Our new £116 million ARC, Advanced Research Centre, was officially opened on the 8th June 2022. The ARC is a vibrant, creative and collaborative research building, built to facilitate multi-disciplinary collaboration and creativity. It houses around 500 academics, postdoctoral researchers and PhD students working across five broad themes. The ground floor is accessible to the University and the wider community, providing much needed space to facilitate engagement, networking, meetings and exhibitions.
Find out more
How to book a room, space or desk in the ARC
Research themes
Research in the ARC will be initially focused around five thematic areas:
Creative Economies and Cultural Transformation – bringing together academics from disciplines such as creative and cultural policy, law, digital humanities and immersive technologies to have a significant impact on the creative economy of Glasgow and beyond.
Digital Chemistry – enabling molecules, compounds and materials to be autonomously discovered, synthesised and manufactured from code. Bringing together expertise from chemistry, computing science and engineering this has the potential to be huge for transforming the production of pharmaceuticals.
Global Sustainable Development – natural scientists, vets, medics, engineers, educators, social scientists all come together to engage in poverty reduction in low and middle-income countries, as well as enhancing the visibiltity, reach and scope of international development research at Glasgow. The theme emphasises Glasgow's commitment to the climate-change agenda and broader concerns around sustainability.
Quantum and Nanotechnology – bringing together researchers from engineering and science and collaborating with health, energy and security sectors, Glasgow will be the go-to-place for research in quantum imaging and sensors.
Technology Touching Life – bringing together medicine, engineering and chemistry to focus on health care innovations such as drug discovery, regenerative medicines and stem cell technologies.
Level 2 - open to all staff, students and the general public
Virtual/Augmented Reality (VR/AR) Lab
The ARC will house one of the largest VR/AR suites in the UK. The layout will be customisable, comprising either three modules of 6x6m, or larger modules of 6x12m, or 6x18m.
Capable of accommodating up to 30 people, and with provision to feed video into meeting rooms or adjacent public areas, it will be a unique facility on the campus to advance understanding about how VR can be incorporated into research and teaching activities.
Post-Graduate Researcher area
The Research Hub will add to the University’s provision for PGR students with fifty workstations. The PGR area will have a focus on supporting cohort-based research activities as well as individual researchers.
Student Enterprise space
While the University’s Innovation Zone is under development, the ARC will provide an initial location with dedicated advisors for Glasgow’s 20-30 annual start-up student enterprises to develop their ideas and build an entrepreneurial community.
Multi-use space
With room for approximately 30 people to move and interact, this space is a flexible and interpretive area for use in activities, exhibitions and creative practice.
It will accommodate various kinds of research practice not suited to ‘cleaner’ lab or meeting room settings, as well as providing a space tailored for outreach activities.
Maker Lab
The Maker Lab will provide access to equipment necessary to bring ideas to life, supporting activities such as design, development and light prototyping of products.
It will be targeted towards those who have ideas which require development, and those with skills to share. It echoes the holistic aim of the ARC, to bring together people from different backgrounds and expertises, from junior researchers to senior academics, to share insights and work together.
Seminar & Meeting Rooms
The ARC will provide a step change in the collaboration spaces available to researchers on campus, with around fifty bookable seminar and meeting rooms across the building. Meeting rooms range from small 2-3 person spaces up to boardroom size and include long-booking project rooms intended to be used during preparation of large collaborative research proposals or when working with external partners.
The Level Two seminar rooms will be particularly aimed at public events and to host international speakers and academic conferences, helping to strengthen our international research partnerships and reputation. This floor houses eight formal meeting spaces of various sizes including a large seminar room with seating for 140 people, sub-dividable into two spaces of 70 and including large screens and AV/IT facilities. There will also be a smaller seminar room with 60 seats, which can be subdivided into two 30-seater rooms, in addition to informal seating and smaller breakout spaces. In addition to the Café, Level Two will have a separate kitchen to support light catered events.
Atrium and Exhibition Space
The centrepiece of the building is its large, full height atrium together with a public exhibition space. These areas will showcase the University’s research and provide facilities to accompany events and conferences taking place in the large seminar rooms.