‘Superlabs’ hub plan is approved
EDUCATION: Proposals for a £96m science and engineering hub at the University of Leeds – which will include a series of “superlabs” housing worldleading research – have been approved by planning chiefs.
PROPOSALS FOR a new £96m science and engineering hub at the University of Leeds – which will include a series of “superlabs” housing world-leading research – have been approved by planning chiefs.
The complex will form part of a wider redevelopment masterplan worth £520m, and will be the base for 2,000 students and staff.
The project, which includes a modern extension to the existing Old Mining Building in Woodhouse Lane, is expected to be completed by the summer of 2020.
University chiefs say it will provide “an exceptional environment” for students and support researchers from across engineering and physical sciences, and will enhance the university’s reputation nationally and internationally as a centre of excellence for scientific research.
And they say the 5,700 sq m building is the largest singleproject investment ever to have been made on the university campus.
The development will relocate the School of Computing and School of Physics and Astronomy, bringing them together with the Chemistry and Engineering departments for the first time.
It will also include the new Bragg Research Centre, named after Sir William Henry Bragg, the early 20th-century mathematician and physicist who developed X-ray crystallography at Leeds.
He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1915 for his work together with his son Sir William Lawrence Bragg.
Professor Lisa Roberts, deputy vice-chancellor: research and innovation, said the aim was to “attract the best minds at all levels, placing our exceptional standard of research on a global scale”.
She said: “The Bragg Centre will be a fabulous environment for cross-disciplinary teams to work on big technical challenges, drawing on our existing strengths, while working together in new and disruptive ways to improve both the quality and the scale of our research; working in such an innovative environments will also transform how we can work with our industry partners on real-world problems.”
The university hopes the “superlabs” concept behind the development will bring together its existing strengths in applied and fundamental research, and will help tackle challenges facing the private sector and industry.
Professor Steve Scott, dean of the Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences at the university, said: “This £96m is an investment in the city’s future too, along with our new innovation centre – Nexus – which will offer a gateway to help businesses access the university’s expertise and support. We want to attract world-leading researchers and the best students to come and live and work in the city, encourage hi-tech growth, and boost Leeds’ reputation for enterprise, creativity and innovation.”
He said that in total, across all of its projects, the university is investing £520m as part of its campus development plans to secure Leeds’s position in the UK’s top 10 research universities. Other recent projects include the Brownlee Centre and Cycle Circuit.
The new science complex will be fully funded by the University of Leeds and will bring together existing scientific hardware from the schools involved.
In addition, a “significant” funding bid is being put together for Research Councils money to bring in the latest equipment in a range of fields including energyefficient computing, telecommunications, ‘smart foods’ and medical technologies.
We want to attract worldleading researchers and the best students. Professor Steve Scott, Dean of the Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences.