| Victorian BioScience Education Centre receives a boost |
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In December last year, G21 received a letter from Premier John Brumby advising that an additional $400,000 had been committed to the VBEC project by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD). The grant is for ICT infrastructure to enable outreach services to the wider region and beyond. The Premier also noted an additional establishment grant of $100,000 that had been committed to the VBEC to plan and design the centre's operations. These funds are additional to the $4 million budget for the VBEC. These additional funds are greatly appreciated and reduce the funding shortfall for the preferred implementation plan to $480,000. The VBEC project team will pursue a number of avenues this year to find this required funding and G21 will continue to support these efforts. The Victorian BioScience Education Centre (VBEC) is a regional Priority Project that is now well underway, with Yvonne Van Der Ploeg having started as Director of the VBEC on October 19, 2009. Masterplan drawings were approved in early November and selected construction companies will be invited to tender for the project later this month. Construction of the building is estimated to be completed by March/April 2011. BioScience is a key driver of the new regional economy, is aligned with the rapidly growing industry and employment opportunities in biotechnology and bioscience in the Geelong region, and capitalises on the resources and expertise that Geelong based partners can provide. A number of BioScience organisations in the region, including CSIRO AAHL, Deakin University and Barwon Health have already offered ongoing support and the Centre plans to further develop relationships with these and other interested parties in the Geelong region. Programs will be developed in biosecurity, human and animal health, disease prevention, agricultural biotechnology and forensics. Click here to view the updated VBEC project description. Click here to see the architectural plans for the VBEC that will be located at Belmont High School. |
