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GW4 Crucible Seed Projects

Participants of the GW4 Crucible leadership development programme are offered the opportunity to apply for funding of up to £5K to enable them to pursue collaborative projects that have emerged from the programme.

Proposals are favoured which are ambitious and bold and seek to generate innovative, multifaceted responses to global challenges. The project may include (but are not limited to) network building and co-production, collaborative working and stakeholder engagement, scoping studies, experimental data collection, prototype design, and trialling new methodological approaches. Proposals must reflect the theme of that year’s Crucible. We encourage both discrete projects and projects designed to act as a stepping stone to large-scale collaborations.

Past activities have included literature reviews and gap analysis, survey design and delivery, stakeholder identification, workshops and sandpits, lab and desk research, game or app design, and away-days and grant writing.


Explore our projects:

All communities are listed below in alphabetical order, and can be searched using key words or fund type.

36 results found
Sort Sort Date Newest
Funds
Play in the Academy
Crucible 2025
Overview
Led by Dr Alyssa Alcorn (University of Bristol), this project uses universities as sites to investigate how play already operates—or could operate—within multilayered organisations.
Community lead

University of Bristol: Alyssa Alcorn (PI)

Cardiff University: Enrique Uribe Jongbloed, Hayley Trowbridge

University of Exeter: Chloe Asker, Michael Flexer

Awarded
September 2025
Folklore Future: folkloric community practices as playful generative methods for critical interpretation, navigating complexity, and narrative resilience
Crucible 2025
Overview
This project led by Dr Harriet Hunt (University of Exeter), investigates how folkloric practices can be harnessed as tools for interpretation and sensemaking.
Community lead

Cardiff University: Jess Hoare, Simone Willis, Esther Wright

University of Exeter: Sylvia Hayes, Harriet Hunt (PI), Emmylou Rahtz

Awarded
September 2025
Restorative disruption and creativity: Nurturing ‘third places’ for connection and mental rest in the remote workplace 
Crucible 2025
Overview
This project led by Dr Karen Grey (University of Bristol), aims to explore the potential of ‘third places’ to support connection and rest experience at work.
Community lead

University of Bath: Christian Michelet

University of Bristol: Karen Gray (PI), Sam Stone

Awarded
September 2025
PlayData: Multi-Sensory Digital Play for All Ages
Crucible 2025
Overview
This project led by Dr Danielle House (University of Bristol), aims to explore how digital experiences can become collective, connective, multi-sensory and embodied.
Community lead

University of Bath: Hitesh Dommati, Mike Richardson

University of Bristol: Danielle House (PI), David Garzon Ramos, Lisa Thomas

Cardiff University: Sofia Vougioukalou, Wei Zhou

Awarded
September 2025
Does the use of private clinics for elective procedures reduce or accentuate health inequalities?
Crucible 2024
Overview
Led by Dr Sarah Milosevic (Cardiff University), this project will use spatial analysis to explore if the use of private clinics for elective procedures can be optimised so as not to perpetuate health inequalities.
Community lead

University of Bristol: Judy Bettridge

Cardiff University: Sarah Milosevic (PI), Diana Contreras Mojica

University of Exeter: David Barrett, Caroline Farmer, Holly Sugg

Awarded
September 2024
Learning the narratives and expectations of health and care needs for LGBTQ+ older people
Crucible 2024
Overview
Led by Dr Enrico De Luca (University of Exeter), this public engagement project aims to explore the experiences, perceptions and expectations of LGBTQ+ people regarding ageing and related health needs
Community lead

University of Bristol: Amanda Hughes

Cardiff University: Diana Contreras, Neil Turnbull, Adam Williams

University of Exeter: David Barrett, Enrico De Luca (PI)

Awarded
September 2024
Explore sensory overload detection with biosensing wearables
Crucible 2024
Overview
Led by Dr Nhat (Nick) Pham (Cardiff University), this project aims to explore how a biosensing wearable system could potentially support children to manage their sensory overload, exploring what is needed from such a system and developing a prototype.
Community lead

University of Bath: Aikaterini (Katrina) Tavoulari, Runan Zhang

Cardiff University: Nhat (Nick) Pham (PI), Elisa Vigna

Awarded
September 2024
Charting New Frontiers: An Exploratory Expedition and Pilot Study on Chattable Virtual Avatars, Unveiling Ethical and Social Dimensions in Content Delivery
Crucible 2023
Overview
Led by Dr Yipeng Qin (Cardiff University), this pilot study will develop prototype chattable virtual avatars for use by museums and archives, to increase access to their online collections and make visiting exhibitions more interactive, engaging and enjoyable, whilst also exploring the ethical implications of using such technology.
Community lead

University of Bath: Cangxiong Chen, Deborah Brewis

University of Bristol: Barbara Caddick

Cardiff University: Yipeng Qin (PI)

University of Exeter: Peidong Mei

Awarded
September 2023
Panic around pandemics: A case study for applying natural language processing to historical archives to identify patterns of discriminatory language
Crucible 2023
Overview
Led by Dr Tristan Cann (University of Exeter), this project seeks to explore the barriers researchers face when applying quantitative methods such as natural language processing to archival data, in order to understand the requirements needed to make existing archival texts accessible for large scale computation analysis.
Community lead

University of Bath: Joanna Clifton-Sprigg

University of Bristol: Barbara Caddick, Thomas Larkin

London School of Economics: César Jiménez-Martínez

University of Exeter: Tristan Cann (PI)

Awarded
September 2023
Reshaping Learning in the Digital Era – How Does ChatGPT Affect Our Learning Performance, Experience and Attitude
Crucible 2023
Overview
Led by Dr Peidong Mei (University of Exeter), this project aims to investigate how ChatGPT, a prominent AI technology, impacts cognitive and social aspects of learning, and to understand the adoption process and behaviour of this technology.
Community lead

University of Bath: Benoit Dillet, Deborah Brewis, Fortune Nwaiwu, Zehra Önen-Dumlu

Cardiff University: Fernando Alva Manchego

University of Exeter: Peidong Mei (PI)

Awarded
September 2023
University of Bath
University of Bristol
Cardiff University
University of Exeter