We’ve funded a range of projects to guide our roadmap for the future

Towards a common data infrastructure for laboratory science

The Rosalind Franklin Institute and Henry Royce Institute are piloting a cross-institutional project to test an architecture that could provide federated data infrastructure for data acquire by instruments.

This approach allows universities and national institutes to share research data generated at their sites securely and collaboratively while retaining local control and governance – a critical step towards FAIR data (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable).

The project tests a decentralized system where institutions maintain their own data storage but connect via shared standards, enabling seamless access across multi-sites. This model supports cross-disciplinary science (from life sciences to materials), accelerates discoveries in health and technology, and strengthens the use of experimental data to train AI. Crucially, it addresses the challenge of fragmented data systems by developing a reusable blueprint for future national data platforms, ensuring efficiency, interoperability, and compliance.

The initiative directly enables data to be used as part of the UKRI DRI for example allowing analysis on UK High Performance Computing resources, paving the way for more connected, innovative, and impactful research.