Oxford: Minister names £13m office and lab building at science park

The minister of state for universities, science, research and innovation, Jo Johnson MP, visited The Oxford Science Park this week to take part in an official ground-breaking ceremony and reveal the name of the £13 million state-of-the-art new office and laboratory building capable of accommodating 500 people.

The Schrödinger Building will be named after Austrian theoretical physicist professor Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger (1887-1961). Awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1933, he was one of the great scientists of the 20th century. Schrödinger came to Magdalen College Oxford, which owns The Oxford Science Park, to a fellowship from 1933 to 1938.

Rory Maw, bursar, Magdalen College, Oxford, said: “Few people can claim to have had such an impact in the field of quantum theory as Erwin Schrödinger. Today his memory will live on in the Park’s state of the art new office and laboratory building: The Schrödinger Building. We were honoured that Jo Johnson visited us today to be part of this literally ground breaking day. We continue to develop the Park as a long-term strategic asset which supports growth, discovery, innovation and entrepreneurship.”

The Minister was introduced to three business leaders from the Park: Constantin Coussios, founder of OxSonics and OrganOx and a fellow of Magdalen College; Lee Bryant, managing director, Sesui, the cloud-based telephony and contact centre innovator based in The Magdalen Centre; and Dr Tom Payne, chief technology officer, Oxford Genetics, a leading biotech specialising in DNA design, protein expression optimisation and cell line development technologies and services.

Jo Johnson said: “Oxford’s world-leading success is built on its research excellence that continues to attract the best minds and cement the UK’s reputation as an innovative nation.

“The new Schrödinger Building will be another important addition to Oxford, supporting the relationship between academics and businesses to foster the development of pioneering start-ups. Our industrial strategy will build on these existing strengths to ensure the UK remains at the forefront of global science.”