IT HAS been a busy 10 years for Glasgow vet school with the opening of Weipers Equestrian Centre and the impressive New Small Animal Hospital.

But, although these two facilities have transformed the Garscube campus, education bosses have £50million plans for two more facilities.

The next two years will see the creation of a £42.8m home for the Centre for Virus Research (CVR) and a new £6m teaching centre.

Professor Ewan Cameron, who is Head of School, said: "These two new-builds are like the final pieces of the puzzle falling into place.

"We have focused a lot of time on getting the New Small Animal Hospital off the ground and we had the extension to the Weipers Equestrian Centre open in 2001.

"The campus will be finished but obviously the school will continue to develop and grow."

Glasgow vet school had to compete against other institutions across the UK to be the host for the Centre for Virus Research.

The Medical Research Council has invested £28m in the new centre over five years, to research viruses and train scientists to tackle health problems posed by viruses.

It will build on the school's already excellent international reputation for research and see the creation of new posts at the campus.

Bosses also hope it will be a draw for scientists around the world to come to Glasgow and share their knowledge.

The CVR will be a collaboration between the university's medical department and the vet department.

They will look at viral diseases that are a major threat to both human and animal health with the Medical Research Council calling it a "unique international research centre".

The CVR was set up on April 1, 2010 and the new building on the vet school's Garscube Campus is expected to be finished in the next two years.

Glasgow University is adding £10m of funding and the project won a £4.8m infrastructure award from the Wellcome Trust and Wolfson Foundation.

On the other side of the campus, the new teaching block will form the final part of Garscube's overhaul.

It will replace the now-closed old Small Animal Hospital, which will be razed to make way for the new block.

The £6m development will create more study space to deal with the growing number of students on the site.

It will have three clinical areas, which Mr Cameron said will aid teaching and training.

He said the area will also operate as a social facility with areas to relax and meet with friends.

Mr Cameron, an expert in cancer research, added: "Glasgow has always had a great reputation for the relationship between its students and staff – they tend to work as peers and develop very close, interactive partnerships.

"This new building will develop that further – it's great from a teaching and from a training point of view."

And there will be space for staff – including the New Small Animal Hospital's large number of employees, with its 40 veterinary surgeons, including 17 internationally recognised specialists.

Their work is supported by 18 residents, six interns, five senior nurses, six specialist nurses, 14 support nurses, two radiographers and nine assistant staff.

About 120 students are trained at the school each year with a further 30 veterinary nursing students also shadowing specialists in a wide range of disciplines. All will be able to use the teaching facility.

Glasgow's graduates are qualified to work in Europe, Australia and North America, making it one of the only schools in Europe where students can practice overseas without sitting further exams.

And Mr Cameron said the school's aim is now to improve on this world-renowned reputation.

He added: "We will have world-class facilities in place but our aim for the future is to continue to build on teaching standards and maintain our reputation as one of the best in the world."

catriona.stewart@ eveningtimes.co.uk

GLASGOW vet school has been undergoing huge changes during the past 15 years. CATRIONA STEWART looks at what the future holds for the school – as bosses reveal £50million expansion plans