Sturgeon in focus
Sturgeon officially opens UWS campus
The First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, this week officially opened University of the West of Scotland’s (UWS) new campus.
Hamilton International Technology Park is home to the £110 million state-of-theart facility.
It opened to students last summer, and the First Minister was keen to speak to some of them after the ceremony on Monday.
Ms Sturgeon said: “With top-class teaching spaces and state-of-the-art labs hosted in buildings that are entirely powered by renewables, the new UWS Lanarkshire campus is a fantastic addition to Scotland’s higher education sector.
“It was a pleasure to officially open the campus and hear from students who are benefitting from the new facilities, which are expected to bring a major economic boost to the region over the next few decades.
“By focusing on providing practical and immersive training, the UWS Lanarkshire campus is helping students to get the real-life experience and confidence they need to enter into the workforce.”
The First Minister was greeted by Professor Craig Mahoney, principal and vice-chancellor of UWS, and third year adult nursing student, Arlene Allison. During a tour, Ms Sturgeon was shown the cutting-edge nursing and midwifery training facilities, which are the most modern in Scotland. The campus is also one of the UK’S most modern and sustainable learning environments.
Professor Mahoney told the Advertiser: “We are delighted the First Minister has officially opened UWS’ Lanarkshire campus, marking a truly momentous occasion in our university’s rich history.
“From the outset, UWS Lanarkshire was designed to embody our vision of providing students and staff with a sustainable, dynamic, innovative and highly-creative environment, engaging them in personalised, collaborative, technologyrich and exciting academic experiences, which we were proud to show the First Minister during her visit.
“At UWS, we are constantly innovating, both in our ground-breaking research and enterprise activity but also in our world-leading learning and teaching approaches.
“Today we displayed to the First Minister how our vision has become a reality in our Lanarkshire campus and we look forward to witnessing the impact the campus will have for generations to come.”