Strathclyde University secures funding for research centre

The offer of £6.7m from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) will contribute to funding the construction of the centre, which the university said is bringing academics together with international industrial partners to pursue solutions to global challenges.

The 25,000m² centre, which will open in 2014, will be sited alongside Scottish Enterprise’s new Industry Engagement Building.

The university said that the ERDF funding application was submitted to the European Commission, under the low-carbon/sustainability programme, to complete the funding of the £89m development.

The Scottish Funding Council is contributing £15m to the programme, Scottish Enterprise is contributing up to £11m as part of Scotland’s International Technology and Renewable Energy Zone (ITREZ) project and the university is providing £57m.

The announcement of the funding followed the confirmation that Lend Lease has been appointed as contractor for the Technology and Innovation Centre building project.

The company, which was awarded the contract following a single-stage competitive tender submission, is due to begin work on the site later this month.