Campus Transformation Continues with a Multidisciplinary Research Space and Proposal for a New Campus District
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When Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla arrived at UC San Diego, he engaged more than 10,000 campus and community members to define a shared vision for a physical, cultural and intellectual transformation of the university. In the years that followed, innovative new spaces for research, patient care, teaching, the arts and living helped to enhance the student experience, enrich the community and spark research and innovation.
“Our initial strategic plan was created as a framework for all decisions, driven by a deep commitment to students, groundbreaking research, public service and world-class health care,” said Khosla. “The remarkable progress and unprecedented results we have achieved as a community in the past decade inspire a renewed focus on these and additional priorities that ensure the continuation and acceleration of innovative academic and research excellence of this world-class university.”
To harness momentum, carry the campus into the next decade and maintain focus on priorities that will support our continued growth as a public university, UC San Diego challenged itself to refresh the strategic plan, informed and shaped by the input of the university community and key external partners. Key projects that exemplify this mission were discussed by the University of California Board of Regents during their July meeting.
Multidisciplinary Life Sciences Building
The UC Regents approved plans for a new Multidisciplinary Life Sciences Building to help meet a growing demand for modern teaching and research space across an array of disciplines with UC San Diego Health Sciences and the School of Biological Sciences, advancing the university’s research and public service missions.
“The Multidisciplinary Life Sciences Building will help solidify UC San Diego’s standing as a premier research institution in the field of neurobiology,” said John M. Carethers, MD, vice chancellor for health sciences at UC San Diego. “Notably, this is the first building on campus that bridges health sciences research with other campus disciplines, promoting unprecedented inter-unit collaboration. This will not only enhance our research capabilities but also enrich our educational programs, fostering a truly integrated approach to health science research.”
The Multidisciplinary Life Sciences Building, to be located west of the Skaggs Pharmaceutical Sciences Building, will provide space for research and teaching focused on the intersection of neurodegenerative disease, inflammation, immunology and infectious disease, utilizing advanced technologies to drive discovery in academia and industry.
“This exciting new space will allow our researchers to more rapidly translate foundational biological discoveries to improvements in human health and provide our students a space designed for interdisciplinary education at the critical interface of biology, machine learning and advanced instrumentation in preparation that is increasingly critical for a wide array of careers,” said School of Biological Sciences Dean Kit Pogliano.
The design would create scientific neighborhoods composed of cross-organizational collaborative faculty, with the research laboratories designed to maximize flexibility and functionality to respond to changes in programs and research, and the teaching laboratories designed to integrate experimentation, instrumentation and computational analysis. The project is designed to meet, at minimum, a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building certification level of Gold. Construction is anticipated to begin on the site—currently a parking lot and service road—in fall 2024 and be complete in 2027.
Activating a Vibrant Campus
As part of the university’s strategy to expand access to students, faculty and the region, UC San Diego also presented the UC Regents with a proposal and a request for preliminary plans funding to develop the Pepper Canyon East District on a 20-acre site adjacent to the UC San Diego Blue Line central campus station.
The primary driver of the Pepper Canyon East District is to continue the vibrant transformation and activation of the campus, with places to celebrate, reflect and innovate. The overall development plan currently contemplates the following amenities, to be built over multiple phases:
- Housing for up to 6,000 undergraduate students (5,000 net new beds) in apartment-style units
- Residential support services including study spaces and common gathering areas
- Food/retail amenities
- Campus hotel and conference center (up to 300 keys)
- Student-focused recreation and entertainment
- Outdoor areas for formal and informal gatherings
- Recreation fields, programmable open space and parking
- Pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicular connections to existing housing, medical center, academic and research enterprises, as well as regional transportation projects to serve the campus
A proposal to develop the Pepper Canyon East District on a 20-acre site adjacent to the UC San Diego Blue Line central campus station contemplates student housing and amenities to be built over multiple phases.
Housing
As of this fall, UC San Diego will rank second in the nation for its student housing inventory, and providing access to below market rate housing for students continues to be a priority for the university. By providing below-market on-campus housing, the university frees up housing in the local market, helps lighten traffic on adjacent roads and provides students with a live-learn college experience.
The first phase of the Pepper Canyon East District, scheduled for completion in the summer of 2029, will provide housing and associated amenities for up to 2,000 undergraduate students. The timing and details of future phases would be further examined and presented to the Regents in upcoming meetings.
Destination Arts
UC San Diego has a strong commitment to the arts and culture to enhance the campus experience for students and visitors. Among the priorities in Pepper Canyon East District, the university will invest in infrastructure, programming and expansion of shared spaces to enable broader arts programming and attract conferences, major events and more. One such example is Comic-Con, which has provided a unique opportunity to connect UC San Diego’s expertise and resources with a broader, global audience through a full day of workshops, welcome concert and program featuring esteemed actors George Takei and John Cho, of Star Trek fame.
“We continue to focus on becoming a destination public university that is student centered, research driven, patient dedicated and service oriented by transforming our campus in ways that forge meaningful connections between UC San Diego and our broader, regional and global communities,” said Khosla. “Ultimately, we will be known for being first in thought for our academic and research excellence, world-class healthcare and opportunities for cultural, athletic and experiential engagement in an inclusive environment where everyone can learn, heal, connect, collaborate, celebrate and play.”
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