/span><a style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.isdc.unige.ch\/theseus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">THESEUS<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\">, as a member of Working Group1 (&#8216;Exploring the Early Universe with Gamma Ray Bursts&#8217;), and Working Group 5 (&#8216;Synergy with Future Facilities&#8217;).<\/span><\/p><p style=\"font-size: 14px;\">Since 2017 I have \u00a0been carrying out research on night sky brightness and the impact of light pollution. My group produced the first detailed and comprehensive night sky brightness (NSB) map for the Maltese archipelago, and monitors the NSB on a regular basis. For my work and advocacy on light pollution,\u00a0<span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif; text-align: justify;\">I am the recipient of\u00a0<\/span><a style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif; outline-color: currentcolor; text-align: justify;\" href=\"https:\/\/darksky.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dark Sky International<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif; text-align: justify;\">&#8216;s 2025 Dark Sky Defender Award for the continent of Europe.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify; font-size: 14px;\">Over the past decade I have been engaged on a research project on the history of astronomy.<\/p><p style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">Outside astrophysics, I have an interest in the application of\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\">statistical methods and mathematical models to decompression theory in<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\">\u00a0<\/span><b style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\">hyperbaric medicine<\/b><span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\">. For this work, I have collaborated with the Hyperbaric Units\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\">at Mater Dei hospital (Malta&#8217;s acute general teaching hospital) and Gozo General Hospital.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">For more information visit the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/research\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">research page<\/a>.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">A selected list of my publications may be found on <a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/citations?user=R5zsJhQAAAAJ&amp;hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google Scholar<\/a><\/span>,\u00a0<span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">the\u00a0<\/span><a style=\"font-size: 14px;\" href=\"https:\/\/ui.adsabs.harvard.edu\/public-libraries\/CRn2PbqqTOup59pMLF1wyA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NASA astrophysics database system (ADS)<\/a>, or the<span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">\u00a0<\/span><a style=\"font-size: 14px;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/publications\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">publications page<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"> on this website<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">.<\/span><\/p><p style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">You may also download a copy of my CV\u00a0<\/span><a style=\"font-size: 14px;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/cv.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u style=\"font-size: 14px;\">here<\/u><\/a><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">, and you may contact me via email:\u00a0joseph [dot] caruana [at] um [dot] edu [dot] mt<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-57873ae elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"57873ae\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-274d84f elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"274d84f\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-a11cbe5\" data-id=\"a11cbe5\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5deafc1 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"5deafc1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;_animation&quot;:&quot;fadeIn&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Teaching<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-57365ed elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"57365ed\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-9639a5b\" data-id=\"9639a5b\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8e65c40 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"8e65c40\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;_animation&quot;:&quot;fadeIn&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>At the University of Malta, I currently teach:<\/p><ul><li><a style=\"font-size: 14px;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.um.edu.mt\/courses\/studyunit\/PHY1145\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Electricity and Magnetism and Optics<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">,<\/span><\/li><li><a style=\"font-size: 14px;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.um.edu.mt\/courses\/studyunit\/PHY3110\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Physical Optics<\/a>,<\/li><li><a style=\"font-size: 14px;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.um.edu.mt\/courses\/studyunit\/PHY3281\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Introduction to Astronomy and Cosmology<\/a>,<\/li><li><a style=\"font-size: 14px;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.um.edu.mt\/courses\/studyunit\/PHY3289\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Advanced Astrophysics and Cosmology<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">, and\u00a0<\/span><\/li><li><a style=\"font-size: 14px;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.um.edu.mt\/courses\/studyunit\/PHY3208\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Philosophy of Science<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><p><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">In the past I have also taught\u00a0<\/span><a style=\"font-size: 14px;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.um.edu.mt\/courses\/studyunit\/PHY3232\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nuclear Physics<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">More details are available on my\u00a0<\/span><a style=\"font-size: 14px;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/teaching-students\/\">teaching page<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">Previously, at\u00a0<\/span><a style=\"font-size: 14px;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.chch.ox.ac.uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Christ Church<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ox.ac.uk\">University of Oxford<\/a>, I tutored General Relativity and Cosmology.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-77470ba elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"77470ba\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-315b983 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"315b983\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-ce07e81\" data-id=\"ce07e81\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e3ea2d0 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"e3ea2d0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;_animation&quot;:&quot;fadeIn&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">My Other Activities<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-a25ce70 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"a25ce70\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-36d113b\" data-id=\"36d113b\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ac89b9f elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ac89b9f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;_animation&quot;:&quot;fadeIn&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">Outside my research and teaching duties, I am active in speaking about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=cN90lOePSnA&amp;t\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">light pollution<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=c0LNQ5DuP1A\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the importance of preserving our Dark Sky Heritage Areas (DSHAs)<\/a>.