The application period for our Sprint Exemplar Projects closed on Thursday 11 November. We were delighted to receive 24 applications from a host of institutions across the UK.

As part of Phase 1 of DARE UK, we are running a programme of Sprint Exemplar Projects to uncover and test early thinking in the development of a national, federated network of trusted research environments (TREs).

A series of projects will develop potential use cases and technical proof of concepts, and will explore the governance, ethical and public engagement and involvement aspects of developing the next generation of digital research infrastructure based on trustworthiness, security, and interoperability.

Applications were invited in three broad areas: driver use cases based on real-example scientific problems; technology demonstrators that improve data discovery, metadata management, and software development; and establishing best practice for information governance, ethics, standards, training and career development and public involvement, to enable the secure use of sensitive data in research.

In the next stage of the process, our expert Panel will review all applications and invite a number to move to the interview stage at the end of November. Successful projects will then be announced, and projects will begin in early January 2022.

Find out more about our programme of Sprint Exemplar Projects.