When we carry out processing in pursuit of our purposes laid out in Article 93 of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017, in the most part, our lawful basis for processing your personal information falls under ‘public task’.
The processing is necessary for us to perform a task in the public interest or for our official functions, and the task or function has a clear basis in law. We also make use of contractual, legitimate, and consent-based processing.
The purposes for which we might process your personal information are outlined below, depending on your relationship with us.
Users of the UK Research and Innovation and council websites
We may collect and process the following information:
- information that you provide by filling in forms or surveys
- information in correspondence that you send us
- details of your visits to our website including, but not limited to, traffic data, location data, weblogs and other communication data, and the resources that you access
We may use personal data we collect to:
- ensure that our website content is presented in the most effective way for you
- provide you with information, products or services that you request from us or which we feel may interest you, where you have consented to be contacted for such purposes
- allow you to participate in interactive features of our service, when you choose to do so
- notify you about changes to our website or services
We do not generally provide any personal information about users of our website to third parties or other users. However, we may disclose your personal information to third parties if we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to:
- comply with any legal obligation
- enforce or apply our terms of use and other agreements
- protect the rights, property, or safety of UK Research and Innovation, or others
Members of our research and innovation communities
We capture and process personal information about members of our research and innovation communities on the basis of public task to:
- manage funding applications and awards
- alert you to funding opportunities
- operate the peer review process (including portfolio analysis)
- undertake portfolio analysis and support the evaluation of our strategy and policy to investigate the effectiveness of our programmes (this may include evaluations of equality, diversity and inclusion)
- undertake collection, monitoring and evaluation of research outcomes
- support participation in events and workshops (this may include surveys and collecting information on dietary and accessibility requirements)
- ensure our terms and conditions of funding are met, including audit and assurance processes, research integrity, misconduct processes and fraud prevention
- operate our complaints policy (research conduct)
- manage access to research services, data and facilities
- facilitate commercialisation and technology transfer
We may share your personal information with third parties where we need to engage with them for the purposes listed above.
Members of the UK Research and Innovation Board or council and peer review boards and committees
We capture and share personal information to manage governance processes for our public task.
Peer reviewers
We capture and share personal information of peer reviewers so you can participate in our public task. Information may also be used to report participation statistics.
Current or past employees, visiting workers, students or third party agency workers
We capture and process personal information using contractual, legal obligation, and legitimate interest as a lawful basis for the following reasons:
- recruitment
- equality and diversity
- personnel files
- rewards and benefits
- training and development
- management information
- pension scheme administration
- accidents, incidents and general health and safety at work
audit
- occupational health
- payroll
- non-pay staff benefits
- information systems management and delivery
- legal casework – grievances, disciplinary, and dismissal
We may share your personal information for the above purposes with:
- other government departments and regulatory bodies as a statutory requirement, such as:
- Information Commissioner’s Office
- HMRC
- BEIS
- business partners, such as:
- pensions
- insurers
- financial services
- medical
- UK SBS
- security checks
- recruitment agencies
- administration of non-pay staff benefits by the provider
Members of the public
We capture and process personal information using public task and/or consent as a lawful basis for the following reasons:
- communications and public engagement activities including surveys, events,
- newsletters, communications, websites and social media
- queries and complaints
- evaluation and recording
We may share your personal information for the following purposes:
- to send you information about our work
- to manage your attendance at meetings outside of our own sites
Suppliers
We capture and process personal information using contractual and legitimate interest as a lawful basis for the following reasons:
- site management (building access, car parking)
- health and safety
- dietary and accessibility requirements
- equality reporting
- service provision and management
Taking part in research
The general information below supplements the specific information you have already seen if you are taking part in research studies managed by research council institutes.
UKRI researchers capture and process personal information for the purposes of scientific research using public task as a lawful basis. Where researchers are using special categories of personal data (this includes data about for example your health, ethnicity, political opinions, and religious beliefs), the added condition of ‘necessary for scientific research in accordance with safeguards’ is used.
The research team undertaking the project will provide you with information on the types of personal data used in the study.
It is common for personal data for research to be kept for a long time, with periodical reviews on the need to keep it. The law allows for this. It is also common for research to be undertaken jointly with other research organisations. Data may be shared with other credible research teams in universities, commercial companies, and health or social service providers in the UK and abroad. Most of the time the data will be depersonalised so you won’t be identified. If it is personal, there are security, legal and ethical safeguards in place to protect your interests.
If you have any questions about the particular research study you are participating in, please use any contact details that have already been provided.
Children and young people
We may collect personal information about children and young people (such as name, school, age, and characteristics including dietary and/or disability details) to enable us to carry out our statutory role relating to education, promotion and public engagement.
We may also use that data to inform decisions about funding, future programmes, and monitoring and reporting of our activities. Such activities are all considered by UKRI to be in the substantial public interest and further to its statutory foundations using public task or consent as our lawful basis.
Where it is appropriate to do so, UKRI will request the consent of the child or young person or a responsible adult.
