Researchers and equipment will be transported into the Carl J. Shapiro Science Center beginning this week, according to Vice President of Capital Projects Dan Feldman; however, science classes will not be moved into the science center until fall semester 2009.However, Feldman wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that "Phase two of the [Science Complex Renewal Project] has been indefinitely postponed."

Feldman wrote that Phase one is "nearly complete. "Phase one of the master plan for the Science Center includes a major new building with teaching labs on the first two levels, three levels of research space, an atrium and a café," according to the Capital Projects Web site.

"The Phase 2A building, which was schematically designed together with Phase one to ensure complete coordination, is expected to include teaching labs, a large lecture hall and three levels of additional research laboratories," according to the Web site.

The downturn in the economy and donations to the school has slowed the University's plan to make up the projected $74 million in gifts for the Science Center, as the school has received less than it predicted in fundraising and grants due to the troubled economy, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Peter French said at a Feb. 5 press conference for campus media.

According to the Capital Projects Web site, two floors of the new center will be devoted to biology and chemistry teaching labs and classrooms; the other three floors will contain new research facilities.

The center will be connected to the existing Rosenstiel and Edison-Lecks science buildings and will replace the two oldest science buildings, Friedland and Kalman, which are slated to be razed this summer, according to the Web site.

"The new Carl J. Shapiro Science Center is the largest and most technically complex single project we have completed in the current 'building boom' that has been underway at Brandeis since the late 1990s," Feldman wrote in an e-mail to the Justice.

"The Shapiro Science Center is a great step forward for science facilities at Brandeis-truly a 21st century building," he wrote.

"I think the construction of the Shapiro Science Center is a landmark event in the history of Brandeis," Prof. Greg Petsko (CHEM) wrote in an e-mail to the Justice. "It exemplifies the long-term commitment of the University to the sciences."

Melissa Kosinski-Collins, an assistant professor of biology, echoed Petsko's view.

"We now have cutting-edge, state-of-the-art laboratory classrooms for both the Chemistry and Biology departments, which will foster more laboratories integrally tied to computational strategies and will encourage collaboration and scientific success for our students," she wrote in an e-mail to the Justice

"These laboratories will provide our undergraduate students with the tools and skills they will need to be successful for the future graduate studies, medical pursuits, and/or careers in the biomedical research field," Kosinski-Collins wrote.

When asked in what specific ways the Shapiro Science Center is an improvement over current science facilities at Brandeis, Prof. Suzanne Paradis (BIOL) wrote in an e-mail to the Justice, "I know that a very powerful magnet used for [Nuclear Magnetic Resonance] will be housed in the new building for teaching and research purposes.

"This is the type of state-of-the-art equipment that simply could not be housed in the current science facilities," she added

Feldman wrote, "The Carl J. Shapiro Science Center was designed to meet a [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-silver] equivalent, and we believe that it is actually within a couple of points of meeting a LEED-gold equivalent standard."

LEED is an independent organization that sets nationally acknowledged standards for the construction of green buildings.

According to Feldman, some of the notable elements of the science center that play a role in sustainability include natural ventilation of nonlab spaces with operational windows, the use of recycled and recyclable materials, low-flush urinals and dual-flush toilets in the bathrooms, and electronic sensors on bathroom faucets.