Cardiff University-led training partnership receives major funding boost
8 July 2021
A doctoral training partnership led by Cardiff University has received a major funding boost from the Medical Research Council (MRC).
The funding will support 64 studentships over three years from 2022 within the GW4 Alliance of Cardiff, Bath, Bristol and Exeter universities.
The GW4 BioMed2 MRC Doctoral Training Partnership will train postgraduate research students in three main areas: neuroscience and mental health; infection, immunity, antimicrobial resistance and repair; and population health sciences.
It is part of a £79m investment by the MRC to support doctoral training for the next three years.
GW4 BioMed MRC DTP Director, Professor Colin Dayan, from Cardiff University’s School of Medicine, said: “This confirms the close working relationships that our postgraduate communities have developed over the last six years and the increasing national reputation of our programme. With a community of over 750 potential supervisors and nine industrial partners, we will be able to offer an outstanding training experience for our students.’
GW4 Director Dr Jo Jenkinson said: “Our GW4 institutions host over 30 externally funded Doctoral Training Centres and Partnerships, offering students access to the combined research strengths, training expertise and resources of four world-leading research-intensive universities, Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter.
“By working together across the alliance, we provide exceptional research opportunities for our students, and give them the skills required to tackle some of the most difficult societal challenges.”
Professor Fiona Watt, Executive Chair of the MRC, said: “Our new awards are student-centred, setting out to increase the diversity of individuals pursing research careers and providing opportunities for students to widen their horizons during and post-PhD.”
The GW4 BioMed1 partnership has provided unique training for future research leaders for the past six years. This new award will see the GW4 BioMed MRC DTP continue in its second phase for a further three years, with the first intake of the new studentships in October 2022.
The call for projects proposals for the this first intake will be launched on Monday 12 July. Details of how to apply can be found on the DTP’s website www.gw4biomed.ac.uk or by emailing the DTP Hub at gw4biomed@cardiff.ac.uk.