University unveils new £11m science facility
Nottingham Trent University has unveiled an £11m science facility aimed at improving employability.
The Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Centre (ISTeC) contains two floors of laboratories for bioscience, computer science, mathematics, physics, chemistry, robotics, sport science and engineering.
The facility is based on the Clifton Campus – home to the university’s School of Science and Technology – and will be utilised by undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as research scientists.
It aims to enable students to engage in advanced technical, team-working and industry-relevant project work, helping to increase their skills and knowledge for the workplace and leading to enhanced employability.
It will bring STEM – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – subjects together to support collaboration between different subject areas and between students and researchers.
The facility will also support the university’s schools, colleges and community outreach activities, and provide a platform for engagement with industry and for wider collaboration.
There is a range of research laboratories housed in the building, including a robot arena, for researching humanoid and other robots, and testing suites for exercise and food and nutrition.
The development comes after the university secured £5m from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) in recognition of the importance of teaching and learning in STEM.
The building, occupied from this month, was designed by Midlands-based architectural practice Maber.
Professor Mary O’Neill, the Dean of Nottingham Trent University’s School of Science and Technology, said: “This is an important development for Nottingham Trent University to integrate state-of-the-art facilities with project-based learning, so that we can continue to excite and challenge students and better prepare them for jobs in science and technology.”
Professor Yvonne Barnett, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research at Nottingham Trent University, said: “This fantastic new multidisciplinary STEM facility will provide an excellent environment for our taught undergraduate and postgraduate students to undertake business and industry led research and development projects.
“This will add further capacity to the strong applied research base undertaken by our research students, research and technical staff and academic staff. We are delighted that HEFCE chose to invest in the further development of our STEM provision here at NTU.”
