Using the ‘Our Future Health’ data resource for research

- Funders: Medical Research Council (MRC) - Funding type: Other - Total fund: £1,000,000 - Opening date: 2026-03-23

This is a pilot scheme through which the Medical Research Council (MRC) will cover data access costs for eligible MRC-funded researchers. Data is accessed through Our Future Health.

Researchers should submit an expression of interest to MRC. Once MRC has confirmed eligibility, researchers must register with Our Future Health and submit their study application. Computation costs will not be covered, but nominal cloud credits are provided by Our Future Health.

Who can apply

You must be a researcher supported by MRC funding. This includes individuals based at MRC institutes and units.

We will accept expressions of interest from:

- researchers supported by an MRC grant

- researchers based at an MRC-funded institute or unit

- senior researchers on behalf of MRC-funded students or fellows, where the majority of the student or fellow’s project funding is from MRC

Our Future Health data is only available to access from specific countries and territories. If you are based outside the UK, check whether you would be able to access Our Future Health data.

Access to Our Future Health data is also subject to the Our Future Health Resource terms and conditions for research institutions, and Registered Researcher terms and conditions for individual registered researchers.

What we're looking for

Scope

The pilot scheme has a finite amount of funds to allocate. The scheme aims to encourage MRC-supported researchers to discover and test more effective ways to predict, detect and treat major diseases using the Our Future Health dataset, which reflects the diversity of the UK population.

Your proposed research should be within the MRC remit to improve human health.

Duration

We expect studies to be one to two years in duration.

Funding available

MRC will cover the data access costs incurred. Our Future Health computing is hosted on a third-party platform, DNAnexus. Researchers are responsible for covering the cost of compute services and are billed directly. To get up and running, Our Future Health offer a nominal amount in cloud credits to each study accessing the resource until at least 31 August 2027.

How to apply

This is a two stage process:

- Submit an expression of interest to MRC.

- If eligibility is confirmed, follow the application process on the Our Future Health website.

The expression of interest form (DOCX, 74KB) asks for your details, identifiers for your current MRC funding, a summary of your proposed research and short statements on how your proposal:

- aligns with your current MRC-funded research

- aligns with MRC research priorities

- will inform the development of ideas for future research

It also asks if you have previously applied to Our Future Health to access the data and, if so, the outcome of your application. Email the completed form to ofh@mrc.ukri.org

Sharing information

Some information submitted to the MRC via the expression of interest form will be shared with Our Future Health. Our Future Health will share with MRC:

- the outcome of the application process

- for approved studies, annual progress reports submitted to Our Future Health

Our Future Health may highlight to MRC any amendments to the study notified to Our Future Health after access has been approved. In addition, we may carry out spot checks to compare study applications to Our Future Health with the study plans described on the MRC expression of interest form, and therefore you should expect that Our Future Health will share this information with us.

For more information on how Our Future Health processes your personal data, read the Our Future Health General Privacy Notice

Process

We will accept expressions of interest on a rolling basis.

If eligible for the scheme, you will be notified and your eligibility will be confirmed with Our Future Health.

You should then register with Our Future Health and apply through the usual Our Future Health study application route. Our Future Health will notify you of their Access Board decision, and this information will be shared with MRC.

As this is a pilot scheme, the MRC and Our Future Health will work together to understand who is applying for data access and identify any operational pinch points.

Deadline

This funding opportunity is open with no closing date. However, as this is a pilot scheme, this will be kept under review and a closing date may be set depending on the volume of applications received.

How we will assess your application

Eligibility for the scheme will be checked initially with MRC, and you will be notified of the outcome. We anticipate that this will take no longer than four weeks. Subsequent researcher registration and application to access Our Future Health data will be managed by Our Future Health.

Through this pilot scheme, we seek to support a diverse range of studies from across the MRC community. We will regularly review the expressions of interest we receive. If we receive a high volume of interest from researchers at a single institution, from a restricted geographic area or focused on a narrow research area, we reserve the right to liaise with Our Future Health to prioritise the review of applications from outside these overrepresented areas.

Additional info

Background

Our Future Health aims to be the UK’s largest ever health research programme. It is designed to help everyone live longer and healthier lives through the discovery and testing of more effective approaches to prevention, earlier detection, and treatment of diseases.

Our Future Health is funded by an ambitious collaboration between the public, charity and private sectors. The organisation is supported by UK Research and Innovation, life sciences companies and disease-related charities.

Data available

The data available through Our Future Health is described on the Our Future Health website.

Publication of project summary

Summaries of all studies using Our Future Health data are published on the Health Data Research UK website. To see the list of the studies, go to the website and select ‘Data Uses’.

Supporting documents

Expression of interest form (DOCX, 74KB)