A new Life Sciences building at the University of Sussex, which will house researchers from a range of disciplines, including chemists, has been approved by councillors.
The development, approved by Brighton & Hove City Council, is expected to create around 600 new jobs across Brighton, Hove and the wider region.
Some of the country’s leading scientists, including Nobel Prize-winner and director of the Crick Institute Professor Sir Paul Nurse, backed the plan, which is designed to transform the way scientists carry out research and provide students with a high-tech learning experience.
The School of Life Sciences, which is one of the University’s largest academic units, boasts two previous Nobel Prize-winning scientists, Sir Harry Kroto and Sir John Cornforth and is noted for driving major advances in areas such as ecology and conservation, neuroscience, and drug discovery.
The new building, which has been designed by Hawkins Brown Architects, will be set over five floors.
The building will include collaborative spaces for staff and students to work in; encouraging molecular biologists, zoologists, neuroscientists, pharmacologists and chemists to carry out research alongside each other. Its laboratories will provide high-tech teaching spaces for students.
In addition, the development will include a new Bio-Innovation Centre, which will be a hub for growing bio-medical businesses, strengthening the University’s partnerships with industry and creating more jobs in the region.
The Centre has received £5.5 million in funding from the Government’s Growth Fund, recently being announced as one of only two projects in Brighton and Hove to received this investment.
Professor Michael Davies, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at the University of Sussex, said: “This new landmark building will enable us to teach the scientists of tomorrow, alongside producing ground-breaking research that changes people’s lives and makes local people proud.”
Professor Laurence Pearl, Head of the School of Life Sciences, said: “Our School produces amazing scientists, including Nobel Prize winners, and continues to attract the very best researchers from all over the world to Brighton.
“The new building will enable our diverse teams of scientists to work more collaboratively alongside each other to make life-changing scientific discoveries.”
Professor Nurse, Director of the Francis Crick Institute, said: “Having such a prestigious and world-class academic institution on the doorstep of Brighton and Hove is a major boon for the city and the South East.”
Lady Margaret Kroto, widow of the late Sir Harry Kroto, said: “My husband received his Nobel Prize in Chemistry for research that was carried out when he was at Sussex, a testament to the institution’s tradition of academic scientific excellence.
“I am excited, therefore, to see the University’s campus being reimagined for the 21st Century, so that it is best placed to continue its pioneering work.”