The Great Western Research project empowers businesses in the South West with smart ways to be more competitive. It forms the bridge between businesses and the sort of focused, bespoke research collaboration that enables companies to vision a creative and innovative future for themselves.  
 
The RDA's co-funding of the initiative means that this kind of top-level research is now affordable to most businesses, mirroring the government's desire to equip British businesses with the means to compete on the world stage - means that are underpinned with intelligence, good design and leading-edge understanding of new sciences, technologies and processes.  
 
It's been the case for some time that the South West region cannot compete on cost alone, so it makes sense to concentrate on adding value through ideas, knowledge and technology. GWR enables this and by increasing the number of knowledge-based businesses with a culture of innovation, it will also help encourage investment into the region. 
 
Whereas other initiatives enable successful commercialisation of the outcomes of research, GWR's strength lies in generating initial ideas and the means to both explore and exploit them.  
 
GWR operates across 6 broad research themes - Information and Communication Technology, Creative Arts, Psychology, Sustainability, Materials and Applied Mathematics, and the case studies provided show how innovative and collaborative thinking is leading to extraordinary exploration within these areas. 
 
Reflecting the RDA's commitment to SW businesses, only those projects that demonstrate a clear benefit to the regional economy and only those businesses located in the South West will be entitled to this funding. 
 
For more information, please contact the Project Manager, Paul Hudson on 01392 269104 or p.s.hudson@exeter.ac.uk