What server was this on? This is more likely to be a .res file problem or just a missing texture on the server than a problem with the new empires update.
Added the missing line Code: "materials/cnsc/cnsc_whiteglass.vtf" "file" to emp_research_1_2.res and emp_research_1_1.res on epic main server. Other server admins will have to do the same after I confirm this works.
EPIC and VIPER both have the fixes as far as I know. The original links are dead anyway so I'll just close this.