The Government has confirmed a £75 million investment in the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge (www.phy.cam.ac.uk).

Originally announced in the 2015 Spending Review, this coincides with an £85 million private donation to the university.

The funding will be used to construct a new building for the Cavendish Laboratory, which has a long history of scientific inquiry and discovery; this will be its third home since its founding in 1874.

Construction work is expected to commence in 2019.

The £85 million private donation comes from the estate of Ray Dolby, the founder of Dolby Laboratories, who studied at the Cavendish Laboratory and received his PhD in 1961.

He founded Dolby Laboratories in London in 1965 and invented the Dolby System — an analogue audio encoding system that forever improved the quality of recorded sound. He moved the company to San Francisco in 1976, and it has been based there ever since.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council will act as the delivery partner for the Government funding.

Its chief executive, Philip Nelson, said: “I am delighted to announce confirmation of this funding for the Cavendish Laboratory; it is a significant investment in the UK’s physical-sciences research base.

“Without the pursuit of new knowledge through fundamental science, none of the technological progress and inventions we take for granted today would have been possible. 

“A successful nation invests in science, and this grant signals our intent to lead the world. The facilities will be open to researchers across the country and will encourage collaborative working between academics and institutions.

“Clearly, Ray Dolby valued the university that nurtured his talents, and he has made a truly generous contribution to future generations.”