Science Centres

ARU is home to two dedicated Science Centres with specialist labs and teaching spaces: one in Cambridge and one in Writtle.

Cambridge

At the heart of our Cambridge campus, our Science Centre opened in 2018. It’s a £45m investment for students and researchers in psychology, life sciences, and biomedical and forensic science.

In the Centre you’ll find seven floors of modern teaching space including:

• a 200-station biosciences laboratory
• authentic crime scene rooms
• specialist forensic analysis equipment
• a range of psychology labs including ECG, neuroscience and biomarker analysis
• state-of-the-art computer labs featuring the latest hardware, software and operating systems.

The Centre allows us to meet increasing demand for our science courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level – and employers' need for highly trained graduates in the field of STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths). It also gives our students and staff a world-class facility in which to learn, teach and carry out research. It's a hub of expertise and innovation.

The striking façade of the Science Centre is in fact a large-scale piece of public art.

Designed by artist Annie Cattrell, the work is titled Transformation. It mirrors the aims of the building itself: namely, to see science in action.

The piece, formed from hundreds of small discs, appears at first to be a solid surface. Yet each disc can move independently, creating ever-changing patterns and movement.

Writtle

In Writtle our Lordship Science Centre supports students’ practical skills development. It replicates industry best-practice laboratory environments and features:

• a range of laboratory spaces for science practicals and research, that can be configured to suit different student groups
• dry laboratory
• fully digitally equipped teaching spaces, including cameras and large 'repeater' screens throughout, to improve visual access to demonstrations.

Come and explore

Take a look around our campuses and facilities, and find out more about studying at ARU, at one of our Open Days.