Editor's comment: Fire in the belly
5 Sep 2014
The University of Nottingham (UON) faced a major setback last Friday as a blaze destroyed its iconic carbon neutral laboratory. However, there is still light at the end of the tunnel.
The resilience of the scientific community has always been fascinating. Its academics and experts are often as inquisitive as they are stubborn, and rarely let the impossible, or improbable, stand in the way of discovery.
When faced with a major setback, scientists more often that not fortify this reslience, and march on regardless of the circumstances.
“People are much harder to put back together than buildings
UON vice chancellor David Greenaway
The University of Nottingham has, unfortunately, presented the world with an example of the scientific community’s strength this week.
Last Friday at around 8.30pm, the Nottingham Fire & Rescue Service (NFRS) was called to the university’s Jubilee Campus in response to a blaze at its as yet unfinished GlaxoSmithKline Carbon Neutral Laboratory for Sustainable Chemistry.
Though the NFRS is still investigating the cause of the fire, there were thankfully no casualties - except one.
UON vice chancellor David Greenaway said: “People are much harder to put back together than buildings, and given the intensity of the inferno, we should be very relieved about that.”
In a blog post released on Monday, Greenaway talked about the loss of a building, but reaffirmed the resilience of a community.
“Our vision was to build capacity in a profoundly important area, sustainable chemistry, and use the new building as an embodiment of that vision,” Greenaway said.
“That vision is unchanged.”
Though temporarily gone, the lab will still be delivered - albeit a little later than planned.
UON registrar Paul Greatrix said: “The University of Nottingham has an international reputation for scientific excellence, underpinned by the world-leading expertise of our academics. It is upon those strong foundations that we will rebuild and renew for the future.”
The university’s tenacity and desire to deliver better, more advanced science is inspiring, and although a cruel lesson to learn, starting again from scratch certainly shows the strength of a sector that rarely, if ever, takes “no” for an answer.
