The University of Plymouth’s Marine Institute has announced that construction of a £19m marine building is underway at its UK campus. Due to open in the Spring of 2012, the building will house state-of-the-art research facilities, including the most advanced wave tank and testing equipment in Britain. The groundbreaking project will see the University of Plymouth making real waves in the marine and maritime industry.

University of Plymouth’s Marine Institute’s £19m marine building

It will also position Plymouth as a global centre for marine energy research, encourage innovation and drive economic growth in the city and wider region.

“The suite of wave tanks will be the most advanced in the UK, enabling external companies and organisations to work with University experts to test new structures, such as wave energy devices, over a range of wave and current situations, learning lessons and modifying designs before the expensive phase of deployment at sea,” says Professor Martin Attrill, director of the Marine Institute.

“The new ship simulator will be based on state-of-the art hardware and software and will expand our capacity to train the next generation of navigators and deck officers for the global shipping industry.

“The building will also include support services for businesses interested in research and innovation and will be a gateway for interested parties to engage with the vast range of marine expertise available within the University.”

Excavation work has been completed and construction work on the building has now begun, with two giant ocean and coastal wave tanks the size of Olympic swimming pools being created. They will simulate coastal and ocean environments, generating currents and creating waves over 1m (3ft) high.

The marine building is being part-funded by the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA), Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). The investment from BIS and DECC is part of £19.5m pledged to South West England in 2009 to deliver the Low Carbon Economic Area initiative.

About the University of Plymouth

Consistently ranked one of the top modern universities in the UK, Plymouth has a strong record of excellence, enterprise and innovation across its teaching and research activities and is distinguished by its long-term engagement with employers.

With around 30,000 students, including those studying at its partner FE colleges throughout the South West, the university is one of largest in the UK. With four government-funded Centres for Excellence in Teaching & Learning, the maximum awarded to any single institution, the university enjoys a high rate of graduate employment and has recently invested more than £110 million in state-of-the-art facilities to enhance the student experience.

Plymouth is ranked in the top 50 research universities in the UK*. The results of the Research Assessment Exercise 2008 showed the majority of areas submitted by the university included world-leading research, achieving the highest rating possible, scoring 4 stars. Overall, 80% of the research was judged as being of international repute.

As the enterprise university, the University of Plymouth delivers outstanding economic, social and cultural return for business, the professions, the public sector and its wider community.