Ongoing activities
TREvolution
A programme of work building on the outputs of past DARE UK Driver Projects to advance research capabilities for public benefit.
Trusted Research Environments (TREs) in the UK are internationally renowned for the Five Safes framework, but their manual application processes and disclosure checks make it challenging for researchers to address current scientific and societal needs.
TREvolution, funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) as part of the DARE UK (Phase 2) Transformational Programme, launched in March 2025 to address these challenges, particularly those associated with data access, analysis, and research output checking across UK data infrastructures — secure environments where approved researchers can access sensitive data for research that serves the public interest, such as national public health studies and population-level surveys.
TREvolution aims to evolve initial versions of tools and standards developed as part of the DARE UK (Phase 1) Driver Projects under three main themes, making them fully interoperable and ready to use in UK TREs:
- TRE reference architecture and implementations: Standardising UK TRE architectures to enable seamless interoperability.
- AI and semi-automated output checking: Enhancing research output review processes to ensure non-disclosure of personal information.
- Federated analysis: Enabling secure analysis of datasets stored in multiple TREs located across the UK.
Through further funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), six DARE UK Early Adopters will work alongside the TREvolution team to test the advanced TRE capabilities in 10+ UK TREs and identify areas for further development.
Project information
- Funding: £6.20m (at 80% of full economic cost – £4.94m)
- Duration: 2.5 years
- Lead organisations: University of Dundee, University of Manchester, University of Nottingham, Swansea University and University of the West of England
- Partners/collaborators: NHS Scotland, Research Data Scotland, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, Durham University, Lancaster University, University College London, University of Queensland, University of Basel and University of Cape Town
- Contact email: enquiries@dareuk.org.uk
Project delivery team
Prof Phil Quinlan
Project Director
Prof Simon Thompson
Co-Director
Prof Jim Smith
Co-Director
Prof Carole Goble
Co-Director
Dr Stian Soiland-Reyes
Co-Director
Dr Chris Cole
Co-Director
GET IN TOUCH
If you’re interested in learning more about our work, how it can benefit you, or how to get involved, click the button to get in touch with us using our contact form.