Phase 1 Sprint Exemplar Projects

The purpose of the projects was to uncover and test early thinking in the development of a joined-up and trustworthy national data research infrastructure. This is to support cross-domain analysis of sensitive data at scale for public good.

The Sprint Exemplar Projects developed potential use cases, demonstrated the technology and explored best practice for the governance, ethical and public engagement and involvement aspects of developing a more coordinated data research infrastructure. Each of the projects crossed different research sectors and UKRI research council remits.

The funding was awarded as a result of an open call for proposals which ran from September to November 2021. All applications received in response to the call – of which there were 25 in total – were assessed by an independent panel of experts, with the nine successful projects scoring highest in terms of excellence, novelty and diversity.

The Sprint Exemplar Projects ran for eight months from January to August 2022. A number of them focused on the development of a more coordinated network of trusted research environments for the UK. You can find out more about trusted research environments on the HDR UK (Health Data Research UK) website.

At the end of the delivery period, DARE UK assessed the activities and final outputs of the projects, including the Public Involvement and Engagement (PIE) components, and identified key learnings captured in the detailed reports below:

• DARE UK Phase 1 Sprint Exemplar Projects: Reflections and Lessons Learned

• Public Involvement and Engagement in Sensitive Data Research: Lessons Learned from the DARE UK Sprint Exemplar Projects

Learn more about the Sprint Exemplar Projects and access their final reports

• TREEHOOSE: Investigating the use of trusted research environment enclaves for hosting open, original science exploration, led by researchers at the University of Dundee

• PRiAM: Exploring privacy risk assessment methodology, led by researchers at the University of Southampton

• STEADFAST: Education outcomes in young people with diabetes – innovative involvement and governance to support public trust, led by researchers at Cardiff University and Diabetes UK

• Creating a federated, cloud-based trusted research environment to facilitate collaborative research between existing institutions, led by researchers at the Francis Crick Institute

• Overcoming technical and governance barriers to support innovation and interdisciplinary research in trusted research environments, led by researchers at the University of Edinburgh

• FED-NET: Creating the blueprint for a federated network of next generation, cross-council trusted research environments, led by researchers at University Hospitals Birmingham

• Multi-party trusted research environment federation: Establishing infrastructure for secure analysis across different clinical-genomic datasets, led by researchers at the University of Cambridge

• FAIR TREATMENT: Federated analytics and artificial intelligence research across trusted research environments for child and adolescent mental health, led by researchers at the University of Cambridge

• GRAIMatter: Guidelines and resources for artificial intelligence model access from trusted research environments, led by researchers at the University of Dundee