Missouri University of Science and Technology will host a groundbreaking ceremony for the Bioplex at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 16, on the Havener Arrival Complex’s lawn, north of Bertelsmeyer Hall. The groundbreaking will precede the April 17 meeting of the University of Missouri Board of Curators in the St. Pat’s Ballroom of the Havener Center on the Missouri S&T campus. The meeting begins at 8 a.m. Thursday, April 17, and is open to the public.

“This state-of-the-art facility reflects the university’s commitment to education and advancing research excellence in alignment with our student centricity and our status as a Carnegie R-1 research institution,” says Missouri S&T Chancellor Mo Dehghani. “The Bioplex will serve as a hub for innovation, attracting top-tier faculty and students dedicated to addressing critical challenges at the intersection of engineering, medicine and biology.”

Construction of the 127,000-square-foot Bioplex is expected to be completed in 2028.

“The Bioplex groundbreaking brings us closer to a cutting-edge research center at S&T that will provide Missourians with impactful workforce training in health care,” says University of Missouri Board of Curators Chair Todd Graves. “The Board is excited to watch the growth in research and economic impact this innovative facility will bring to the state.”

The project represents Missouri S&T’s largest capital project to date and is fully funded by private gifts.

“The Bioplex is another historic step in the transformation of S&T’s campus, and I want to congratulate Chancellor Dehghani and the entire S&T team,” says University of Missouri President Mun Choi. “This innovative facility is designed to support student success, advance critical research and provide incredible impact throughout Missouri and beyond.”

The Bioplex will feature office, laboratory and other workspaces for 24 research teams, a vivarium for critical life science research, a cognitive neuroscience suite, teaching labs and classrooms, and a common core laboratory for the Biomedical Research Center and industry partners. A geothermal energy plant will power the facility.

The Bioplex will be located near both Bertelsmeyer Hall and Schrenk Hall and will foster collaboration between researchers in the Linda and Bipin Doshi Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, chemistry, biological sciences, environmental science, and psychology programs.

To learn more about plans for S&T’s Bioplex, please visit masterplan.mst.edu/bioplex.