The next generation of scientists and pharmacists have begun work at the University of Lincoln’s £14 million Science and Innovation Park laboratories.
The 11-acre park, which is the result of a partnership between the University of Lincoln and Lincolnshire Co-op, includes the Joseph Banks Laboratories at its heart.
The laboratories, which welcomed the first 1,000-strong cohort of students in September 2014, were named in honour of the Lincolnshire-born botanist Sir Joseph Banks. It will expand to accommodate around 1,500 students.
Three academic schools take residence in the building alongside the neighbouring Minster House: the School of Pharmacy, the School of Life Sciences and the School of Chemistry.
Students are supported by around 60 members of academic staff across four storeys, covering 6,000 square metres of hi-spec laboratories, tutorial rooms and open social spaces.
A PhD student works on DNA extraction in the Molecular Biology Lab. Photo: UoL
Specialist laboratories and research facilities will include work in molecular biology, microbiology, tissue biology, DNA analysis, pharmacology and medicinal pharmacy, while Minster House will accommodate research in animal cognition, behaviour and welfare.
The building also features the Maltby Suite (named after the Maltby family who made a substantial contribution to the project). The suite offers a specialist learning environment for pharmacy students to develop their professional and consultancy skills.
Professor Andrew Hunter, Pro Vice Chancellor and Head of the College of Science, said: “I think Lincoln has lacked a scientific power house. We’ll now have around 200 scientists working within this building and contributing to the industry.
“The researchers we have are internationally known experts in their own field, but of course the biggest effect is regional because we can work with local companies.
“The University of Lincoln is now one of the only UK institutions to offer undergraduate courses across all the core sciences.”
Antonia, who came from London to study at the University of Lincoln’s new School of Life Sciences, said: “They teach us the science part and then the practical part at the same time, that feeds into the whole integration part that pharmacy actually is.”
PHD student Charlotte Bolt achieved her undergraduate degree at Hull University. She added: “My supervisor at Hull introduced me to a specific project which really drew me to Lincoln to study my PHD. I’m really enjoying it and I do see myself carrying on with academia in Lincoln with it being such an up-and-coming city.
The creation of the School of Pharmacy and the School of Chemistry has been supported by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and a range of regional and national employers.
The next stage of the development at the Lincoln Science and Innovation Park will be the creation of the Boole Technology Centre, which has secured £3.38 million of funding through the Government Growth Deal via the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership.
Next year, the University of Lincoln opens its new School of Mathematics & Physics.
Local partnership
The Lincolnshire Co-op, which operates 48 community pharmacies across the county, has been a crucial player in the creation of the science park. Students will also have access to placements throughout their Lincoln study.
Chief Executive of the Lincolnshire Co-op, Ursula Lidbetter, said: “We purchased this 11 acres some time ago with the hope to create a business park, helping to create jobs and value for the Lincolnshire economy.
“Businesses can now benefit from the university’s facilities and brain power and we have lots planned for the future of the development.
“It is exciting that students are now using this great new facility to learn and begin the next stages in their careers. This is a great example of how local business working together with the university offers mutual benefit.”
Head of Pharmacy at Lincolnshire Co-op, Alastair Farquhar, added: “This partnership is going to be a fantastic resource and we share the same values. Not only is the education science based but its also focused on the health of the patient.
“We’ve consistently had problems with the recruitment of pharmacists for a number of years and we’ve had to relay on graduates coming from quite far afield to fill the gaps.”
Spotted an error? Please notify us by selecting that text and pressing Ctrl+Enter.
The Lincolnite welcomes your views. All comments are reactively-moderated and must obey the house rules. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.
The Lincolnite welcomes your views. All comments are reactively-moderated and must obey the house rules. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.
The number of patients with coronavirus being treated at hospitals across Greater Lincolnshire has dropped by just over 20%.
There were 324 patients with coronavirus in the county’s hospitals earlier this month on January 6. This has now dropped to 250, which is a decrease of around 23%.
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) said on Tuesday, January 26 that it currently has 148 patients with COVID-19 infections across its hospital sites.
As of Tuesday morning, the Northern Lincolnshire Goole NHS Foundation Trust (NLaG) has 78 patients with coronavirus.
Of the 78 patients, 33 are at Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby and 45 are at Scunthorpe General Hospital. Of these patients, seven were in ICU with three at Grimsby and four in Scunthorpe.
Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust currently has 19 COVID-19 positive inpatients across its community hospital sites.
The Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust currently has five patients with coronavirus.
This data comes after it was revealed that COVID infection rates in Lincolnshire are “bouncing around all over the place” after Boston and South Holland saw spikes in the past few days.
On Monday, January 25 there were 259 new coronavirus cases and seven COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire.
The City of Lincoln Council could close some of its public toilets in a bid to save £82,000 a year.
The authority has gone out to consultation on plans to close the urinals at The Lawn on Union Road and Newport Arch permanently, while only reopening facilities at Lucy Tower and Westgate car parks only for special events.
Under the proposals, toilet attendant jobs will be lost, while a new city-wide scheme will change access to disabled loos to be by an electronic card registered to a specific user.
Steve Bird, Assistant Director for Communities and Street Scene at City of Lincoln Council, said: “With cuts to our budgets now being necessary in many areas of the council as a result of COVID-19, including in the public conveniences service, we are looking at how best we can make savings whilst mitigating the impact on users.
“Through this consultation we are looking for the public to comment on some options under consideration.
“Although providing toilets is not a statutory duty for local authorities, we appreciate that these facilities are important in our city, not only for local residents but also for our visitor economy.
“This is why we are doing everything we can to ensure we get the best possible balanced outcome and the results of this consultation are important to us.”
The authority plans to retain toilets at the bus station, Castle Square, Tentercroft Street, Boultham Park, Hartsholme Country Park and the cemetery toilets.
Sincil Street facilities will be closed until the refurbishment of the market is completed.
They said the change to the way disability facilities were accessed was due to “some abuse of the alternative Radar key system” including damage to the facilities.
Public toilets at Tentercroft Street car park. | Photo: The Lincolnite
Access to public toilets will also be changed to take card payments as well as cash.
Sarah Loftus of Lincoln BIG said there were questions to be answered over how the disabled facilities would work for visitors to the city in order to reassure them they would be welcomed.
“How do you make visitors aware that the scheme exists and make it easy for them to have access to it?” she asked.
She added: “From a High Street perspective, good quality public toilets are really important to keep the high street alive.
“I understand if they need to close them because they become too old and they’re not good enough, and they’re going to be replaced and put something in that’s better, that’s good.
“But we saw very early on when the pandemic started and things started to open up there was a real need for the public toilets, because a lot of the cafes and restaurants were shut.”
A consultation on the proposals will take place until Sunday, February 7.
The new asymptomatic COVID rapid testing centre in Lincoln completed nearly 200 coronavirus tests in its first day.
The facility St Swithin’s Community Centre on Croft Street, off Monks Road, opened on Monday after relocating from Lincoln City’s LNER Stadium. It has so far found one positive case which had not shown symptoms — a rate of 0.53%.
So far 6,556 people have been through the rapid testing centres in Boston and Lincoln and 83 asymptomatic cases have been found, a positivity rate of 1.27%, down on 1.83% the week started with.
The breakdown for the rapid testing centres in Lincolnshire:
Lincoln LNER – 2,298 tests, 42 positive (1.83%)
Haven High Boston – 1,550 tests, 12 positive (0.77%)
Peter Paine Boston – 2,499 test, 28 positive (1.12%)
St Swithin’s, Monks Road, Lincoln – 189, 1 positive (0.53%)
Overall – 6,556 tests, 83 positive (1.27%)
The St Swithin’s centre allows those who live in the area to attend on a walk-up basis at the site, which will be open daily from 8am to 8pm until February 7.
There is no need to book and people can just turn up to the centre.
Online/follow-up testing will take place at the site between 9am and 3pm.
Anyone who appears positive on a lateral flow (rapid) test is encouraged to return for a confirmatory test using the PCR method (48 hours results).
The rapid turnout tests are supplied by NHS Test and Trace and deliver results within an hour via text message and/or email.
The initiative is run by City of Lincoln Council, in partnership with Lincolnshire County Council and the Department of Health and Social Care.
Health bosses are hoping for funding for further centres to open, along with re-opening the LNER, however, this has not yet been confirmed.
Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rates from Jan 18 to Jan 25. | Data: Gov UK / Table: James Mayer for The Lincolnite
Whatsapp
