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.
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).
Explore our communities
Featured Communities
Maritime Advancements through Research and Innovation in Powertrains and Power Systems (MARINPOWER)
STEM
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36 results found
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Forcibly Displaced Students in Higher Education
Development Award
Overview
This project will focus on the challenges faced by Forcibly Displaced Students (e.g. asylum seekers and refugees) around higher education, especially progressing from higher education into their chosen careers. The research community will conduct a literature review and hold a grant-writing retreat with the aim of applying for a large external grant to scale up their work in this area.
Community lead
University of Bath: Katharina Lenner
University of Bristol: Lisa Lucas
Cardiff University: Sin Yi Cheung
University of Exeter: Nick Gill (PI)
Awarded
January 2025
GW4 Nutriomics for Brain Health
Development Award
Overview
It is well known that poor nutrition may contribute to development of chronic diseases like ADHD, depression, bipolar disorder and other psychiatric diseases. The foods we eat play an important role in regulating many processes including brain development, mood and cognition. In other words, a healthy, balanced diet supports a healthy brain. This Development Award project aims to develop a world-leading research collaboration to explore the pathways between nutrition and mental health, by linking experts in genetics, epidemiology, and cellular neuroscience, with particular focus on the role of omega-3 fatty acids in psychiatric disorders.
Community lead
University of Bath: Tom Lancaster
University of Bristol: Rebecca Carnegie (PI), Carolina Borges, Nic Timpson
Cardiff University: Karolina Dec (PI), Jeremy Hall (PI)
University of Exeter: Nicholas Clifton
Awarded
January 2025
GW4 Epilepsy Community
Development Award
Overview
This project aims to develop a multi-disciplinary, cross-GW4 community to work at the cutting edge of researching, modelling, diagnosing, monitoring and treating epilepsy, using parallel human and fly genetics, electrophysiology, modelling and drug screens.
Community lead
University of Bath: Alain Nogaret
University of Bristol: James Hodge (PI), Sam Amin
Cardiff University: Jack Underwood
University of Exeter: Doretta Caramaschi
External partner: Susan Smith (UCL)
Awarded
February 2025
Fabrication and Testbed Network for Next-Generation Optical Brain Computer Interfacing – DA
Development Award
Overview
Creating prototype models 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 2025
South East Europe Research Network (SEERN)
Development Award
Overview
The South East Europe Research Network (SEERN) brings together GW4 researchers to foster interdisciplinary dialogue on legal, political, socioeconomic, and historical issues in South East Europe. By connecting expertise across the alliance, SEERN will support new research agendas, strengthen teaching, and build collaborative approaches to funding opportunities focused on this region.
Community lead
University of Bath: Theodoros Papadopoulos
University of Bristol: Elena B. Stavrevska (PI)
Cardiff University: Maja Davidović
University of Exeter: Ljubica Spaskovska
Awarded
July 2025
GW4 AI for Dementia Research Community
Development Award
Overview
This project aims to build an interdisciplinary dementia research community across GW4, bringing together experts and early career researchers in AI, data science, clinical practice, biology, and related fields. The goal is to foster new collaborations, develop shared research priorities, and generate innovative ideas. Through this networking, the group aims to position itself for external funding opportunities and establish a fresh, cross-disciplinary vision for advancing dementia research.
Community lead
University of Bath: George Stothart
University of Bristol: Qiang Liu (PI); Patrick Kehoe; Elizabeth Coulthard
Cardiff University: Valentina Escott-Price; Sofia Vougioukalou
University of Exeter: Anne Corbett; Chris Fox; Katie Lunnon; Jonathan Mill
Awarded
August 2025