THIS is the new £23m ‘super’ lab which will bring all the University of Liverpool’s physical sciences under one roof.
The images give a sneak preview of the cutting edge facility – which forms part of a £600m masterplan to keep the university as a “world-class” education facility.
Based at its central campus, off Brownlow Hill, the Central Teaching Laboratories will welcome hundreds of student scientists of the future studying disciplines ranging from Egyptology to physics when it opens on September 24.
Hailed as a “new innovation in the higher education sector” by university bosses it intentionally places different disciplines from the science sector together so they can benefit from working closely together in related fields.
The new laboratories will include £5.6m of the latest art laboratory equipment which is designed to support new teaching modules and a variety of degree programmes.
Unveiling the laboratories the university stress they will allow students from different disciplines to work together and gain skills that prepare them for employment.
And the university is so pleased with the end result that it is predicting its science facility will become a blueprint for its UK counterparts.
University Chancellor, Sir David King, said: “This will be a superb facility for students studying physical sciences at Liverpool. It will transform the way science disciplines are taught at the university and should provide a model for the rest of the UK.”
Built around a central atrium the facility has seven laboratories accommodating 1,000 students ranging from a specialist radiation unit to electronics base.
Environmental sciences will be taught in a large laboratory capable of accommodating 180 students in a single class – but due to its modern design it can be tweaked to accept three smaller classes.
The university has also pledged its new facility will be utilised by the wider community, hosting events and used by schools and colleges.
Officials plan to run events for 2,000 students during the laboratories’ first year, growing this number to 5,000 students within three years.
After opening to students next month an official formal launch event will be staged in October.
It forms part of a £600m investment the university is injecting into campuses and teaching facilities between now and 2016 to give it an edge in a “very competitive market place”.
The masterplan includes a £350m injection upgrading its academic facilities in both the city centre and Leahurst Campus, on the Wirral, which houses its equine hospital and centre.
