ANU Council approves funding for new RSSS building
The Australian National University Council has approved funding for a new building for the Research School of Social Sciences (RSSS).
PhD student Jessie Moritz with RSSS Director Professor Adam Graycar at the announcement of the new buildings. Photo by Stuart Hay.
It is part of a new model for capital works investment to enable the construction of two buildings, one to house RSSS and another to bring together the Mathematical Sciences Institute (MSI) and the College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS).
Dean of the College of Arts and Social Sciences, Professor Toni Makkai, said the new building would provide a home for 655 staff and students from the Research School of Social Sciences who are currently scattered throughout 10 different buildings.
“By bringing the school into one location, staff and students will build closer working relationships and improve the quality of our research projects and education,” she said.
The new building will feature purpose built teaching spaces to facilitate innovative undergraduate teaching including problem based learning, lectorials, digital humanities, and blended delivery of courses. These teaching facilities will be available to all staff and students across the College.
The new funding arrangements also allow for the future development of the Physics Stage 1 project, and the refurbishment of the Research School of Biology’s Robertson buildings, from 2017.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Young, AO, said the projects had been made possible by a strategic change in the way the university manages funding for capital works, with the money pooled for better long-term investment.
“Previously, capital works funding was distributed annually between the University’s Colleges, which limited the potential for major works,” Professor Young said.
“The new approach came about as a result of an agreement between all Colleges to pool the available funds over the long term, with major projects now able to be funded on a priority basis.”
Under the new model, $75 million will be made available from the three-year funding pool for two buildings, one for RSSS and one for MSI and CECS.
Professor Young said the buildings would provide an environment that would enhance the quality of ANU education and research.
“ANU prides itself on the quality of both its research and education. This new capital investment will ensure both staff and students have world-class physical resources to carry out their work,” he said.
“These buildings will provide an environment better suited to the outstanding quality of people we have at the ANU.”