University to build science facility

Manchester University is to invest £30m in a new facility to house its School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science.

The new building is part of the university’s £650m construction programme, which is considered to be the largest ever carried out within the UK higher education sector.

The five-storey facility will measure around 11,500m² and will accommodate research facilities and teaching laboratories for post graduates and undergraduates as well as an industrial pilot plant.

Prof Mike Sutcliffe, head of the School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science (CEAS), said: ‘Our success capitalises on the synergies between chemical engineering and bioscience, chemistry, mathematics, and analytical and measurement science.

‘Our broad research base enables us to study the design, operation and integration of different complex systems - particularly industrial, biological and instrumentation - and apply chemical engineering in a 21st century context.

‘We believe the school’s success in dissolving barriers between cognate disciplines will provide further benefits for our students and research staff. In support of this goal, Manchester University has prioritised plans for investment in a new purpose-built home for the school.’

Construction work on a £11.5m initial phase is scheduled to start in May 2010 and be completed by summer 2011, followed by an £18.5m second phase. The current pilot plant and teaching laboratories are expected to relocate first, followed by the remainder of the school.