GW4 LAUNCHES £20K FUNDING CALL FOR COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH

The GW4 Alliance has announced its latest funding opportunity for collaborative research communities across the four universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, and Exeter.

Now in its second year, the GW4 Generator Fund offers awards of up to £20K to support both the creation of new GW4 communities and the development of the strongest ideas emerging from our existing communities.

Dr Jane Khawaja, GW4 Director said: “Collaborative innovative research is at the heart of the GW4 Alliance, so we are delighted to be able to offer these funding opportunities. Our GW4 Building Communities Programme is designed to develop research communities of scale and capability, to deliver a step change in world-class research which could only be achieved through collaborative and interdisciplinary working across the institutions. I look forward to reviewing the high calibre of applications and further developing our research community.”

This is an open call and applications in all areas of research are invited. Applications from Early Career Research (ECR) communities are particularly welcome and supported. Projects with a focus on the Global Challenges Research Fund, the Industrial Challenge Strategy Fund and, new for this round, those with a Net Zero focus are also encouraged; however, funding is not limited to addressing these initiatives.

Generator funding can be used as a stand-alone award or, in conjunction with other sources of funding. Communities are also encouraged to use the Generator Fund as a step towards applying for external funding.

This funding call builds on the recent announcement that GW4’s return on investment in collaborative research communities is at its highest level since the GW4 Alliance was formally launched in 2014. To date, the GW4 Alliance has invested over £2.9m in 93 collaborative research communities, which have generated £46m in research income. This means that for every £1 GW4 spends on collaborative research communities, GW4 captures over £15 in external research awards.

Our existing research communities draw on complementary expertise across the institutions and work with over 250 external partners. They produce pioneering findings and influence policy in a variety of research areas from the gender pay gap to cancer research and mental wellbeing.

This call is open now and will close on 8 February 2021. It is anticipated that decisions will be made March 2021, with research projects expected to commence in June 2021.

Applicants can download application forms and access in-depth guidance on the GW4 Funding and Development Opportunities webpage.

If you have any queries, contact the GW4 Building Communities Manager by emailing communities@gw4.ac.uk.