Welcome to the GW4 Newsletter: your digest of GW4 news, funding and development opportunities.
Director's Update:
Over the past few months, I’ve had the pleasure of spending time with colleagues across all four GW4 universities, as well as connecting with many of our regional partners. These visits reinforce the strength and ambition of our alliance.
A particular highlight was chairing a regional Research & Innovation roundtable in February at IAAPS, based at the Bath and Bristol Science Park. Bringing together local MPs, policymakers, business leaders and academics sparked a rich conversation about how we can unlock and accelerate our regional growth ambitions by working more strategically together. This was the final session of regional policy engagement in partnership with Wellcome, with activities also organised during the autumn at Cardiff University and the University of Exeter.
I was also delighted to tour GW4 Isambard 3 and the University of Bristol–led Isambard-AI, two of the UK’s most powerful supercomputers. Just a few weeks later, I attended the 2026 Isambard Summit, where I heard first-hand about the ground-breaking research these systems are already enabling. The scale and diversity of the work underway is truly inspiring, and a fantastic showcase of what collaboration makes possible.
Another highlight was joining the first lab of this year’s GW4 Crucible. Meeting such an engaged, imaginative, and inquisitive cohort was wonderful. One of the greatest strengths of the programme is the way it champions interdisciplinary thinking and sparks new collaborations across the alliance. This year marks the 10th anniversary of GW4 Crucible and you can find out more about that and much more in the newsletter.
I am also looking forward to attending the GW4 Open Research Prize Awards ceremony on 22 April, as part of GW4 Open Research Week. Further details on this and other activities are in the full newsletter.
Read the full April 2026 newsletter here.
With best wishes,
Melanie Knetsch
GW4 Alliance Director
