On 14 May 2026, Wellcome published its report on ‘UK Academic Mentoring: Best Practice, Principles and Behaviours’. This new resource focuses on the benefit of mentoring in research careers and was produced in collaboration between funders, researchers, practitioners, coaches and mentors.
The GW4 Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Alliance’s innovative cross-institutional mentorship scheme across the GW4 universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter, is highlighted in the report as an example of mentoring in practice to “meet specific regional and disciplinary need”.
Mentoring is a dynamic, two-way relationship that meets developmental needs. Like Wellcome, GW4 also recognises that in order to nurture future research leaders, we must equip them with the skills to meaningfully reflect on their own career development and how they mentor and develop others. Mentoring can have a wide impact. It can support individuals, influence teams, and shape research culture.
GW4 Alliance academics, Professor Neil Gow (University of Exeter) and Professor Marcus Manufo (at the time, the University of Bristol’s Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor of Research Culture and now Deputy Vice Chancellor at the University of Bath) were participants in the Wellcome-led workshop that brought a working group together to develop the framework.
The GW4 AMR Alliance’s scheme (piloted in 2025) provided out-of-line management mentoring across disciplinary and institutional boundaries, creating a confidential and neutral mentoring environment specifically designed to broaden support networks, strengthen confidence, and foster cross institutional collaboration in AMR research. The programme was supported by a dedicated working group, expert training in mentoring for both mentors and mentees, shared guidance materials, and a structured evaluation framework capturing both quantitative and qualitative data.
Prof Neil Gow, chair of the GW4 AMR Alliance cross-institutional mentorship scheme’s Working Group said “It is good to see the GW4 AMR Alliance mentoring network mentioned as an example of good practice in this report. One of the most helpful things we can do to support research careers is to be available to provide and receive out-of-line-management advice through an accessible mentoring scheme. It is so important to make time in our very busy careers of back-to-back engagements and meetings to have quality time to talk about challenges and opportunities that affect the quality of our everyday working lives, and to help plan effectively into the future”.
Professor Marcus Munafo, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost at the University of Bath, who was a participant at the workshop, said:
The Wellcome-led workshop was an opportunity to share examples of good mentoring practice, and develop guidance on embedding this - it was an honour and a pleasure to contribute to the work. I’m also delighted that the AMR Alliance scheme was highlighted as an example of good practice, and I know there are many more examples at Bath and the other GW4 institutions.
Dr Claire Spreadbury, GW4 Health and Wellbeing Manager and manager of the GW4 AMR Alliance commented:
It is gratifying to see our Working Group’s collective expertise in shaping and delivering our mentoring scheme acknowledged in this way
GW4 AMR Alliance brings together 300 investigators from across the four GW4 institutions and builds on the universities’ strong and diverse portfolio of AMR research, with a particular focus on tackling antimicrobial resistance through an interdisciplinary and One Health approach.
The report is a welcome addition to the wider engagement and focus on mentoring and research culture in academia which reflects GW4’s commitment to supporting the development of our early and mid-career researchers to strengthen research capacity, particularly for those working across research sectors to tackle complex challenges.
Wellcome is a global charitable foundation, which supports discovery research into life, health and wellbeing. Read the full Wellcome report.