Science Centre

29 Hornsey Road
London N7 7DD

After two years of intense activity and an investment of £30million, London Met's new Science Centre will open in September for the 2006/07 academic year. This first-class teaching and research facility features a ''superlab'' with 280 workstations sharing both traditional and digital technology. This is the first university laboratory in the world to allow 280 students to work independently on different experiments, and the largest of its kind in Europe.

In addition, the impressive 8,000m2 building houses an international standard basketball court set within a multipurpose gymnasium; specialist laboratories for tissue culture research and microbiology; a nuclear-magnetic resonance room; and a Category 3 laboratory suite for research on airborne or transferable viruses.

The Science Centre also features unique facilities for the study of sports therapy, nutritional physiology and food technology including rehabilitation and human physiology labs, phlebotomy labs, a cybex room (where muscle power can be measured), a body pod (which measures body fat) and a motor room (where movement can be observed).

London Met is the largest single university in London and offers a wide range of science courses at both undergraduate and post graduate levels. Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Brian Roper says: 'London Met has chosen to make a substantial investment in science at a time when many other institutions are withdrawing from this important area of study. A decline in the study of science would have serious implications for UK's economic future and we are working to combat this.'

Research is crucial to the culture of intellectual inquiry, it underpins our consultancy work and adds to the quality of our teaching. London Met is home to two international science research institutes, the Institute of Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition, and the Institute for Health Research and Policy. Our research teams are currently working on a number of exciting projects which include research into nutrition and obesity in children; an HIV vaccine; and an investigation into dietary iron and liver disease.

The building was designed by architects Pascall & Watson who came up with an environmental strategy that minimises energy consumption, maximises energy efficiency and incorporates the provision of other green measures such as waste recycling. The design is on target to be accredited an excellent rating under the BREEAM (building research establishment environmental assessment method) system — making London Met one of the first educational laboratories in the UK to achieve this rating.

January 2007 update

In October 2006, BBC2 filmed Dr David McCarthy, reader in Human Nutrition for the Institute for Health Research & Policy at the Science Centre for a new series, ''The Truth About Food,'' which is currently showing on Thursdays at 9pm.

The episode filmed was ''How To Be Slim'' and will appear in the next couple of weeks. The BBC have uploaded a clip of the footage on their website at the link below, which has shots of the nutrition lab, the super-lab, and the Science Centre itself. Click on the link ''The Fat Friend, Thin Friend Test'' to view the clip.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/humanbody/truthaboutfood/flashapp/nonflash.shtml

Communications and PR Office