Research Data Scotland to contribute to new £6.2 million programme for sensitive data research

Awarded under the DARE UK (Phase 2) Transformational Programme, TREvolution is jointly led by five leading research institutions in the UK: the Universities of Dundee, Manchester, Nottingham, Swansea and West of England.

Along with Research Data Scotland (RDS) the programme of work will be delivered in collaboration with NHS Scotland, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, Durham University, Lancaster University, University College London, University of Queensland, University of Basel and University of Cape Town.

What is TREvolution about?

TREvolution will address challenges associated with enhancing data access and analysis within TREs – secure environments where approved researchers can access sensitive data for research to benefit the public, such as national public health and population-level surveys.

TREs in the UK are internationally renowned for establishing the Five Safes framework, but they have some limitations for researchers. The manual application processes and disclosure checks make it challenging to keep up with today’s scientific needs, like federated learning, analysis across sectors and research domains, and large-scale correlation studies.

TREvolution will address these challenges to evolve UK TRE capabilities across three themes:

• 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.

This project builds on existing work done by the delivery partners, with experience across the themes, as well as the DARE UK (Phase 1) Driver Projects, which developed initial versions of some of the key components of TREvolution.

RDS contributed to the DARE UK (Phase 1) Driver Projects by providing public engagement expertise for three of the five projects. For this project, RDS will provide communications and public engagement support.

DARE UK Interim Director, Professor Emily Jefferson, said: “TREvolution marks a step change in our efforts to transform the UK’s secure data research ecosystem. This important work will ensure that key capabilities—such as federated analysis and enhanced output checking supporting the training of AI models—are not just theoretical advancements but practical, real-world solutions that enhance the UK’s ability to do impactful research.

“We look forward to working closely with the TREvolution team to advance these innovations and drive meaningful progress in how sensitive data is accessed and used for the public good.”