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The University of St Andrews has unveiled plans to redevelop its Eden Campus at Guardbridge.
The £24 million scheme, which is part of the £1.84 billion Tay Cities Deal, would see 500 new jobs created with an additional 5,500 sq m of existing derelict buildings redeveloped.
The University has already invested £25m in an green energy centre at the campus, which pumps hot water four miles to St Andrews to heat University buildings. Over 350 staff members are set to relocate from St Andrews to the Campus in 2018.
Specific projects include:
• an Advance Materials Centre incorporating circular bio-economy, biorefinery, and carbon reduction
• The Sandpit – a zero carbon integrated energy community to support industry and academia to create new ideas for innovation in a "sandpit" environment
• Eden Enterprise Centre – to provide capacity and support for innovators, start-ups and SMEs
• location for a "living lab" environment to maximise knowledge transfer and learning to the community
It is estimated that the funding could unlock up to £75m of other inward investment within the first five years, from a mixture of industry and private sector investors.
Over 50 projects have been outlined for development across Tayside and north east Fife as part of the £1.84bn Cities Deal.
University of St Andrews Quaestor and Factor Derek Watson said: "With Tay Cities Deal help, we can continue to redevelop buildings and provide the necessary infrastructure to co-locate exciting new industry alongside academic expertise from across Scotland.
"Our plans for Eden Campus are ambitious but with help from our partners in the Tay Cities region and government support we believe we can make a genuine contribution to the government's strategic objectives and society as a whole."
North East Fife MP Willie Rennie said: "I am delighted that the University is putting forward ambitious proposals to further develop their Eden Campus. This is a strong bid which would build on the existing investment. The University's redevelopment of Guardbridge has my full support."
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