The U.K.’s largest facility to improve avian nutrition, health and welfare has opened near Edinburgh, Scotland, according to Scotland's Rural College (SRUC).

SRUC's £5.6 million Allermuir Avian Innovation & Skills Center has been co-funded by the Center for Innovation Excellence in Livestock (CIEL).

By studying innovative ideas under near-commercial conditions, the Allermuir Avian Innovation & Skills Center is meant to help bridge the gap between research and poultry businesses, SRUC said.

The first research projects will look at novel antimicrobial impacts on performance and gut microbiome, and the role of amino acid nutrition on gut health, SRUC said.

CIEL invested £1.9 million in the new center, with funding from Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency. SRUC invested £3.6 million with support from the Scottish Funding Council’s Financial Transactions Program.

According to the announcement, the Allermuir center broadens the poultry research capability available through CIEL’s U.K.-wide network of university partners. This network enables businesses across the supply chain to work directly with world-leading researchers to develop new agri-tech solutions to benefit the agrifood sector.

Once fully operational, the Allermuir center will employ between 30 and 35 people and welcome at least four post-graduate students.

Professor Wayne Powell, SRUC principal and chief executive, said, “The Allermuir Avian Innovation & Skills Center will be of huge benefit to Scotland, the U.K. and globally. The people and facilities based here will help attract research investment from across the world."