The University of Exeter’s new £5.5 million Science and Engineering Research Support Facility (SERSF) is bringing pioneering business, science and engineering together at the Penryn Campus.
Currently under construction, the SERSF will provide another home for the University of Exeter Business School which is expanding into Cornwall in 2015, alongside space for the University’s existing Marine Renewables team, and growing Centre for Ecology and Conservation (CEC).
The building will feature a specially designed area for business engagement called ‘The Collaboratory’ from which dedicated staff, along with the University’s Knowledge Exchange team, will lead a number of long-term research projects with selected local business partners. Laboratories for offshore renewables and biosciences will enable an expansion of the research led by the Marine Renewables team and CEC.
Additional offices will provide flexible space for those engaged in both research and teaching across the disciplines housed within the building.
The two-storey, 1200m2 SERSF building will be located next to the Daphne du Maurier building, near to the University of Exeter’s Environment and Sustainability Institute and the Tremough Innovation Centre, which is located adjacent to the Penryn Campus.
As with previous investments at the campus, the aim is to grow the economy of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, creating jobs and wealth by building on existing education and research assets, and supporting the development of high-value businesses, people, knowledge, investment and research.
The SERSF has been enabled by investment from the European Regional Development Fund Convergence Programme (£3.9 million) and £1.6 million from the University of Exeter.
Work on the SERSF building began in March 2014. The building is due to be ready for occupation in summer 2015. The building has been designed to a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating - a measure of environmental sustainability.
The SERSF project was announced in a media release earlier this year.