Work is underway to construct a new virus research centre at the University of Glasgow.

The £20m Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Virus Research (CVR) at the university’s Garscube Campus will bring together scientists researching viruses and viral diseases in humans and animals.

The Centre will receive £28m over the next five years from the MRC as well as an additional £10m from the University. It is being headed by Professor Massimo Palmarini.

The Wellcome-Wolfson Capital Awards Initiative also invested £4.8m in the Centre.

The building has been designed by Sheppard Robson Architects and supported by Arup engineering and cost managers Sweett Group.

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It will be built by Laing O’Rourke and is scheduled for completion by June 2014.

Prof Palmarini said: "We are very excited that work has started on the construction of a dedicated building for the Centre.

"The building will provide us with the kind of facilities we need to produce top-quality research in the field of human and animal diseases and tackle questions about viruses at all levels – from the structure of viruses themselves to their spread through animal and human populations."

The University aims to achieve BREEAM Excellent status on completion.

Professor Neal Juster, Vice-Principal for Strategy and Resources at the University of Glasgow, said: "The CVR will be a wonderful new addition to our facilities at Garscube and provide modern facilities for a hugely important research theme.

"As a university we are committed to investing in our facilities and estate to ensure our staff and students have the best environment in which to carry out their globally-recognised research."

The University of Glasgow was awarded funding from the MRC following a UK-wide call for bids.

(IT/GK)