Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

Balfour Beatty, the company responsible for the design and construction of the new £45m student residences at Aberystwyth University, has announced that the project has received the full backing of investors. In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, Balfour Beatty announced that it had reached financial close on two major UK developments; the £45m Aberystwyth University Penglais Farm New Student Residences and the University of Edinburgh’s £63 million Holyrood Postgraduate Student Accommodation and Outreach Centre. In February, Balfour Beatty was unveiled as Aberystwyth University’s preferred bidder for the development following a competitive dialogue process that saw it beat off competition from several other leading construction companies. The announcement confirms Balfour Beatty as Aberystwyth University’s Residential Development Partner. The Penglais Farm Student Residences will offer the very latest in purpose built student accommodation for 1000 students. Indiv...

Wildlife experts and volunteers at Aberystwyth University are calling on students, staff and member of the public to help to find and record as many different types of plants and animals as possible. The University is holding a Bioblitz on its Penglais campus on Saturday with the aim of breaking the record for the largest number of species found on a university campus in a single day. Aberystwyth University boasts one of the most picturesque settings of any university in the country, lying in the shadow of the Cambrian Mountains and on the shores of Cardigan Bay. It is also the only UK university campus located in a UNESCO designated biosphere reserve. Bioblitzes have been carried out in many places around the world and are an attempt to list all the species that live in a specific area. The Penglais campus Bioblitz is just that bit more ambitious as it wants to list all the species that live on the campus alongside the students and staff. Bioblitz organiser and Director of Teaching an...

On Monday 14 May 2012, the new National Plant Phenomics Centre, which features the most advanced research greenhouse in the UK, will be formally opened at Aberystwyth University’s Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences. The new Centre ( http://www.phenomics.org.uk/ ) is a Biotechnology and Biological Research Council (BBSRC) supported national facility and has been developed at a cost of £6.8m. The research conducted at this new national centre will help to develop new plant and crop varieties to help tackle the global challenges of climate change, food security and replacing oil based products. Located on the University’s Gogerddan campus, it will be will be opened by BBSRC Chairman, Professor Sir Tom Blundell FRS at 12.00 p.m. The new building is one of two significant capital investment developments that are being opened on the same day. At 3.30 p.m. Welsh Government Education and Skills Minister Leighton Andrews will open new teaching and researcher faciliti...