Skip to content

Our Communities

Our communities

The GW4 Building Communities Programme aims to build research and innovation communities of scale and capability, delivering a step change in world-class research that could not be achieved by one of the institutions alone. The Programme has two funding schemes:

  • The annual Generator Fund which awards GW4 communities up to £20K for 6 month projects (launched in 2020). This replaced the Initiator (up to £20K for 5 months) and Accelerator (up to £75K for 8 months) funding schemes, which ran from 2014 – 2019.
  • The Development Awards which support new, and advance existing, collaborations across GW4 by funding single activities or resources with up to £5K. This is a rolling scheme, with no closing date.

More details of both schemes, and how to apply, can be found at the links above.

Building Communities funding supports both the creation of new GW4 communities and the development of the strongest ideas emerging from our existing communities, and is open to any academic area. To date, the GW4 Alliance has invested over £3.4M in 125 collaborative research communities, which have generated £87M in research income. This means that for every £1 GW4 spends on collaborative research communities, GW4 captures an impressive £25 in external research awards.

 

Research integrity

The GW4 Alliance has adopted the Russell Group Research Integrity Statement of cooperation in cross-institutional research misconduct allegations, which aims to support the efforts of researcher communities to foster research integrity (also known as good practice in research or the responsible conduct of research).

Read the Statement

 


Explore our communities

All communities are listed below in date order (newest first), and can be searched using key words or fund type.
Our “Featured Communities” are from the most recent round of Generator funding.

178 results found
Sort Sort Date Newest
Funds
Types
GW4 Sustainable Finance Network
Development Award
Overview
The project will create a network of researchers from the disciplines of finance and environmental sciences, organising seminars and workshops, with the ultimate aim of shaping policy for the transition towards a sustainable economy.
Community lead
University of Bath: Dr Xiaohan Xue (PI); Dr. Chenchen Huang; Dr. Winifred Huang; Dr. Hanwen Sun; Dr. Ru Xie
University of Exeter: Dr. Wei Xin; Professor Chendi Zhang
Cardiff University: Dr. Onur Tosun; Professor Qingwei Wang
University of Bristol: Professor Neslihan Ozkan; Dr. Fangming Xu
Awarded
July 2024
Island of Ireland Contemporary History and Politics Network (IOI CHP)
Generator
Overview
Our mission is to provide a network for established, early career and PhD researchers in English, Scottish and Welsh universities who study Irish/Northern Irish contemporary history/and/or politics.
Community lead

University of Bath: Sophie Whiting, Jennifer Thomson
University of Bristol: Neil Matthews
Cardiff University: Thomas Leahy (PI), Giada Lagana, Jonathan Kirkup, Huw Bennett, Jessica Geoffroy, Daniel Chesse, Robbie Taylor
University of Exeter: Henry Jarrett

Awarded
June 2024
Reactionary Politics Research Network
Generator
Overview
This network will bring together scholars from across the Southwest to study and tackle the rise of exclusionary, authoritarian and reactionary politics.
Community lead

University of Bath: Aurelien Mondon (PI), Fran Amery, Sophie Hatzisavvidou
University of Bristol: Uygar Baspehlivan
Cardiff University: Emmy Eklundh
University of Exeter: Rebecca Yeo

Awarded
June 2024
Fabrication and Testbed Network for Next-Generation Optical Brain Computer Interfacing
Generator
Overview
Testing new materials that could be used for brain-computer interfacing.
Community lead

University of Bath: Hannah Leese
University of Bristol: Daniel Whitcomb (PI)
Cardiff University: Sam Shutts
University of Exeter: Tom Piers

Awarded
June 2024
Young people’s self-harm and suicidal behaviour: Developing qualitative research to understand the influence of context and culture
Generator
Overview
This collaborative project aims to address the global issue of self-harm and suicidal behaviours among young people by conducting qualitative research in Ghana, Brazil, and South Korea, emphasizing the influence of culture and context on intervention development.
Community lead

University of Bath: Sarah Halligan
University of Bristol: Lucy Biddle, Becky Mars, Bushra Farooq, Dee Knipe
Cardiff University: Faith Martin (PI), Rhiannon Evans
University of Exeter: Abby Russell

Awarded
June 2024
All-solid-state lithium-ion batteries with cellulose enhanced solid polymer electrolytes (ALLIANCE)
Generator
Overview
The ALLIANCE research team will endeavour to pioneer innovative solid electrolyte materials tailored for the advancement of next-generation all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries.
Community lead

University of Bath: Frank Marken, Andrew Rhead
University of Bristol: Steve Eichhorn
Cardiff University: Stefano Leoni, Bo Hou
University of Exeter: Zhenyu Zhang (PI), Xiaohong Li

Awarded
June 2024
Physical, psychological and social factors influencing musculoskeletal injury and wellbeing in Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professional students
Generator
Overview
This project aims to develop a survey for Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professional students to understand physical, psychological and social factors influencing musculoskeletal injury and wellbeing.
Community lead

University of Bath: Carly McKay
Cardiff University: Rebecca Hemming (PI)
University of Exeter: Richard Kyle

Awarded
June 2024
GW4 Men’s Mental Health Research Network
Development Award
Overview
The project will create a multi-disciplinary network of researchers in men's mental health to understand how to engage with men about their mental health and how best to study this group.
Community lead

University of Bath: Tom Barry (PI), Jeffrey Lambert, Edmund Keogh
University of Bristol: Myles Jay-Linton
Cardiff University: James Gregory, Paul Willis
University of Exeter: Christopher Begeny

Awarded
June 2024
GW4 Biopsychosocial Pain Network (BPN)
Generator
Overview
This community aims to bring together researchers across the GW4 who share an interest in understanding the neurobiology underpinning psychosocial risk factors and comorbidities in chronic pain.
Community lead

University of Bath: Emma Fisher, Laura Carter, Amanda Lillywhite
University of Bristol: Jim Dunham, Robert Drake
Cardiff University: George Tackley, Jennifer Davies
University of Exeter: Charlotte Lawrenson (PI), Jan Vollert, Sam Hughes

Awarded
June 2024
Universal Design for Learning: Supporting Inclusive Learning and Teaching for All
Development Award
Overview
This project aims to support educators at GW4 member institutions to improve their understanding of inclusive education and universal design for learning, leading to improved teaching and supervision approaches that recognise and celebrate diversity.
Community lead
University of Bath: Momna Hejmadi
University of Bristol: Emma Jenks, Dave Gatrell
Cardiff University: Ceri Morris
University of Exeter: Vrinda Nayak (PI), Rachel Griffiths
Awarded
May 2024
University of Bath
University of Bristol
Cardiff University
University of Exeter