Thirteen academics from the University of Bristol have taken part in the first South West Crucible, a development programme that brought together some of the most promising research leaders from across the region.

Over three intensive, two-day residential workshops – 13-14 February, 13-14 March and 10-11 April – 30 delegates took part in a range of creative activities, including ‘speed collaboration’: a new twist on speed dating that gave each participant just three minutes to discuss how they could work collaboratively with each of the other 29 delegates.

‘It was great to step outside the boundaries of traditional research and into the realms of creativity,’ said one Bristol participant. ‘The workshop showed us how these concepts can be integrated into ideas we might have otherwise not considered.’

The Crucible was organised by the Universities of Bristol, Bath and the West of England (UWE) to equip researchers working in a diverse range of disciplines – everything from Archaeology to Aerospace Engineering – with the skills they need to take their research a step further.

The delegates received support from leaders from all three participating universities. Professor Guy Orpen (Pro-vice Chancellor of Research, University of Bristol), Professor Jane Millar (Pro-vice Chancellor of Research, University of Bath) and Professor Paul Gough (Deputy Vice-Chancellor, UWE) attended the programme and each gave an inspiring short talk on how they viewed leadership.

As well as receiving advice from guest speakers and taking part in activities to encourage leadership and collaboration, delegates took part in wide-ranging discussion on topics such as policy engagement, creativity and innovation as well as knowledge transfer and media engagement.