Mosi awarded £3m for new temporary exhibition space
Part of government plans to prioritise science investment in the north-west
The Museum of Science and Industry (Mosi) in Manchester has received a £3m grant from the Treasury to build a new temporary exhibition gallery for contemporary science.
The £3m investment comes in addition to a £800,000 grant awarded to Mosi earlier this year by the Treasury to kickstart development of the project.
The museum has now raised almost 60% of the funding it needs to build the space, which will cost just under £6m in total and is expected to open in 2018.
The new gallery will be housed in the basement of the museum’s Grade I 19th-century warehouse, which was the first railway warehouse to be built in the world.
“One of the really exciting things about the site is that it is symbolic of Manchester as the birthplace of the industrial revolution,” said Sally MacDonald, the director of Mosi. “We will be using the money to create a space where we can do ambitious exhibitions around contemporary science.”
The investment is part of the government’s plans to create a "northern powerhouse" and establish Greater Manchester as an international centre for science and innovation. It comes in the wake of an announcement by the Treasury of plans to build a new institute for advanced materials research at Manchester University.
The government has also revealed plans to give greater devolutionary powers to the city, including an elected mayor and full control over its £500m skills budget.
Mosi is working closely with Manchester University and other educational bodies and science-related businesses to link in with the skills agenda, said MacDonald.
“One of our key aims is to inspire future engineers and inventors. There’s a real sense of schools, universities, business and museums all uniting to support public engagement with science.”
The museum already holds the Stemnet contract for the north-west, a network that aims to engage children and young people in science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem).
It coordinates a programme that sends 1,200 volunteer science ambassadors into schools to talk to pupils about Stem subjects.
MacDonald said much of Mosi’s success in bidding for skills and science funding could be attributed to the museum becoming part of the Science Museum Group in 2012, which had enabled it to share programmes and maximise its resources.
“A lot of it has taken off since the museum joined the Science Museum Group. We have really benefited from being part of the group as a whole.”
The £3m investment comes in addition to a £800,000 grant awarded to Mosi earlier this year by the Treasury to kickstart development of the project.
The museum has now raised almost 60% of the funding it needs to build the space, which will cost just under £6m in total and is expected to open in 2018.
The new gallery will be housed in the basement of the museum’s Grade I 19th-century warehouse, which was the first railway warehouse to be built in the world.
“One of the really exciting things about the site is that it is symbolic of Manchester as the birthplace of the industrial revolution,” said Sally MacDonald, the director of Mosi. “We will be using the money to create a space where we can do ambitious exhibitions around contemporary science.”
The investment is part of the government’s plans to create a "northern powerhouse" and establish Greater Manchester as an international centre for science and innovation. It comes in the wake of an announcement by the Treasury of plans to build a new institute for advanced materials research at Manchester University.
The government has also revealed plans to give greater devolutionary powers to the city, including an elected mayor and full control over its £500m skills budget.
Mosi is working closely with Manchester University and other educational bodies and science-related businesses to link in with the skills agenda, said MacDonald.
“One of our key aims is to inspire future engineers and inventors. There’s a real sense of schools, universities, business and museums all uniting to support public engagement with science.”
The museum already holds the Stemnet contract for the north-west, a network that aims to engage children and young people in science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem).
It coordinates a programme that sends 1,200 volunteer science ambassadors into schools to talk to pupils about Stem subjects.
MacDonald said much of Mosi’s success in bidding for skills and science funding could be attributed to the museum becoming part of the Science Museum Group in 2012, which had enabled it to share programmes and maximise its resources.
“A lot of it has taken off since the museum joined the Science Museum Group. We have really benefited from being part of the group as a whole.”