Awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Ben Feringa launched the start of the full-speed construction work of the Feringa Building of the University of Groningen. New premises for the Faculty of Science will be located at Nijenborgh 4.
Translated by Hans de Preter
‘A historic moment. I came into this university as a chemistry student in September 1969. Fifty years later, I can start the construction of the new faculty building named after me,’ said the proud namesake of the complex, Professor Ben Feringa. In the presence of many future users, the first construction phase of the Feringa Building was festively started on the Zernike Campus on September 18, reports the Campus Groningen website.
The building, which is no less than 260 meters long and five storeys high, will provide space for around 1,400 students and 850 employees of the Faculty of Science. It will house physics, chemistry and low-vibration laboratories with three kilometers of lab tables, 450 fume cupboards and 30 laser labs. These facilities will come in useful for the growing faculty.
The Feringa Building will perfectly comply with the sustainability ambitions of the RUG with its 900 square meters of solar panels and gasless solutions. ‘We, as a university, endorse our ambition to work in an interdisciplinary manner and to be able to continuously contribute to important international research areas, such as chemical engineering, nanotechnology, material research and astronomy,’ added Hans Biemans, a board member of the RUG.
