Early Career Researcher Network: data-sharing principles of the Early Career Researcher Network

The British Academy, in partnership with the Wolfson Foundation has been piloting an Early Career Researcher Network ('network') for Early Career Researchers in the humanities and social sciences. Following the success of the pilot phase, the Network will now continue for the next three years to Autumn 2027.

The Academy aims for the network to be a researcher-led, inclusive humanities and social sciences network, accessible to all researchers regardless of their funding source or background. This will ultimately be a UK-wide network tailored to researchers at postdoctoral level in the humanities and social sciences disciplines.

The network will be responsive to the needs and interests of the researchers and enable the British Academy to support a greater number of researchers in their career ambitions, through skills development, networking opportunities, workshops and events.

Who is involved?

The British Academy will be working in partnership with institutions in these regions to successfully deliver the network.

Where this is a grouping of institutions within a region, there make a ‘Cluster', which is two to four institutions that will assist the Academy in successfully delivering the network.

What is the purpose of the data-sharing principles?

This webpage describes the guiding principles that all institutions and hubs align to when collaborating in the network with network members' personal data.

The UK Data Protection Act and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ('data protection legislation') govern the processing of individuals' personal data by organisations across the UK including the Academy, institutions and Clusters.

The data protection legislation is based on a series of principles and obligations, this document is used to explain them to Network members in the interests of transparency.

Types of data

The data required to manage membership to the network consists of contact details, academic qualifications and Academy awards and employment details.

Reasons for data sharing

Some of the data provided will be shared with the institution that the network member is part of (if applicable) and may also be shared with the cluster assisting the delivery of the network in that region.

Data is shared for the following purposes:

• For the institution to monitor network membership and take up; and
• For the institution and/or Cluster to communicate with network members directly about news and events that are relevant to network membership and interests

The data that will be shared for these purposes will simply consist of network members' contact details, institution name and department.

Data will never be shared with any third parties outside of the Academy, institutions and Cluster, all of which are within the UK.

Member institutions' privacy policies

Below are links to the list of institutions and Clusters. Each is classed as a data controller under data protection legislation:

Midlands and Mid Wales

• University of Nottingham (lead)
• Coventry University (co-lead)
• University of Lincoln (co-lead)
• Aberystwyth University
• Aston University
• Birmingham City University
• De Montfort University
• Keele University
• Loughborough University
• Nottingham Trent University
• University of Birmingham
• University of Derby
• University of Leicester
• University of Northampton
• University of Staffordshire
• University of Warwick
• University of Wolverhampton
• University of Worcester

South West and South Wales

• University of Exeter (lead)
• Bath Spa University (co-lead)
• Bournemouth University
• Cardiff Metropolitan University
• Cardiff University
• University of Bath
• University of Bristol
• University of Gloucestershire
• University of Plymouth
• University of the West of England (UWE)
• University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Scotland

• University of Stirling (co-lead)
• University of Glasgow (co-lead)
• Abertay University
• Edinburgh Napier University
• Glasgow Caledonian University
• Glasgow School of Art
• Heriot-Watt University
• National Galleries of Scotland
• Queen Margaret University
• Robert Gordon University
• Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
• Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC)
• Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities
• Scottish Graduate School for Social Sciences
• University of St Andrews
• University of Aberdeen
• University of Dundee
• University of Edinburgh
• University of Strathclyde
• University of the Highlands and Islands
• University of the West of Scotland

London

• King's College London (lead)
• Middlesex University London (lead)
• University College London (lead)
• University of Greenwich (lead)
• Birkbeck, University of London
• The British Film Institute
• Brunel University London
• Christian Aid
• The Courtauld Institute of Art
• Goldsmiths, University of London
• The Institute for Fiscal Studies
• Kingston University
• London South Bank University
• The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
• London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)
• Northeastern University London
• Queen Mary, University of London
• Rose Bruford College
• The Royal Academy of Music
• The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
• Royal Holloway, University of London
• School of Advanced Studies, University of London
• SOAS, University of London
• University of East London
• University of the Arts London (UAL)
• University of Westminster
• The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A)
• University of West London
• The Wiener Holocaust Library

North West and North Wales

• University of Lancaster (lead)
• University of Manchester (co-lead)
• Manchester Metropolitan University (co-lead)
• Liverpool Hope University
• Liverpool John Moores University
• University of Central Lancashire
• University of Chester
• University of Cumbria
• University of Liverpool
• University of Salford

North East and Northern Ireland

• Queen's University Belfast (lead)
• Durham University (co-lead)
• Northumbria University (co-lead)
• Arts Council of Northern Ireland
• National Museums NI
• Newcastle University
• Ulster University
• University Sunderland

The Academy, institutions and clusters process and share data based on the following data protection principles:

Purpose – the purpose for processing and sharing personal data is to operationally manage membership of the network, keep network members informed of network developments, communicate for network-related events and news and to monitor the membership take-up at the Academy and locally at institutions.

Data minimisation – data collected is limited to only what is needed for the purpose defined above.

Accuracy – data is kept as accurate as possible and updated where it is found to be inaccurate.

Storage limitation – data will be retained for only as long as necessary to fulfil the purpose of the processing.

Security – the security of personal data is the primary principle when processing personal data and sharing it. Data will always be protected using passwords and encryption where possible and access limited to only those who are authorised to see it.

Where a Network member has a concern or query about data privacy, they should contact the Data Protection Officer at the British Academy directly at: [email protected].