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
All-solid-state lithium-ion batteries with cellulose enhanced solid polymer electrolytes (ALLIANCE)
STEM
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Young people’s self-harm and suicidal behaviour: Developing qualitative research to understand the influence of context and culture
HASS
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Fabrication and Testbed Network for Next-Generation Optical Brain Computer Interfacing
STEM
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Physical, psychological and social factors influencing musculoskeletal injury and wellbeing in Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professional students
STEM
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178 results found
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Types
Plasticity & Robustness: Cellular Understanding of Plant Growth & Defence
Generator
Overview
This project will link the major developmental alterations caused by plant pathogens to the fundamental changes in cellular polarity that underpin all these responses.
Community lead
University of Bath: Kit Yates
University of Bristol: Alan Champneys
Cardiff University: Veronica Grieneisen (PI)
University of Exeter: Mike Deeks
Awarded
July 2020
SPIN (Secrecy, Power & Ignorance Research Network)
Generator
Overview
To promote new scholarship, dialogues, policy and improved governance by exploring and deepening understanding of the pervasiveness of secrecy and ignorance (the politics of knowledge (un)making) in contemporary social and political life.
Community lead
University of Bath: Brett Edwards
University of Bristol: Elspeth Van Veeren (PI)
Cardiff University: Claudia Hillebrand, Thomas Leahy
University of Exeter: Brian Rappert, Owen Thomas
Awarded
July 2020
GW4 Turning Network – Enhanced Interdisciplinary Collaborations to Build Capacity and Capability in Data Science an AI in the Region
Accelerator
Overview
This activity aimed to support the data science and AI collaborations in the GW4 region and extend the successful interactions with the Turing Institute.
Community lead
University of Bath: Andreas Kyprianou
University of Bristol: Kate Robson Brown (PI)
Cardiff University: Paul Harper, Irena Spasic, Jonathan Gillard
University of Exeter: Richard Everson
Awarded
September 2019
Building a Clinical Academic Training Community Across South West England and South Wales
Accelerator
Overview
By creating a vibrant cohort of young talented clinical academics across GW4 we will significantly enhance our collective abilities to translate our basic biomedical and population health research into an impact on patient care.
Community lead
University of Bristol: John Iredale (PI), Jeremy Tavare
Cardiff University: Paul Morgan
University of Exeter: Tamsin Ford
Awarded
May 2019
SHUSH! A Research Network on Suicide, Homicide and Self-Harm in Parent Carers
Initiator
Overview
SHuSH! is a network of researchers, carers, clinicians, and community organisations working together to develop and conduct world-leading research on suicide, homicide, and self-harm in parents caring for children with disabilities. The acronym SHuSH! reflects the silence that has, to-date, surrounded these issues in research, practice, and policy. Carers who are experiencing thoughts of suicide or homicide, are self-harming, or are otherwise in need of urgent support should contact The Samaritans on 116 123.
Community lead
University of Bath: Katie Maras, Paul Stallard
University of Bristol: Becky Mars, Lucy Biddle, Paul Moran
Cardiff University: Thomas Slater
University of Exeter: Siobhan O’Dwyer, Astrid Janssens (Co-PIs)
Awarded
March 2019
Circular Economy for Affordable, Low Carbon, Secondary Raw Materials
Initiator
Overview
The project focused on materials, processes, technologies and systems to enable up-cycling of industrial waste and agricultural co-products into valuable components, fostering circular economic solutions for sustainable building products.
Community lead
University of Bath: Pete Walker, Stephen Allen
University of Bristol: Steve Eichhorn, Rinat Nigmatullin
Cardiff University: Eshrar Latif, Marianna Marchesi
University of Exeter: Raffaele Vinai (PI), Matt Eames, Peter Hopkinson
Awarded
February 2019
Family Component of School Approaches to Promoting Mental Health
Initiator
Overview
We will form an interdisciplinary collaboration to develop an intervention to strengthen the family component of a Health Promoting School approach in secondary schools.
Community lead
University of Bath: Janet Goodall
University of Bristol: Judi Kidger
Cardiff University: Jeremy Segrott (PI)
University of Exeter: Katrina Wyatt
Awarded
February 2019
GW4 Nanoevade: Smart Design of Nanoparticle-Drugs to Evade the Immune Response
Initiator
Overview
This GW4 initiator grant brought together experts from different disciplines, ranging from nanoparticle chemistry & toxicity to mathematical modelling & immune system biology to address this complex problem.
Community lead
University of Bath: Karen Edler
University of Bristol: Ash Toye
Cardiff University: Mark Young, Riccardo Bonsignore, Andreia De Almeida
University of Exeter: Charlie Jeynes (PI), David Richards
Awarded
February 2019
The Imaging Arthritis Consortium
Initiator
Overview
The Imaging Arthritis Consortium leverages leading experience and facilities for musculoskeletal imaging that exist across the GW4 to promote new collaborations in the field of musculoskeletal imaging.
Community lead
University of Bath: Elise Pegg, Richie Gill
University of Bristol: Flossie Carpenter, Mike Whitehouse
Cardiff University: David Williams, Cathy Holt
University of Exeter: Ben Sherlock (PI)
Awarded
February 2019
Moving Through Motherhood
Initiator
Overview
The GW4 Moving Through Motherhood Community comprises researchers from different disciplines with a shared interest in supporting physical activity during pregnancy by establishing a regional multidiscipline and multisector network to steer research and resource development.
Community lead
University of Bath: Peter Rouse
University of Bristol: Charlie Foster
Cardiff University: Lucie Warren
University of Exeter: Richard Pulsford (PI), Victoria Salmon, Lauren Rogers
Awarded
February 2019