GW4 Alliance Launch

Tonight I spoke on behalf of the four Vice-Chancellors at the launch of the GW4 Alliance, which we held at the House of Commons. The Alliance brings together the combined strengths of the universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter and gives us the critical mass to succeed in an increasingly competitive and research-intensive environment. The launch, kindly hosted by Baroness Randerson, was extremely successful and a credit to our staff who put on an extremely professional event. It was attended by the Secretary of State for Wales, Stephen Crabb MP, along with representatives from industry, business, academia, charitable organisations and the public sector.  It was particularly gratifying to see so many of the Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) students present. These students represent an early indication of the success of GW4 and I was delighted that they were able to join us. Iain Gray, Chief Executive of Innovate UK (formerly the Technology Strategy Board), officially launched the Alliance with an inspirational and supportive speech. What all the VCs agree on is that the strength of GW4 lies in the support it has received throughout all four universities, and I’m very grateful to everybody at Cardiff who has contributed. We now look forward to the Welsh launch of GW4, which will take place at the end of November at the Wales Millennium Centre .

For a full report on the event please  see http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/articles/universities-collaboration-celebrated-13722.html