Welcome to the GW4 newsletter for February 2022: your regular digest of GW4 news, funding and development opportunities. To subscribe to the GW4 Newsletter click here.
GW4 Alliance Director Update:
Collaboration is at the heart of the GW4 Alliance and so I was thrilled that we were able to bring our 2022 GW4 Crucible cohort together at Lab 1 this month – our first in-person event of the year. We spent two days in a very wet and windy Cardiff, where our early career researchers explored working in interdisciplinary and collaborative ways on mental health and wellbeing research. The weather certainly didn’t dampen any spirits – I was highly impressed by our participants’ enthusiasm and dedication to the programme, and look forward to seeing their growth over the next six months.
On the theme of collaboration, I was delighted to attend a House of Lords reception for the Western Gateway STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production) Fusion bid at Severn Edge – a proposal to bring the UK’s first prototype fusion plant to the area. GW4 Board member Professor Phil Taylor, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise at the University of Bristol, delivered one of the opening addresses in which he highlighted the expertise GW4 universities can bring to support this bid. The strength of the university sector was also raised by the Western Gateway Chair and Members of Parliament addressing the audience. I have given our full support to this proposal. It offers an unprecedented opportunity to engage with a unique breath of skills and research capacity within GW4, particularly with our focus on net zero and climate change, and also signifies a critical innovation opportunity for achieving clean growth in our region.
GW4 has also submitted a response to the Nurse Review following an invitation for views. We hope the value of university alliances and our critical part in the UK research, development and innovation landscape are recognised as a result of our submission.
Find out more about our current news, events and opportunities in this month’s newsletter.
