“Publicly funded research data are a public good, (...), which should be made openly available with as few restrictions as possible in a timely and responsible manner (...).”

Detailed guidance on this policy is available here.

AHRC do not have their own data policy, and instead share the UKRI common prinicples on data sharing. The new AHRC Funding Guide  was published in Jan 2019

The AHRC require Data Management Plans to be submitted in grant applications, replacing the old Technical Plans.

Any applicants who consider that the data arising from their proposal will not be suitable for sharing must provide clear reasons for not making it available.

Investigators carrying out research involving human participants must ensure that consent for data sharing is obtained from participants; research data should be anonymised prior to sharing.

Research data should be available for sharing for a minimum period of five years from the end of a research grant.

CRUK also issued a list of FAQ on data sharing.

We have also invited JCRUK to discuss their data sharing requirements with researchers at Cambridge. We have published blog posts summarising these discussions:

• Charities' perspective on data management and sharing
• Questions and answers

Since 2017, all Horizon 2020 projects are part of the Open Research Data Pilot by default. The Principal Investigator must: 
•    Develop a data management plan in the first 6 months of the project and keep it up-to-date throughout their project;
•    Deposit their research data in a suitable research data repository;
•    Make sure third parties can freely access, mine, exploit, reproduce and disseminate their data; 
•    Make clear what tools will be needed to use the raw data to validate research results, or provide the tools themselves.

ERC beneficiaries are encouraged to take part in the H2020 Open Research Data Pilot, but this is not compulsory.

Those who take part in the Open Research Data Pilot must adhere to the obligations outlined above.

EPSRC has the strictest policy on research data sharing. We have prepared separate, dedicated guidelines to help you achieve compliance with the EPSRC expectations.

Additionally, please have a look at our list of FAQ, which was developed in consultation with researchers at the University of Cambridge, and with Ben Ryan from the EPSRC.

As a result of our discussions with Ben Ryan we have also published a blog post clarifying EPSRC policy on data management and sharing.

Research data has to be deposited within three months of the end of the award. ESRC UK Data Service (UKDS) is the approved data repository for ESRC-funded research.

Where a delay in dissemination of deposited data is needed to allow grant holders to publish their research findings, an embargo period can be applied to the data.

Researchers have to consider legal, ethical and commercial constraints on release of research data at the initiation of the research process and throughout both the research and data life cycles, which shall be described in the data management plan.

The ESRC refers researchers to these pages for information on obtaining a proper consent for data collection from human participants.

The MRC expects valuable data arising from MRC-funded research to be made available to the scientific community with as few restrictions as possible so as to maximize the value of the data for research and for eventual patient and public benefit. Such data must be shared in a timely and responsible manner.

Grant holders shall review and update their data management plans annually. MRC also provides a detailed guideline on dealing with personal data in medical research.

Applicants are also expected to submit a data management plan together with the grant proposal. For more information on MRC's requirements for data management plans read here.

Data generated through participation of patients and the public should be put to maximum use by the research community and, whenever possible, translated to deliver patient benefit.

In addition, the final report should include a statement with a clear and positive indication of where and when the data will be shared.

"Data resulting from publicly funded research should be made publicly available after a limited period, unless there are specific reasons (e.g. legislation, ethical, privacy and security) why this should not happen."

Research data supporting publications should be made available within 6 months of the publication date.

Research data should be retained for at least 10 years from the completion of the project.

"For data that by their nature cannot be re-measured (e.g. earth observations), effort should be made to retain them ‘in perpetuity’"

"As a minimum, the data underpinning research papers should be made available to other researchers at the time of publication, as well as any original software that is required to view datasets or to replicate analyses. Where research data relates to public health emergencies, researchers must share quality-assured interim and final data as rapidly and widely as possible, and in advance of journal publication. 

Anyone applying for Wellcome funding must consider their approach to managing and sharing anticipated outputs at the research proposal stage. In cases where these outputs are significant – generating data, software or materials that will hold clear value as a resource for others in academia or industry – applicants will need to include an outputs management plan explaining their planned approach. We will review this plan when making our funding decision. We will fund any justified costs for delivering the plan as part of funding the research."

We have also invited the Wellcome Trust to discuss their data sharing requirements with researchers at Cambridge. We have published blog posts summarising these discussions:

• Charities' perspective on data management and sharing
• Questions and answers