A $7 million expansion project which will double lab space at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research should be completed this month.

The new three-floor 40,000 square feet building will offer state-of-the-art technology to help ensure the Bio Station can take up new areas of research. It will offer nine thousand square feet of lab space. Bermuda Biological Station for Research Director Tony Knap said: ?The new facilities will allow us to recruit new scientists and hopefully retain those we have.?

Work started last July, said Dr. Knap. ?When you consider we had Hurricane Fabian and all those issues with The Causeway closed, the building is moving right along and should be done by the end of the month.

?We reckon everyone will be moved in by November. It will double the lab space we have. For the last five years we have had no space. We haven?t been able to bring in the people we were trying to get here.?

The Bio Station is now awaiting planning permission for a new 21-unit accommodation block.

?This is a campus,? said Mr. Knap. ?We have 100 full time staff, including 40 scientists. We will increase the amount of scientists by a few, we don?t particularly want to get any bigger. We just want to be able to maintain the facilities we have.

?The present lab was built in the 1950s, we added the floor on top in 1990. Since then science has become so much more interdisciplinary that you have to build more facilities to stay ahead of the game to recruit the best.

?Most of our funding comes from US Federal Government so to compete we have to go for the best in the world.?