Tackling health inequalities and driving social justice through radical interdisciplinarity

Our health is impacted by differences in opportunities including where we are born, grow, live, work and age. These wider determinants of health are in turn shaped by the differences in our lived experience such as racial and ethnic background, disability, sexuality and gender, as well as socio-economic factors including housing quality, geography, experience of social exclusion and access to care. The way these various factors combine and interact with each other influences the differences in care we receive and the opportunities we have to lead healthy lives, which can and does lead to health inequalities. COVID-19 shone a particularly harsh light on the health and wider inequalities that persist in our society. Prior to 2020, in both the South West and Wales, approximately one in three children lived in a low-income household. Poverty, deprivation and hunger have since increased following the COVID-19 pandemic and cost-of-living crisis while the effects of climate change on health are already being felt by marginalised urban, rural and coastal communities.   

GW4 Crucible 2024 offers an opportunity for future research leaders across a broad range of disciplines to come together to foster conversations and initiate new collaborations. It will leverage the combined experience of engineers to sociologists and clinicians to statisticians to generate comprehensive, multifaceted and radically interdisciplinary approaches to tackling health inequalities that will lead towards creating a fairer, just society for all. If you are a GW4 researcher with an interest in or expertise applicable to any aspect of health inequalities and social justice, we want to hear from you!  

What is GW4 Crucible?

GW4 Crucible brings together 30 competitively selected future research leaders to explore how you can enhance your career by working with researchers in radically different disciplines on a themed research topic. 

The hybrid programme will include two in-person residential (two-day) labs, as well as four online masterclasses (see below for dates)*. Through these, you will explore working collaboratively with peers from vastly different disciplines to your own, while also connecting with expert guest speakers, enhancing your professional networks and visibility.

GW4 Crucible is an excellent opportunity for you to consider new approaches to your research and its impact, to enhance your leadership potential and career development, and to network with peers and experts from across GW4 and beyond.

The programme will provide you with the following benefits to help you make the next steps in your career:

• Enhanced ability to think creatively and innovatively about your approach to your research and its wider impact.
• Increased understanding of advocating for change and how you can impact on change processes these through your research.
• Enhanced understanding of your own personal impact and effectiveness, and how to use your skills to further your career aspirations.
• Increased visibility amongst a range of connected, thought provoking and influential people, including senior research and external stakeholders in the GW4 institutions and beyond.
• Opportunity to start building collaborations across radically different disciplines bringing a transdisciplinary perspective to your research.
• Opportunity to understand and develop the key leadership skills needed to lead confidently in a collaborative environment.

If you would like to discuss GW4 Crucible and how participation will help you make the next steps in your career, your local development teams would be happy to discuss this with you.

• University of Bath: Annali Bamber-Jones (abj30@bath.ac.uk)
• University of Bristol: Claudia Gumm (claudia.gumm@bristol.ac.uk)
• Cardiff University: Rhiannon Robinson (jonesr47@cardiff.ac.uk)
• University of Exeter: Chris Wood (c.b.wood@exeter.ac.uk)

Eligibility criteria

You are eligible to apply for GW4 Crucible 2024 if you are:

• The holder of a PhD (or equivalent) and see yourself at the cusp of research independence (see application guidance for more information)
• Employed at one of the GW4 universities for the duration of the GW4 Crucible programme (until June 2024)
• Able to commit to attending all the workshops. There will be two in-person labs (two-day residentials), as well as a short series of online masterclasses*. It is a requirement of the Crucible programme to attend all the below programme elements in full:

• • Lab 1 – 6-7 February 2024 in Cardiff
  • Lab 2 – 23-24 April 2024 in Bath
  • Online masterclasses – 10:30am -12:00pm on:
    • 23 February 2024
    • 8 March 2024
    • 21 March 2024
    • 18 April 2024

Accessibility

An important principle of the GW4 Crucible is that it provides a welcoming, supportive environment which enables future research leaders to grow and flourish. As such we want to make sure that the GW4 Crucible programme is accessible to all, including all aspects of our hybrid online and in-person workshops. If there are any factors which you feel would impede your access or full participation in any of the online or offline elements of this programme (i.e., caring responsibilities, accessibility requirements, etc.), please get in touch with us at talentandskills@gw4.ac.uk. We are keen to offer options that will help you best participate in GW4 Crucible.

How to apply

To receive an application pack, contact the GW4 Talent and Skills Team (talentandskills@gw4.ac.uk). Please include a little information about 1) your current role, 2) your area of research, and 3) one or two lines on why you are interested in applying, which will we consider to be your expression of interest.

The expression of interest is not a formal part of your application and will not be included with your application when it is sent to the selection panel. We request this information merely to confirm that you fulfil the criteria listed above.

The deadline for expressions of interest is 18 October 2023. The final deadline for completed applications is midday, Wednesday, 25 October 2023.

Please note: You will need to secure written endorsement from your line manager to participate in the programme, which will need to be submitted as part of the application form. Please ensure that you leave enough time for your line manager to complete their section of the form as applications missing line managers approval and endorsement will be considered as incomplete and not accepted.