The University of Malta has recently launched the SENSEI initiative—Smart European Networks for Sensing the Environment and Internet Quality—an ambitious effort to merge state‑of‑the‑art photonics with existing fibre infrastructure. The project, funded through Horizon Europe with €5 million over three years, brings together fifteen partners across six EU countries to transform ordinary communication cables into distributed environmental sensor platforms.
Core Objectives of the SENSEI Project
While traditional fibre optics transmit data, SENSEI focuses on extracting useful information from that same medium without interrupting service. By applying advanced optical metrology techniques, the consortium aims to achieve three primary goals:
- Increase security and resilience of national telecommunications networks.
- Enable rapid, high‑resolution monitoring of environmental events such as earthquakes and sea‑level changes.
- Provide volunteered data streams that can improve network provisioning and predictive maintenance.
Photonic Devices: Turning Fibres into Sensors
Photonic sensing relies on light’s interaction with the physical environment inside the fibre. Common techniques—such as Brillouin and Raman scattering—generate signals that vary with strain, temperature, and acoustic disturbances. These signals can be extracted using low‑cost optical interrogators that are inserted at intersections or specialist nodes along the network.
Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis (BOTDA)
BOTDA measures changes in the frequency of backscattered light, offering sub‑centimetre spatial resolution across kilometre spans. The output is a temperature or strain profile that highlights structural stress points or seismic waves traveling along the fibre.
Raman Scattering and Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS)
Raman scattering isolates the intensity of Stokes and anti‑Stokes photons, which shifts in response to temperature changes. This yields continuous temperature maps that are invaluable for monitoring ocean currents, volcanic activity, or urban heat islands.
Integrating Sensing Into Operational Networks
A key challenge is to embed the monitoring infrastructure within live traffic without compromising bandwidth or latency. SENSEI addresses this by:
- Using passive pulsed sources that coexist with standard data signals.
- Developing lightweight optical switches that route sensing pulses to dedicated regeneration stations.
- Implementing intelligent control planes that separate monitoring traffic from user payloads.
These measures preserve service quality while providing dividends in outside‑in situ monitoring.
Real‑World Applications Across Europe
The consortium’s experimental field sites demonstrate how SENSEI can serve both civil and scientific needs:
Seismic Monitoring
In Italy’s Alpine region, fibre lines that cross fault lines have been equipped with BOTDA analysers. The resulting data generate real‑time seismic wave propagation maps, enhancing early‑warning systems and reducing response time for emergency services.
Oceanographic Sensing
Undersea cables linking Malta to Sicily carry continuous DTS streams that track temperature gradients. With this high‑resolution dataset, research teams can model Gulf Stream dynamics and monitor harmful algal blooms that threaten local fisheries.
Urban Infrastructure Health
In Ljubljana, crowd‑sourced sensing of municipal fibre links reveals micro‑deflections caused by heavy traffic or construction activities, allowing city planners to schedule maintenance before infrastructure failures occur.
Consortium Composition and Funding
Key partners include:
- University of Malta – leading optical device prototyping.
- INRiM (Italian National Research Institute for Metrology) – expertise in distributed time and frequency transfer.
- Telecom operators from Malta, Italy, France, and Spain – providing access to active fibre networks.
- Academic institutions from Austria, Finland, and Greece – contributing optical networking theory.
With a €5 million budget, the project focuses on R&D, field trials, and data‑sharing protocols. The consortium also hosts a central data hub where raw optical measurements are anonymised and made available to partners.
Opportunities for Researchers and Industry Partners
Students, PostDocs, and faculty looking to work at the intersection of telecommunications and environmental science will find an ideal platform within SENSEI. Companies in network operations and smart‑grid development can leverage distributed sensing to pre‑empt outages and optimise asset utilisation.
Explore research opportunities at the University of Malta and engage with an international team that is pushing the boundaries of photonic sensing.
Printmakers, data scientists, and policy makers can also join the data‑sharing framework, translating raw sensor feeds into actionable insights for climate‑resilience planning.
The University of Malta’s Strategic Role
Prof. André Xuereb, head of the Department of Physics, highlighted that SENSEI embodies the campus’s long‑term mission to blend cutting‑edge research with societal impact. The University already hosts several photonic labs, and SENSEI will expand those facilities into a cluster that serves both the academic community and industry.
Local entrepreneurs in Malta’s burgeoning tech ecosystem can co‑develop commercial products based on SENSEI’s optical interrogators, while university graduates receive specialized training that aligns with European Standards.
Future Outlook and How to Engage
As deployment expands across Mediterranean and Atlantic fibres, SENSEI is geared to deliver real‑time data dashboards that integrate with national disaster‑response centers. In the coming years, the consortium will explore machine‑learning algorithms that can detect anomaly signatures directly on the fibre level.
Telecom operators can find out how the project can improve network reliability and offer a new service line for environmental monitoring. Likewise, data‑centric organisations can apply for research grants supported by Horizon Europe to collaborate on open‑source software tools that interpret the sensor data.
You can contact the SENSEI consortium for collaboration if your organisation is ready to contribute expertise or infrastructure to this transformative initiative. The project also invites participation in upcoming workshops and conferences scheduled throughout 2025.
For further reading, explore the University of Malta’s research portal or attend the next educational event to learn how photonic sensing can reshape telecommunications and environmental science.
