WELSH GOVERNMENT

Their core work

The Welsh Government is the devolved public authority responsible for policy-making in Wales, including research and innovation strategy, energy transition, and rural development. In the H2020 context, it acts as a policy body that funds and shapes research capacity building across Welsh universities and industry, particularly through fellowship programmes and international researcher mobility. It also contributes regional policy expertise to European consortia tackling energy transition in coal-dependent regions and forest-based bioeconomy development.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2015-2016), the Welsh Government focused squarely on building Welsh research excellence — international fellowships, researcher careers, university-industry links, and public engagement with science. By the later period (2017-2019), their focus shifted toward applied regional challenges: energy transition in coal-intensive areas, industrial roadmaps, forestry innovation, and economic re-skilling. This mirrors Wales's real-world policy shift from pure research capacity building toward addressing post-industrial economic transformation.

Moving from research capacity building toward applied policy for industrial transition and green economy — expect future interest in just transition, regional innovation ecosystems, and bioeconomy.

How they like to work

The Welsh Government predominantly participates rather than leads — coordinating only 1 of 5 projects, though that one (SIRCIW) was by far their largest at EUR 9.6M. They engage in broad European consortia, connecting with 87 unique partners across 33 countries, which reflects their role as a policy body bringing regional governance perspective to large multi-country initiatives. They are a connector rather than a technical executor.

Remarkably wide network for a regional government: 87 unique partners across 33 countries, largely built through SIRCIW's international fellowship programme and participation in pan-European policy coordination projects.

What sets them apart

As a devolved national government, the Welsh Government brings direct policy-making authority and regional funding mechanisms to consortia — something universities and research institutes cannot offer. Their experience managing the SIRCIW programme (EUR 9.6M for researcher mobility) demonstrates capacity to handle large-scale coordination. For consortia needing a public authority partner with genuine decision-making power over regional R&I strategy, they are a credible and experienced choice.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SIRCIW
  Their flagship project: EUR 9.6M MSCA-COFUND as coordinator, the largest single investment in Welsh international research capacity, running 7 years.
• TRACER
  Directly relevant to Wales's coal heritage — smart strategies for economic transition in coal-intensive regions, combining energy, skills, and industrial policy.