GW4 2017 Highlights

2017 saw the launch of the new GW4 vision, shared research facilities, new collaborations and doctoral training programmes. 

We kicked off 2017 with the launch of the South West England and South East Wales Science and Innovation Audit in the House of Commons.

Professor Dame Glynis Breakwell addresses MPs, fellow Vice-Chancellors and industry leaders at Westminster launch

We brought together PhD students, academic staff and non-academic partners to discuss the value of doctoral training across GW4, and how we are building a highly skilled workforce for the Great West. 

2017 was a stellar year for GW4's high performance computing initiative, Isambard. The project was shortlisted in the category of 'Technological Innovation of the Year' at the Times Higher Education Awards, held its first hackathon and unveiled its latest performance data at an international supercomputing conference in Denver, USA. 

"The GW4 Isambard project aims to deliver the world's first Arm-based, production-quality HPC service. Ease of use, robustness, and performance, are all critical for a production service, and our early experiences are very promising."

Professor Simon McIntosh-Smith, University of Bristol
Isambard Hackathon, 'Raising Steam', held at Cray Inc's headquarters in Bristol

We launched the GW4 Facility for High-Resolution Electron Cryo-Microscopy this year (with the first ever GW4 cake!)

2017 was the inaugural year of GW4 Crucible, which aims to develop GW4 researchers as leaders and collaborators. 30 researchers from our four universities came together to develop personal and professional skills, and catalyse new research ideas.

"GW4 Crucible encourages us to get to know others' strengths as well as our own, to trust others, and to think creatively about how, by working together, we can achieve great things. By sharing our experiences and skills...we become more equipped to lead others."

Dr Lucy Selman, University of Bristol
GW4 Crucible 2017 cohort

We sponsored Insider Media's 'Great West Industry' breakfast, which brought together businesses, higher education institutions and local government representatives to discuss our regional strengths. 

"It was fantastic to see the way the member institutions of GW4 work together and collaborate closely with business. Wales and the West of England has innovation at its heart, with clusters of excellence in neuroscience, compound semiconductors and digital technologies. These are the kind of sectors that the UK needs to nurture as we enter the fourth industrial revolution."

Dr Ruth McKernan OBE, Chief Executive, Innovate UK
Dr Ruth McKernan OBE presents at Great West Research and Innovation Day

In 2017, we added another doctoral training entity to our strong portfolio. GW4, alongside partners Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and British Geological Survey, received £2m from NERC to establish the UK's first centre for doctoral training dedicated to "freshwater bioscience and sustainability".

The GW4 China Careers Fairs attracted a record number of graduates, and employers including Abercrombie & Fitch, IBM, Bosch and PWC. 

Graduates and recruiters at this year's GW4 China Careers Fairs
"The GW4 award was critical in establishing this collaboration between researchers with clear synergy and complementarity, leading to the development of two important research strands and the development of papers and grants."

Dr Enrico Da Como, University of Bath

A highlight of the GW4 calendar is the annual GW4 doctoral event, which focused this year on 'Creativity and Teamwork'. We spoke to some of the PhD students involved, to find out why this event was so valuable in terms of networking and personal development.

"For every £1 GW4 spends on collaborative research communities, we capture £11.73 in external research awards. And that figure is growing as communities develop and create more opportunities for further joint funding bids and new partnerships."

Professor Nick Talbot, University of Exeter

The Great West Research and Innovation Day provided an unique opportunity to showcase GW4 collaborations in research, doctoral training and equipment. 

Dr Sarah Perkins, GW4 Director, and David Sweeney, Executive Chief Designate of Research England

This year we published the GW4 Bridging the Gap report, based on a year-long research project funded by AHRC to explore collaborative research in the arts and humanities in South West England and South East Wales.

Image from Cardiff University's Traces/Olion project

...and we had a lot of fun along the way! Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the success of GW4 this year. Here's to 2018!