Here’s a description of where you can find various pieces of researcher-facing information on the new website (launched 2025).
Please let the comms team know if there is any information missing from here on [email protected]
Overall aims
UK Biobank is in a different position to when we designed the current website in 2019/20. We now have the Community site to handle day-to-day information for UK Biobank researchers managing their projects, ‘freeing up’ the website to become more of a shopfront for the organisation to communicate with a range of audiences.
With regards to researchers, the website will focus on brand new researchers who are making decisions about whether UK Biobank will be useful in their research. The aim is to provide brief overviews of information on the site, with links through to relevant content in the researcher Community.
The feedback we received about the current site was that there was an overwhelming amount of information there, so we’ve tried to cut back on the volume of information and focus on clear language and journeys to other parts of the site/other websites.
About us
This section provides an overview of UK Biobank and the way in which we are set up with information on our future, our history, our funding etc.
Pages which might be of particular interest to researchers are under ‘How we work‘ which includes information on who can use UK Biobank data, ethics and regulation.
Find out who can use UK Biobank data, how we control access to the data, and the agreement that researchers make with us.
Learn more about our Ethics and Governance Framework and how we implement it at UK Biobank.
UK Biobank meets certain regulatory requirements. Find out more about them.
About our data
This section of the site is intended for new researchers and anyone else who is interested in the data we hold. For example, a researcher might use the ‘genetic data’ page as a jumping off point to Showcase or a participant may visit it to see which genetic data we have that they are part of.
Within the ‘About our data’ section, you can find overview stats about our participants to demonstrate how large the study is.
Learn more about the participants who provided their biological, health and lifestyle information to contribute to UK Biobank.
We have a new page which explains the types of samples UK Biobank holds and how they are stored.
Find out about the types of samples UK Biobank holds, how they are stored, and some of the exciting work being done with them.
The ‘About our data’ section also includes ‘Types of data’. This breaks down the data into its eight broad categories and is designed to provide an ‘At a glance’ view of what data UK Biobank has. If researchers would like further information, they can then click through to Showcase for the more technical details.
Our data can be broken down into eight broad categories. Learn about each of them.
We have a ‘data releases’ overview page so that new researchers can see that our dataset is continuing to grow. For more details, there is a clear jumping off point to the Community.
Our ongoing data releases provide updates to existing datasets as well as entirely new types of data, helping the resource grow in step with biomedical research and remain the most comprehensive of its kind.
Within ‘About our data’, we have a page which clearly outlines what we are doing to protect the data. This ensures all of this related information is easy to find.
We made an important commitment to our participants when they joined the study. Find out how we uphold this commitment.
Use our data
The ‘Use our data‘ section of the website is for researchers who are interested in using UK Biobank data. It is designed to provide an overview of the key information new researchers might need to pique their interest and demonstrate that the data is accessible (e.g. low fees, financial support). For more detailed information we direct researchers to the Community as a hub of learning.
The landing page for Use our data explains why researchers may want to choose us with some key facts and links through to other pages in the same section.
Our unique biomedical database is the largest, most detailed and most widely accessible of its kind.
Eligibility clearly outlines who can access the UK Biobank dataset and the responsibilities of approved researchers. The access procedures and copies of the MTA can be found here.
Learn more about who can access the UK Biobank dataset and the responsibilities of approved researchers.
The Research Analysis Platform page shares top-line information on what the UKB-RAP is and some of its benefits.
The UK Biobank Research Analysis Platform (UKB-RAP) enables researchers to securely access our large-scale biomedical database in ‘the cloud’ from anywhere in the world.
We now have an automated listing from AMS of the research projects using UK Biobank data.
Explore the research projects already approved to access UK Biobank data, including links to publications based on the projects.
There is clearly outlined information on fees to use the dataset which also links through to more details on financial support.
Learn about fees associated with accessing UK Biobank data, including financial support available.
UK Biobank is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to advancing global health research. To make our data as accessible as possible, we offer financial support through several funding programmes.
We point towards learning and training on this page:
Find out about learning and training to support your research on the UK Biobank Research Analysis Platform.
Researcher collaboration has information on how we work with the researcher community to improve the dataset, including listing all of our working groups.
Learn about events past and present, specifically for the UK Biobank researcher community, as well as opportunities to engage in UK Biobank’s work.
Apply for access has been stripped back to the key information that researchers need in order to apply. We clearly direct to Community for the fuller steps.
Find out how to apply for access to use UK Biobank data and begin making discoveries to improve human health.
Researcher policies and guidance
As mentioned, there was a huge amount of information on the old website, which now has new homes in relevant sections of the researcher Community (indeed, lots of it was already there). You’ll probably already be familiar with lots of the Community content, but if you’re looking for a specific piece of guidance, particularly around expectations on researchers, you’re likely to find it in this new listing of policies. (This link is also included in the Apply for access page.)
Discoveries and impact
We now have an automated listing from PubCrawl of all the publications connected to an application ID.
Explore the publications linked directly to UK Biobank approved projects.
We have also started producing research stories to demonstrate the impact being made with our data. While these are aimed at a general audience, we hope they will inspire researchers and allow new prospective researchers to see the potential of using UK Biobank data.
UK Biobank data is powering research across scientific disciplines and across the globe. Read a selection of stories about how healthcare is being changed by discoveries made with our participants’ data.