About GW4


From the creative arts to the physical sciences, the GW4 Alliance brings together world-leading scholarship, infrastructure and expertise

Our collaborative research communities address major global challenges and provide innovative solutions aligned to the Industrial Strategy. We are attracting the brightest and the best researchers to build a highly skilled workforce, strengthening our regional economy and addressing the UK’s productivity challenge. We connect our universities with major businesses, decision makers and local communities to champion research and innovation for the Great West.

Benefits for students in a GW4 studentship

If you choose to do your PhD at the universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff or Exeter, you will be part of a globally competitive research network: the GW4 Alliance.

GW4 offers a variety of benefits to postgraduate research students registered at any of its four institutions, including access to a collaborative research network, expert training opportunities and shared resources (e.g. GW4 Treasures and shared equipment).

You can network with senior academics and postgraduate researchers across the South West England and South East Wales region to develop research that competes on the world stage.

Research and development skills

GW4 run a series of doctoral skills training events and resources, exploring the opportunities and challenges of collaborative research.

Postgraduate research students benefit from access to skills training and resources from across the four institutions.

What Students say about GW4 Doctoral Training Entities

“(I have) been able to perform and learn techniques at other universities that I wouldn’t be able to perform here until perhaps the end of my PhD. I managed to learn this technique from an expert in the field”

“My supervisors are split across institutions and their collaboration (which was set up specifically for this project) is essential for my multidisciplinary project. I have also been able to network with other students and researchers, which has given me ideas about my project”

“Being part of the GW4, I can take advantage of training opportunities across 4 institutions”

“The groups I work with have different areas of expertise, and each of them gives me different insights/another perspective on my research. Also, through these collaborations I’ve gained access to data I normally wouldn’t have, and I’ve been able to attend different meetings/workshops/courses that I normally wouldn’t have been able to attend”.

“It gives flexibility. But it also means that we have combinations of supervisors that provide us with excellent supervision. It also gives us an insight into how the PhD process might differ across institutions”.

[Youtube]

Comments are closed.