Capital projects
The new Engineering Graduate School: building foundations for the next generation
A generous gift of US $1 million from alumnus the Hon Sir Sze-yuen Chung (PhD 1951, Hon LLD 1985) has helped secure Sheffield’s future as a leading university for engineering research, with one of the biggest and best engineering faculties in the UK. Sir SY – as he is affectionately known – has been a long-standing friend of this University and Sheffield is extremely grateful for his benefaction.
The gift has been invested in the new Engineering Graduate School, which will be situated on the corner of Broad Lane and Newcastle Street, and will be completed by mid 2013.
With valuable input from current postgraduate students of the Engineering faculty, this new building will feature state-of-the-art teaching spaces and new research equipment. Building on this boost to postgraduate teaching and research, the University will now be able to share its expertise and engage with local manufacturing industries to a much greater extent.
A refurbished Bartolomé Lodge: helping people find their legal voice
“Working on the Innocence Project has been
an invaluable experience, providing real contrast to my legal study and exposing me to the practical side of the law. It’s also made me aware of the importance of using the knowledge and skills I have learnt during my Law degree to help those whom the legal justice system has failed.” Law student Christopher Reece
A new facility at the School of Law gives aspiring legal eagles the opportunity to put their knowledge in
to practice, while providing a valuable service to the local community. Bartolomé Lodge was a previously derelict Grade II-listed former gatehouse situated at the School’s entrance. Gifts from alumni, staff, students and friends – totalling £150,000 – have transformed it into a centre for pro bono work: Pro Uno and the Innocence Project. It also provides space for the FreeLaw programme, where students undertake legal research on behalf of local charities and provide a free legal advice to the public via a drop-in centre. Charities are given relevant legal information, which helps them find a voice and fight for the rights of their clients.
The new centre was officially opened in March 2011. Project donors including representatives from law firm Nabarro and the Sheffield Town Trust attended the special reception. Dr Claire McGourlay (PhD Law 2002), who manages the pro bono programmes, was one of the most enthusiastic fundraisers – along with a small team of staff and students she undertook two sponsored swims at the University pool, each time swimming the equivalent of the English Channel!
The new Gibson Molecular Imaging Suite: enabling researchers to visualise molecules
This remarkable facility provides students and staff with the opportunity to visualise and interact with biological structures at the molecular level – they are transported into a 3D simulation of a human cell. The first of its kind in the UK for research purposes, the suite enables academics and students to see how viruses, drugs and microbes react in the body. Housed in the Krebs Institute in Firth Court, the suite is dedicated to the memory of Professor Quentin Howieson Gibson FRS (Hon DSc 2010), who held the Chair of Biochemistry at Sheffield from 1955 to 1963.
“The £100,000 suite has been funded through the generosity of alumni, staff and friends via the Alumni Fund and by the Faculty of Science. We are also grateful for the support of Sheffield alumnus and Nobel Laureate Sir Richard Roberts (BSc 1965, PhD 1968, Hon DSc 1994), who has been a long-term supporter of both the Krebs Institute and the Alumni Fund.” Professor David Hornby (BSc 1980, PhD 1984), Head of the Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology