Lift the Chorus: Cornell Stories
The Physical Sciences Building will connect disciplines to solve global problems.
Artist's rendering of the proposed Physical Sciences Building, adjacent to Clark and Baker halls
The Physical Sciences Building is a top priority for the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering. The building will support three leading departments that are among Cornell's most distinguished: Applied and Engineering Physics (AEP), Chemistry and Chemical Biology (CCB), and Physics.
Over the last century, faculty from these programs have won eight Nobel Prizes and led the development of world-renowned interdisciplinary centers, including the Cornell Center for Materials Research. Today, Cornell researchers in these disciplines remain international leaders in many areas, including in the use of imaging and nanoscience technologies to gain new insight about life. They are applying this knowledge to prevent disease, slow aging, and solve global problems.
Funding the Physical Sciences building will advance the important work of integrated teams of Cornell scientists. The new facility will meet several critical needs:
Program growth. Cornell physical scientists and engineers are major contributors to the acceleration of discovery across the sciences, and their work is attracting many new faculty and graduate students. The average size of physics research groups has doubled in recent years, especially in new areas such as biophysics and nanophysics. At the same time, the physics departments are losing space on campus to make room for other new facilities. To accommodate these changes and planned growth, more space is needed.
Modern labs and shared collaborative space. Older Cornell buildings are becoming more and more costly to retrofit for the new kinds of research driving discovery in fields like chemistry and physics. For example, cutting-edge fields such as nanophysics and nanobiotechnology require low-noise, low-vibration space. Existing facilities do not have the infrastructure to make these critical changes. Approximately 5 to 10 percent of the new Physical Sciences Building will be devoted to research facilities and tools shared by Physics, AEP, and CCB, and with the rest of the university, to encourage more cross-disciplinary connections.
Improved and expanded teaching space. Hundreds of graduate students -- as well as thousands of undergraduates from across Cornell's colleges -- take courses in the physical sciences. These numbers continue to grow. In response to this demand, the building will house new teaching labs for chemistry and physics. This includes undergraduate organic chemistry labs and a large lecture hall wired with audio-visual tools and technology for today's teaching methods. A fully equipped seminar room and four teaching laboratories also will support AEP's educational programs.
