Dear colleagues,

In 2021, the University will open the Research Hub on the former Western Infirmary site in Glasgow. Housing approximately 600 staff and students, the aim of the building is to facilitate new connectivity and collaborations that would be difficult to build without co-location. The remit of the “Connecting the University Community” workstream is to ensure these benefits are not limited to those who are regularly resident within the Hub. Our role is to ensure the Hub, and specifically Level 2, is a platform for all the university’s researcher communities to engage with each other (within and across disciplines and career stages) and with any external stakeholders (industry, the public, partners, etc.) with whom they wish to build stronger connections.

Last summer we conducted a series of consultations on the types of spaces that would best serve the needs of our researcher communities (which include our PGRs, ECRs, senior academics, and the professional services staff that support our research ambitions). We have made several changes to the Level 2 floorplan as a result of those consultations and are now ready show you the updated plans and ask for your input on how these spaces will work once the building is open.

We invite you to come along to one of our consultation sessions, running throughout the summer so we can provide an overview of the current plans, and get your thoughts on how the Hub can support you:

July 18th  10:00  Fore Hall   MVLS Staff and Students

July 18th   14:00  Fore Hall   CoSE Staff and Students

July 19th   10:00   Fore Hall   CoSS Staff and Students

July 19th    14:00   Fore Hall   Arts Staff and Students

July 23rd    10:00   Fore Hall   Members of Research Networks

July 23rd    14:00    Fore Hall   Staff/Students who work with Industry

July 25th    10:00    McCall LT   Garscube Staff and Students

July 25th     15:00    Fore Hall    Post Graduate Researchers

August 5th   14:00     Urquhart Seminar Rm  Garscube Staff and Students

August 7th   10:00     East Quad LT   Members of Research Networks

August 7th   14:00     East Quad LT    Post Graduate Researchers

August 8th   10:00     East Quad LT    Early Career Researchers

August 8th    14:00     East Quad LT     Open Session for anyone

There is no need to register – you can just come along on the day. We understand it’s a difficult time of year and people are very busy, so we have scheduled several sessions that may apply to you (e.g. an Arts PGR student who is a member of GCID could come to any of the relevant sessions). We have also uploaded a video that you can access using your GUID and password, along with a questionnaire that you can complete in your own time and e-mail to Mary.Ryan@glasgow.ac.uk. These can be found here. To ensure we are able to incorporate your decisions into this stage of the process, please send in your comments by August 20th, 2019.

At this stage, the floorplans have been confirmed and we are focussing on what kinds of furniture, IT kit, décor, operating hours, operating processes and staff these spaces will need in order to encourage an engaging and interesting environment and we look forward to hearing from you.

With best wishes,

 

Ms Mary Ryan and Professor Michele Burman

Co-Leads, Connecting the University Community

 

 


First published: 5 July 2019