Completed Public Health & Healthcare Food & Agriculture

University of St Andrews 2022 - 2026 ADR UK Programme

Funder ESRC (part of UKRI)
Recipient organisation University of St Andrews
Funding £1.3M
Period Mar 2022 — Mar 2026

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

A network of secure, standardised data rooms is being rolled out across the UK to give researchers from any institution equal access to sensitive government and health data. The problem is straightforward: much of the UK’s most valuable data—on health, education, crime, or social services—is held by government agencies and can only be analysed inside physically secure rooms. Researchers at smaller universities, or those without travel budgets, have been effectively locked out. The SafePod Network solves this by installing identical secure booths (SafePods) at universities nationwide, so a researcher in Aberdeen can analyse the same data as one in London without travelling hundreds of miles. If the network succeeds, the quantity and diversity of public-benefit research should increase significantly. More researchers will apply to use restricted data, and more data centres will share their holdings knowing a standardised secure setting exists. The practical impact could be better-informed policy on housing, health inequalities, policing, or education—decisions that quietly shape how public money is spent and how services are delivered. The project does not generate new data itself; it removes a logistical barrier that has kept good research from happening.

View original technical description
The SafePod Network (SPN) is a major new research innovation created to significantly improve access to data for public benefit research through the provision of standardised safe settings (SafePods) across the UK. The major objectives of the SPN are to: 1. Significantly improve the quantity and diversity of public benefit research by providing researchers with equitable and secure access to data through the provision of a network of standardised safe settings (SafePods and SafeSpaces) across the UK; 2. Improve and widen the sharing of data for public benefit research by raising awareness and advocating the work of the SPN with data centres in the UK; and 3. Provide clear information and sign posting for researchers to be able to understand how to access data for public benefit research from all safe settings across the UK. The introduction of the SafePod Network will overcome many barriers that have prohibited researchers from undertaking important public benefit research, including those of limited access, time and cost (typically caused by long travel to the required safe setting). By providing improved access to data through the SPN it is expected that applications for data will increase. As a result, it is anticipated that the quantity and diversity of public benefit research in the UK is likely to be significantly increased.

View the original record at the funder ↗

Researchers

Christopher Dibben (Co-Investigator)Darren Lightfoot (Principal Investigator)

Related Research

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SafePod Network
Cell Block Science
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University of Edinburgh 2022-2026 ADR UK Programme

Original classification

Research Grant

Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.