Government minister to open new £9m research facility

PA63/10 - The Government Minister for Higher Education will be in Nottingham on Thursday this week to officially open a new £9 million world-class centre of excellence in global navigation satellite systems and geospatial sciences. David Lammy MP will unveil a plaque to mark the opening of the Nottingham Geospatial Building at The University of Nottingham before taking a tour of the facilities which house three inter-related groups — the Institute of Engineering Surveying and Space Geodesy (IESSG), the Centre for Geospatial Science (CGS) and GRACE, the GNSS Research and Applications Centre of Excellence — as well as business accommodation for companies from the GNSS and geospatial industry. The striking Nottingham Geospatial Building is the latest addition to the University's successful new Innovation Park, which is set in a 12-acre site adjacent to Jubilee Campus and offers high quality incubation space for small- and medium-sized businesses and access to University researchers, facilities and support. Professor Chris Rudd, the University's Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Knowledge Transfer, said: "We are delighted to welcome David Lammy MP, Minister for Higher Education to open The University of Nottingham's latest cutting-edge research facility. "The Nottingham Geospatial Building represents what we do best here at Nottingham — world-leading research and close collaboration with industry to fast-track the latest technological developments and to stimulate a flow of highly-trained future employees." The new building has been designed as a sustainable, low-carbon facility and was funded by a combination of a £3.4 million grant from the East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and University investment.