<\/span><\/p><p>In my free time, I\u00a0<span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">try my best to\u00a0<\/span><a style=\"font-size: 14px;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.dwejra.net\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">spread awareness about Dwejra<\/a>,\u00a0<span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">a\u00a0<\/span><a style=\"font-size: 14px;\" href=\"https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/environment\/nature\/natura2000\/index_en.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Natura 2000 site<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">\u00a0and DSHA in Gozo which is very close to heart. I enjoy<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">\u00a0<\/span><a style=\"font-size: 14px;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/blog\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">taking photographs<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">,\u00a0<\/span><a style=\"font-size: 14px;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/diving\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">venturing underwater<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">, and playing the piano.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-bb25dde elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"bb25dde\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-ed1980f elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"ed1980f\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-fc584b5\" data-id=\"fc584b5\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8734cb7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"8734cb7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Students<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-47b4630 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"47b4630\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>I have been fortunate to supervise a number of great students \u2013 from undergraduate to PhD. Below is an incomplete (!) list.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Kathleen Sammut (<b>PhD supervisor<\/b>); currently a PhD student under my supervision at UM.<\/li><li>Jonathan Farrugia (<b>B.Sc.; PhD supervisor<\/b>); currently&nbsp;<span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">a PhD student under my supervision at UM.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-left: 2.571429rem; font-size: 14px;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\">Connor Sant Fournier (<b style=\"font-size: 14px;\">M.Sc.; PhD supervisor<\/b>); currently a PhD student under my co-supervision at UM, and president of the Astronomical Society of Malta.<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Francesca Borg (<b>B.Sc. supervisor<\/b>); subsequently read for a M.Sc. in astrophysics (Erasmus Mundus; Rome and Belgrade); about to start a PhD in astrophysics at the University of Cologne.<\/li>\n<li>David Attard (<b>B.Sc. supervisor<\/b>); currently a PhD student in astrophysics at the University of Sussex.<\/li>\n<li>Micole Miceli (<b>B.Sc. supervisor<\/b>); subsequently read for a M.Sc. in astrophysics at the University of Padova.<\/li>\n<li>Denise Buttigieg (<b>B.Sc. supervisor<\/b>); subsequently read for a Masters in financial mathematics at the University College Dublin; currently&nbsp;Quantitative Analyst at Forvis Mazars Dublin.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\">Keith Bajada (<b>B.Sc supervisor<\/b>); subsequently read for a M.Sc. in Aerospace engineering at KTH Royal Institute of Technology; currently Graduate Aerodynamicist at Aston Martin F1 Team.&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\">Christina Pisani (<b>B.Sc. supervisor<\/b>); subsequently carried out studies at SPD Scuola Politecnica di Design.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\">Ryan Vella (<b>B.Sc. supervisor<\/b>); subsequently read for a M.Sc. in Geosciences, did a fellowship in Earth Observation at ESA, read for a PhD at the&nbsp;<\/span>Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and the Institute for Atmospheric Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz; currently a postdoctoral researcher in atmospheric physics at ETH Zurich.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14px; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\">Karl Fiteni (<b>B.Sc.; M.Sc.; PhD supervisor<\/b>); currently a postdoctoral research in galactic dynamics at the University of Insubria.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I am an associate professor at the\u00a0Department of Physics\u00a0and the\u00a0Institute of Space Sciences &amp; Astronomy (ISSA)\u00a0at the\u00a0University of Malta. Between 2012 and 2016 I was a postdoctoral researcher in astrophysics at the Leibniz-Institut f\u00fcr Astrophysik (AIP) in Potsdam, Germany, working in the Galaxies &amp; Quasars group and the MUSE Consortium. Previously, I carried out my doctoral research in the\u00a0high-redshift group\u00a0within the\u00a0Department of Physics\u00a0at the\u00a0University of Oxford, where I read for&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>About - Joseph&#039;s Science Page<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"General overview about Joseph Caruana&#039;s scientific research interests, teaching, and activism in the conservation of Dark Sky Heritage Areas.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/about-joseph-caruana\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"About - Joseph&#039;s Science Page\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"General overview about Joseph Caruana&#039;s scientific research interests, teaching, and activism in the conservation of Dark Sky Heritage Areas.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/about-joseph-caruana\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Joseph&#039;s Science Page\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-19T23:31:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/profile_pic.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"592\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/about-joseph-caruana\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/about-joseph-caruana\/\",\"name\":\"About - Joseph&#039;s Science Page\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/about-joseph-caruana\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/about-joseph-caruana\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/head_shot-799x1024.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-10T17:13:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-19T23:31:13+00:00\",\"description\":\"General overview about Joseph Caruana's scientific research interests, teaching, and activism in the conservation of Dark Sky Heritage Areas.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/about-joseph-caruana\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/about-joseph-caruana\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/about-joseph-caruana\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/head_shot.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/head_shot.jpg\",\"width\":1561,\"height\":2000},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/about-joseph-caruana\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"About\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.josephcaruana.co.uk\/science\/\",\"name\":\"Joseph's Science Page\",\"description\":\"Research, Teaching &amp; 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