Access to the Secure Lab
Information about how registered users can apply for access to Controlled data via the UK Data Service Secure Lab.
Access to the Secure Lab is available to researchers who can fulfil the access requirements for the data required:
- The purpose of your use/project must be to serve the 'public good'.
- Access must be from within the UK.
- For ONS data: researchers must be an ONS Accredited Researcher, and details on how to apply for this status will be provided during the application process. Further details are available from: ONS Approved Researcher Scheme
- For non-government data: selected studies require researchers to be based at a UK academic institution or an ESRC-funded research centre, and be an ESRC Accredited Researcher. PhD and research students can request access but will need to apply jointly with their supervisors. We do have some studies that are available to all researchers who can meet the conditions of access. Refer to the 'Access' tab for each study in the Data Catalogue for details of any access restrictions.
- SN 6676 can be accessed by German researchers via the IAB RDC, Nuremberg, but the other conditions of access for this study still apply.
For further information and details about our security philosophy and software available, see Secure Lab: How it works and our 5 Safes animation explaining the process.
Access to our Office for National Statistics datasets is restricted to ONS Accredited Researchers under the Statistics and Registration Services Act of 2007.
Access to our non-government data is restricted to ESRC Accredited Researchers.
To apply for access to Controlled data via the Secure Lab:
- You need to be registered with the UK Data Service. See our Registration pages for details
- Add the required dataset(s) to your account, then to a registered project, or create a new project
- Within the project, click the 'Request access' button and the actions required to gain access will be displayed
- Click 'Complete actions' and details for each action step will be shown
- Click each action in turn and follow the instructions on the screen
- Download and complete any forms that are required. Note: the information you will need to provide will depend on the data you are requesting access to, but all users must be able to supply a static routable IP address
- Complete a User Agreement which must be signed by you and your organisation before access can be given to the Secure Lab. Note: if we already have a completed form from you this step will be marked as complete
- Return the completed forms to secure.applications@ukdataservice.ac.uk and your request will be processed
Please note that the application process can take some time - from a few weeks to three months, before access is granted.
If your project has additional researchers please refer to Team projects for information on how to add researchers to your project.
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