Choosing a Trusted Research Environment (TRE)
Airwave research datasets are currently available at three TREs:
- Airwave Enclave, which operates within the CSRE, our internal TRE.
- DPUK Data Portal; and,
- UK LLC | UK Longitudinal Linkage Collaboration.
You need to decide which of these options will best serve your project, and your application will then be made using the relevant TRE's process. The following is background on each of these options which may help you make your choice.
Please note that if you need to use linked NHS health records, the researcher accessing those data must be physically located in the United Kingdom at the time of access. This applies regardless of TRE.
If you would like to discuss these options further before applying, please get in touch with us.
Airwave Enclave
Most sub-studies based at Imperial College use the Airwave Enclave. Datasets are made available here before they appear elsewhere, and they include some still in development / beta-test. Although designed primarily for staff and students of the University, external research partners can in certain circumstances access the Enclave. They will need to apply for an honorary or contingent appointment and meet the same safe-researcher conditions as regular members of staff. Data is generally available in pseudonymised form, which allows linkage to the biological sample collection. We may need to make an access / usage charge for use of the Enclave.
DPUK
Our relationship with DPUK began in 2017, and since then most of our external research studies have been conducted at DPUK. Most of the datasets available at the Enclave are also available here, and in the same pseudonymised form. Datasets includes flat-form (row and column) data as well as more complex forms such as genetic and metabolomic assays. In general, any data originated by us can be uploaded to DPUK. However, linked NHS health records are not available because of restrictions imposed by our Data Sharing Agreement with NHS.
UK LLC
Starting in 2026, we are now committed to making all our datasets available at UK LLC. Crucially, this TRE also has access to linked NHS health data, as well as other valuable resources such as environmental data. Although we have not yet converted all our datasets and metadata into LLC’s standard format, if the dataset you are interested in is not currently advertised on UK LLC, please get in touch with us to inquire when this is scheduled to be completed. The one caveat about LLC is that datasets are anonymised rather than pseudonymised. As such, linkage to biological samples (blood, urine, DNA) is not currently possible.
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