MCAST makes history with first-ever ERA fellow: Meet the Maltese scientist saving our bees

MCAST welcomes first ERA fellow: A Maltese milestone in European research
By Hot Malta Staff

The Malta College of Arts, Science & Technology (MCAST) has just chalked up a national first: Dr. Lara Pace, a 29-year-old molecular biologist from Żejtun, has been awarded the European Research Area (ERA) Fellowship—becoming the only Maltese researcher, and the first ever from MCAST, to land the prestigious Brussels-funded grant. The news, announced at a sun-splashed press conference on the college’s Paola campus yesterday, is already being hailed as a watershed moment for Malta’s scientific ambitions and for the island’s often-overlooked technical-vocational track.

“This is not just my personal win,” Pace told Hot Malta, still clutching the ceremonial plaque embossed with the EU stars. “It’s proof that Maltese hands and minds can compete at the sharpest edge of European science—without having to emigrate to do it.”

From karozzin to CRISPR
Pace’s project sounds like science fiction: she will spend the next two years adapting CRISPR gene-editing tools to protect Maltese honeybees from the varroa mite, a parasite decimating colonies across the continent. But the inspiration is rooted in something decidedly down-to-earth—her grandfather’s apiary on the outskirts of Żejtun. “Summer evenings I’d watch him smoke the hives and explain how every drop of għasel tied us to Caravaggio’s knights and to the Arabs before them,” she recalled. “If we lose the bees, we lose more than honey; we lose a thread of Maltese identity.”

That blend of heritage and high-tech is exactly what ERA aims to foster. Worth €180,000 over 24 months, the fellowship covers Pace’s salary, lab consumables, and secondments to two European partner institutes: the University of Crete’s Apiculture Lab and the Italian National Research Council in Bologna. In return, MCAST becomes an official “ERA Beacon”, obliged to host public outreach events and school workshops—something the college is already planning at the upcoming Science in the City festival in Valletta.

A quantum leap for MCAST
Let’s be honest: until recently, MCAST was seen locally as the place you sent teenagers who didn’t make the junior college cut. “We’ve been fighting that stereotype for a decade,” admits Prof. James Calleja, MCAST’s CEO. “Lara’s achievement flips the script. It tells parents that vocational routes can lead to world-class labs, not just toolbox-in-hand.”

Government figures are listening. Parliamentary Secretary for Research Keith Azzopardi Tanti confirmed that MCAST will receive an additional €2 million in the 2025 budget to upgrade its biomedical wing, including a new sterile insectary where Pace will rear varroa-resistant queen bees. The ripple effect could be sizeable: Malta currently imports 70 % of its queen bees, an expensive dependency that local beekeepers say leaves the sector vulnerable to disease and price shocks.

Community buzz
At the Żejtun apiary where Pace keeps 12 of her own hives, third-generation beekeeper Carmenu Zahra is cautiously optimistic. “If she succeeds, we could stop bringing in Italian packages that sometimes carry new viruses,” he said, lifting a frame teeming with golden workers. “And maybe young people will stop seeing beekeeping as a hobby for retirees in straw hats.”

The cultural angle matters. Honey features in everything from the imqaret sold at village festas to the honey-ring biscuits gifted at Lent. Losing local production would sever another link to the land—something Maltese emigrants in Toronto and Melbourne still pay premium prices to taste again.

Next steps
Pace flies to Crete in September for her first three-month stint, but she’s already negotiating with local councils to create “citizen science” gardens where residents can plant bee-friendly flora like widnet il-bahar (Maltese thyme) and indigenous clover. An app, currently in beta, will let users log bee sightings and upload photos for instant identification by AI trained on Maltese species.

Back in Paola, MCAST has launched a scholarship in Pace’s name for female students enrolling in applied sciences. “We want 14-year-olds in Gozo or Cottonera to look at Lara and think, ‘That could be me’,” said Calleja.

Conclusion
Malta has long punched above its weight in gaming, fintech, even Eurovision. Now, thanks to a young scientist who grew up between citrus groves and chemistry sets, the island is poised to sting—gently—the frontiers of European biotechnology. As the ERA fellowship buzz spreads, one thing is clear: the future of Maltese research isn’t confined to ivory towers in Valletta or Msida; it hums in the fields of Żejtun, ready to take flight.