Education
Introduction
Have you got any complaints about your course? Are there any questions you have regarding any credit subjects? Do you need any help in choosing any credit subjects? Scubed's academic commission works hand in hand with the Faculty's administration to settle out any issue which you might have. Scubed collaborates with your representatives on the Faculty’s Board and on the University's senate to represent your interest.
Faculty Board
The current student representatives on the Science Faculty Board are Jonathan Falzon and Mark Farrugia who are both members of the Scubed Executive.
Frequently Asked Questions
1) What are the undergraduate courses offered by the faculty of science?
(a) either in one area of study (3 years full-time):
- Chemistry
- Chemistry with Materials
(b) or in two areas of study in one of the following combinations (4 years full time):
- Banking and Finance and Statistics and Operations Research
- Biology and Chemistry
- Chemistry and Physics
- Computer Information Systems and Mathematics
- Computer Information Systems and Physics
- Computer Information Systems and Statistics and Operations Research
- Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence and Mathematics
- Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence and Physics
- Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence and Statistics and Operations Research
- Mathematics and Physics
- Mathematics and Statistics and Operations Research
- Physics and Statistics and Operations Research
2) What are the Post graduate courses offered by the faculty of science?
a) MSc (3 semesters full-time or 6 semesters part-time) in any of the following subjects:
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Statistics & Operations Research
(b) MSc in Applied Chemistry
(c) PhD by Research
3) What are the special course requirements for admission?
Besides the general course requirements;
the Matriculation Certificate (which includes six subjects, two of which taken at Advanced Level and four subjects taken at Intermediate Level including Systems of Knowledge); and passes in the Secondary Education Certificate at Grade 5 or better in Maltese*, English Language and Mathematics.
a) Banking and Finance:
a pass in Pure Mathematics (Intermediate);
(b) Biology:
passes in Biology (Advanced, grade C or better) and Chemistry (Intermediate, grade C or better);
(c) Chemistry/Chemistry with Materials:
passes in Chemistry (Advanced, grade C or better) and either Physics or Pure Mathematics (Intermediate, grade C or better);
(d) Computer Information Systems:
either a pass in Pure Mathematics (Advanced, grade C or better);
or passes in Computing or Information Technology (Advanced, grade C or better) and Pure Mathematics (Intermediate, grade C or better);
(e) Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence:
either passes in Computing (Advanced, grade C or better) and Pure Mathematics (Intermediate, grade C or better);
or passes in Pure Mathematics (Advanced, grade C or better) and Computing (Intermediate, grade C or better);
(f) Mathematics:
a pass in Pure Mathematics (Advanced, grade C or better);
(g) Physics:
either passes in Physics (Advanced, grade C or better) and Pure Mathematics (Intermediate, grade C or better);
or passes in Pure Mathematics (Advanced, grade C or better) and Physics (Intermediate, grade C or better);
(h) Statistics and Operations Research:
either a pass in Pure Mathematics (Advanced, grade C or better);
or a pass in Applied Mathematics (Advanced, grade C or better);
or passes in Computing or Information Technology (Advanced, grade C or better) and Pure Mathematics (Advanced, grade D or better);
or passes in Computing or Information Technology (Advanced, grade C or better) and Applied Mathematics (Advanced, grade D or better).
(2) Applicants who possess a grade D instead of a grade C in only one of the required subjects, whether at Advanced or Intermediate Level, shall be admitted under certain conditions to compensate for the qualification deficiency. If, by the end of the first year, such students do not successfully complete all the requirements to progress regularly to the second year of the Course, they shall be required to withdraw from the Course, and shall neither be entitled to repeat the year nor to progress conditionally as normally permitted under the Principal Regulations.
4) What is a study unit?
A part of a Programme of Study to which a specified number of credits at an indicated level is assigned, and which is capable of separate assessment. A study-unit may take the form of a series of lectures, seminars, tutorials, practical or clinical sessions, field placements, projects, research work, dissertation, private study or a combination of such work, or any other method of teaching.
5) What is meant by the following type of study units: compulsory, concurrent, elective, optional, pre-requisite, and synoptic study unit?
Compulsory study unit: Study-Unit which must be followed and passed for the purpose of progression or successful completion of the Course.
Concurrent study unit: two or more study-units which must be followed together during the same semester.
Elective study unit: A study-unit in a particular Programme of Study which must be chosen from a designated list of study-units
Optional study units: A Study-Unit chosen from all study-units offered by the University
Pre-requisite study unit: A study-unit which must have been followed in order for a student to be able to follow a subsequent study-unit.
Synoptic study unit: Study-units, the teaching of which helps students to integrate knowledge acquired in study-units pursued during the Course. Whenever such study-units are included in a Programme of Study, these study-units are compulsory and are taught during the last year of the Programme of Study
6) What is the difference between a compensatable and non-compensatable study unit?
Non-compenatable: this is when a student must obtain at least a 45% to obtain a pass in that study unit.
Compensatable study unit: if a student obtains between 35-45 % in the particular study unit a compensated pass could be granted if the overall performance of the student in that year ia at least an overall average of 50 %.
7) What is the method of assessment of each study unit?
Assessment of study-units may be through coursework, assignments, written or oral examinations, other methods of assessment as approved by Senate, or combinations of these, to each of which a percentage of the final mark shall be assigned. The method of assessment for each study-unit shall be indicated in the detailed description of the study-units that is published in the catalogue of study-units.
8) What is a credit?
A specific number of credits are awarded following successful completion of each study unit. According to the European Credit Transfer system (ECTS), one credit is assigned to a student after seccesfuf completion of approximately 25 hours of work, which may include between 5 and 7 lectures, semiar work, private study,and including the examination time for the coursework for which the credit is to be awarded. Students require a total of 60 credits in order to progress from one year to another, or during the final year, to be eligible to graduate.
9) How many study units can one resit in the September session?
A total of 16 credits can be resitted.
10) What is the maximum number of study units that can be referred to the following year?
A maximum of 10 failed study-unit are allowed to be refer to the following year. Students are required to register for referred study-units and to be assessed, but attendance for lectures is not obligatory.
11) Is attendance compulsory?
YES. Unless otherwise specified in the bye-laws of a Course, or expressly stated in the description of a study-unit as published in the catalogue of study-units, attendance for lectures, tutorials, seminars, practical or clinical sessions or work placements, fieldwork and any other teaching session in whatever mode is obligatory. A lecturer may bar a student whose attendance in a study-unit is not satisfactory from being assessed in that study-unit. In such cases a 0 mark and an F grade shall be assigned.
