A BEATLES academic research centre could open in the city within two years under ambitious new plans. The Beatles, Popular Music and Society centre would be home to the globe’s leading researchers and historians from the world of music and popular culture.

If it gets the go-ahead, the academic base would also be the nerve centre for research into The Fab Four and their role in establishing Merseyside’s links with the wider world.

The idea is the brainchild of Dr Mike Brocken, senior lecturer in popular music at Liverpool Hope University.

Although at the drawing board stage, the Daily Post understands senior officials at the university have reacted warmly to the idea.

They will now establish just how feasible an option bringing such a centre to its Everton-base Cornerstone campus is.

Dr Brocken’s idea comes after the runaway success of Hope’s unique Beatles, Popular Music and Society masters degree qualification.

Launched in September, the course has The Beatles as its backbone, but also examines popular music in general and its effect on society since the 1960s.

It has proved such a success that students from all over the world applied for the one-year course.

The 12 successful applicants hail from as far afield as Canada and Venezuela, as well as from home soil.

The university has also been besieged by international TV crews from all corners of the globe including Brazil, Japan and Germany who have visited the university to take an inside look at what the world’s first MA on The Beatles entails.

And last night Dr Brocken told the Daily Post he would like to take things a step further and establish a centre for academic research into The Beatles and popular music and their role within society.

He said: “I am particularly excited about the way the students have adapted to this very challenging programme.Š

“Applications have already started pouring in for the next academic year, and I am eager to announce that Liverpool Hope University is in the early stages of establishing the centre for academic research.”