A Data Agreement is required whenever a UCSF Investigator sends or receives any kind of data, including clinical, patient, or research data. Once a data agreement is executed, there are multiple ways to securely share research data with your external collaborators.
Services
- Research Analysis Environment (RAE) is the preferred solution for research data sharing. It is designed to support studies that involve non-UCSF collaborators and can be used to share P1-P4 data with external collaborators.
- UCSF Box can be used to share P1-P3 data with external collaborators. PHI must be stored in Secure Box, which restricts external sharing.
- Secure email can be used to share sensitive data to non-UCSF collaborators. This method works well for one-time transfers. However, it is not good for ongoing collaboration or file storage.
- If your collaborator needs access to UCSF resources, you can sponsor your collaborators as affiliates, providing them with their own UCSF identities and credentials as if they were UCSF employees. To start the process, contact your department's HR Representative, then contact them and ask how to sponsor an affiliate.
Directions
- Submit a Material/Data Transfer Request Form (MDTRF) to initiate and execute a data agreement with your collaborator.
- Determine the minimum data necessary to be shared with your external collaborator.
- Share your research data using a secure data sharing method, based on your use case.
- Remember to remove your collaborator's access when no longer needed.
Support
If you need help determining the best way to share data with an external collaborator, or require a different way to share data, contact the IT Customer Solutions Management team: [email protected].