The new $120.5 million UW-Madison Microbial Sciences Building is open and ready to extend the Wisconsin Idea as it provides infrastructure for UW-based biotechnology research and possible federally funded projects.
This building is built for opportunity,"" said Jo Handelsman, a professor in the Department of Bacteriology in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
The 330,000 square foot center at the corner of Linden and Babcock drives now houses the UW-Madison Departments of Bacteriology and Food Microbiology and Toxicology, both in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, and Medical Microbiology and Immunology in the Medical School.
The project, which was approved in 2002 under former Gov. Scott McCallum, was funded through public and private funds, including the UW and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.
The state's funding was funneled through the Biostar program, a $317 million initiative to fund campus construction for bioresearch-centered facilities.
""This world-class research and teaching facility will accelerate the growth of the biological sciences at UW-Madison and support the state's efforts to become a global leader in biotechnology,"" McCallum said in a 2002 announcement of the project.
Programs headquartered in the MSB will include the Microbial Doctoral Training Program, ranked first among public universities, the National Institute of Health-funded Biotechnology Predoctoral Training Program, the largest in the United States, the NIH-funded Microbial Pathogenesis and Host Responses Training Program and all educational programs in microbiology, according to the building's website.
""The MSB was built around the concept that people do science - people need to communicate with each other,"" Handelsman said. ""I think it will lead to new kinds of science in part because we'll have agricultural and medical researchers side by side, and that will just lead to new ideas and collaborations.""
The building's facilities will operate around this notion with every floor featuring platforms with chairs, tables and whiteboards where students, professors and researchers alike can gather to discuss ideas in an open, welcoming environment.
The first floor houses suites of administrative offices, highly sophisticated classrooms and a 450-seat symposium center as well as the Micro Place, a center where the public can experience the world of microbiology.
Excitement about the building is continual, and, according to Handelsman, will attract high-quality faculty and graduate students now and in years to come.
