The GW4 Alliance is pleased to announce £100,000 in funding for seven new research communities exploring a range of global and societal challenges, including flood resilience, green recovery in cities and new drugs to tackle antimicrobial resistance.
The research groups are all collaborative communities, formed of academics from across the GW4 institutions of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter – four of the most research-intensive and innovative universities in the UK.
To date the GW4 Alliance has invested over £3.1m in 112 collaborative research communities , which have generated nearly £50m in research income. This means that for every £1 GW4 spends on collaborative research communities, GW4 captures over £16 in external research awards.
Dr Jane Khawaja, Interim GW4 Director, said: “Collaborative world class research is at the heart of our Alliance, so it was fantastic to read so many high calibre applications bringing together our researchers and demonstrating the potential for the region in delivering world-leading research at scale.
“I was also pleased to see so many applications include members of our early career researcher community, or opportunities for them to get involved. GW4 is committed to supporting researchers at all stages of their career including via the Building Communities scheme and initiatives such as the GW4 Crucible. I look forward to watching these research communities develop and see our existing communities build even further on their success.”
The successful GW4 Generator Award 2021 research communities are:
- Rhetoric and Practices of Green Recovery in Cities (PI: David Shakleton, Cardiff University)
- New drugs to tackle AMR (PI: Michaela Serpi, Cardiff University)
- GW4 Menstrual and Mental Health Research Community (PI: Gemma Sharp, University of Bristol)
- Urban Humanities (PI: Jason Baskin, University of Exeter)
- Family Care in ME/CFS (PI: Siobhan O’Dwyer, University of Exeter)
- GliaSound: investigating the potential of ultrasound stimulation as a regulator of neuroimmune function (PI: Philip Regan, University of Bath)
- Flood Resilience for the TRANsport Sector (FR-TRANS) (PI: Maria Pregnolato, University of Bristol)
These research communities will officially commence on 1st June 2021 and are expected to take place over six months. They were kick-started with an online launch event in May showcasing the wide range of resources and information available from the GW4 team including communications support and funding advice. It was also an opportunity for the communities to hear more about each other and gain advice from previous award holders and successful research communities.
The projects received funding from our Generator Award Funding scheme, which replaced the previous Initiator and Accelerator Awards. It offers awards of up to £20K to support both existing communities planning to scale-up and achieve significant external funding, and new communities looking to establish their networks.
GW4’s existing research communities have a global reach and encompass a variety of research areas and disciplines, delivering outputs not possible as a single institution. Our existing research communities have influenced national policy, developed world-class facilities, provided the foundations for major research programmes and developed partnerships with over 200 external partners. For more information view our research community case studies.
