The Data Science @ ILS, which will be an addition to the College of Medicine’s Institute of Life Science 1 and 2 buildings, is scheduled to open in summer 2015 and will house the £5 million Farr Institute of Health Informatics Research, the £4.3million Centre for the Improvement of Population Health through e-Records Research (CIPHER); and the new £8 million Administrative Data Research Centre Wales (ADRC Wales).

The new 2900m² Data Science @ ILS research facility will continue the innovative design and build processes utilised in ILS 1 & 2 and will be certified BREEAM Excellent (BRE Environmental Assessment Method), adding to the University’s commitment to a sustainable estate.

The Data Science @ ILS and its projects are led by Professor Ronan Lyons and Professor David Ford of the Institute of Life Science, College of Medicine, Swansea University. The vision of the Data Science @ ILS is to create a world-class centre in administrative data and ehealth research, innovation and training and development through our existing powerful, robust, state of the art data linkage and data access facilities.

Professor Ronan Lyons, Director of the MRC Farr Institute of Health Informatics Research at Swansea University said: "This is a great moment for Swansea and Wales. I am delighted that the Medical Research Council and the Economic and Social Research Council have recognised the quality of the research carried out here and decided to invest substantially in infrastructure to support our rapidly expanding team. The new building will act as a hive of innovation, allowing researchers and staff from the NHS and industry to work together on cutting edge science. This collaboration will also produce informatics solutions to underpin the delivery of better and more targeted services and treatments and should directly benefit many NHS patients."

Professor David Ford, Director of the ESRC Administrative Data Research Centre (ADRC) Wales at Swansea University said: “The Data Science @ ILS will bring the three exciting Centres of Excellence together under one roof, enabling researchers to work together to unleash the potential of large scale data to conduct powerful new research.”

Professor Keith Lloyd, Head of the College of Medicine at Swansea University, said: “The work at the Data Science @ ILS will be central to the College of Medicine's research activity in the future and really put Swansea on the map. Professors Lyons and Ford and their team should be congratulated for their tremendous achievement in securing these research council funded informatics developments here in Swansea.”

The University’s plans to transform the existing Singleton Park Campus go hand-in-hand with the creation of the new Bay Campus, creating space for a dramatic transformation which will greatly enhance the student experience and research facilities across both sites.

For more information about Swansea University’s Campus Development Programme visit http://www.swansea.ac.uk/campus-development/.