University of Innsbruck gets “House of Physics”
The “House of Physics” in Technikerstraße should go into operation from the winter semester of 2028. The Ministry of Finance and Science has now granted planning approval for the mega-project. The two-stage architecture competition is already running, it was said.
International reputation
It is an “investment of over 210 million euros for the federal government,” said Education Minister Heinz Faßmann (ÖVP), who was connected via video. Today marks a “line under long and intensive negotiations”, the positive result of which is mainly due to the “policy of the University of Innsbruck”. Physics has developed an international reputation for itself through “clear priorities”, he paid tribute to the scientists.
The number of students has risen sharply
Rector Tilmann Märk named the most important research areas for the location. Innsbruck excels particularly in astro and particle physics, ion physics and applied physics as well as quantum physics. The number of students in the subject has recently “risen sharply” and there have been additional vacancies, argued the rector of the need for the new building. So far, the physics had to work spread over several buildings.
Merged on 25,000 square meters
Because this house will have a total area of around 25,000 square meters, Tyrolean Governor Günther Platter (ÖVP) casually referred to it as a “big box”. “Today is a great day of joy for science in Tyrol,” he stated. The investment is “urgently needed” after working in “cramped conditions” up to now. “There was a risk that highly qualified specialists would migrate. Now we can give a perspective, ”said the governor happily.
Innsbruck’s mayor Georg Willi (Greens) emphasizes the international nature of the subject: 43 percent of Innsbruck’s students come from abroad, “for physics it is two-thirds,” he said. “So many know – from all over the world – that you can study world-class physics in Innsbruck”.
Space for 3,000 students
The state of Tyrol invested three million euros in the planning, the rest will be replaced by the Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft (BIG), the sum will be refinanced through rents from the Ministry of Science, positive BIG CEO Hans-Peter Weiss. The Haus der Physik will house a lecture hall for 300 students and a group of seminar rooms, a quarter of the area will be used for laboratories. There will be space for around 850 students and 500 employees. In the architecture competition, a technology center planned for the future next to the House of Physics is also taken into account. When it comes to energy efficiency, they rely on photovoltaic systems, and the waste heat from the laboratories should also be used for heating.