GW4+ is one of 15 Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs) to benefit from NERC’s £100 million investment in training environmental science PhD students, announced by the Minister for Universities and Science, David Willetts. Together the funded DTPs will support 1,200 PhD students by offering postgraduate studentships and training across the full range of NERC’s disciplines, and in multidisciplinary environments.

GW4+ comprises the University of Bristol, the University of Exeter, Cardiff University, and the University of Bath, with over 30 partner institutions and companies including the British Antarctic Survey, the British Geological Survey, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, the Met Office, the Natural History Museum, BHP Billiton, the Food and Environment Research Agency, and Syngenta.

Under the programme, a minimum of 30 per cent of the students will work with non-academic partners. This is intended to provide students with the training experience they need to enter a wide range of careers.

More details of the new funding are available in the NERC press release.