Welcome to the GW4 Newsletter for July 2020: your regular digest of GW4 news, funding and development opportunities. To subscribe to the GW4 Newsletter click here.
Directors Update:
At the very start of this month the government published its Research and Development (R&D) Roadmap, setting out the UK’s vision and ambition for science, research, and innovation. We were pleased to see the importance of world-leading institutions, global talent and research, plus the necessity of a place-based strategy for research and innovation recognised in the roadmap. We welcome the government’s levelling up agenda and the central theme of place in order to re-balance R&D spending across the nation. Despite inequalities in funding, our region is home to considerable research strengths and assets. It was encouraging to see some of these referenced in the roadmap including marine innovation in the Western Gateway, the world’s first Compound Semiconductor Cluster in South Wales and our two Creative Clusters.
We also support the recognition shown to researchers and technicians. Their expertise is crucial to research and innovation in the UK reaching its full potential. We are proud to support our research talent across the Alliance, from doctoral students and early career researchers to academics and technicians. All four GW4 institutions are already signatories to the Technician Commitment and we have launched several schemes to enhance the career development of our GW4 Technicians. You can find out more about our latest scheme to support Technicians to become members of professional bodies and learned societies in the newsletter.
In other news, I am pleased to announce seed funding for five projects stemming from this year’s GW4 Crucible, exploring the theme of interdisciplinary approaches to antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Our GW4 Crucible programme is just one of the many ways we support our next generation of research leaders. I am excited to see how these projects develop over the coming months and look forward to sharing their successes and outputs with you in the future.
