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The Evidence-based Curation Skills for Sensitive Data project, one of our fellow UKRI Digital Research Infrastructure projects led by HDR UK with partners across the sector, has published its first major outputs: the Sensitive Data Curation Skills Report and an accompanying set of Key Recommendations for Stakeholders. Both are openly available on Zenodo, and we wanted to highlight the findings here because they speak directly to a challenge that cuts across the whole DRI community: how do we build a workforce whose skills keep pace with the infrastructure they support?

A quick look at what the project found, what it is doing next, and how you can get involved.

Why this matters now

The use of sensitive data in research is expanding rapidly, driven by the growth of secure data infrastructures such as Trusted Research Environments (TREs) and Secure Data Environments (SDEs), and by increasingly complex governance requirements. These developments enable more powerful and responsible data use, but they are also reshaping the skills needed to work effectively in this space.

The project was set up to identify current and emerging curation skills needs, examine how training is being delivered across organisations, and support the development of more coherent and scalable approaches to workforce capability.

A fragmented but rapidly developing skills landscape

One of the clearest findings is that skills development in TREs is both rapidly evolving and highly uneven. There is significant innovation in practice across TREs, research organisations and data service teams, but this is not matched by a consistent or shared understanding of the competencies required.

Training provision is often developed locally, shaped by institutional needs, tools or governance structures. While this keeps it relevant within individual organisations, it leads to fragmentation across the wider ecosystem. Individuals entering the field can struggle to identify clear development pathways, and organisations find it difficult to benchmark capability or design transferable training frameworks.

The report notes that this matters more and more as TREs and federated data systems become interconnected, where mobility of skills and a shared understanding are becoming essential.

Priority skill gaps

Despite the variability, the project identified several cross-cutting capability areas that appear consistently across roles curating sensitive data:

  • TRE literacy
  • Knowledge of legal obligations
  • Ability to structure data curation work so that it is reproducible and transparent
  • Knowledge of specific datasets
  • Domain knowledge
  • Ability to apply statistical analysis using available software tools and packages

These are not discrete competencies. Effective practice typically requires a combination of technical understanding, contextual judgement, and strong communication across institutional and disciplinary boundaries.

The case for shared frameworks

A key recommendation is the development of more coherent, shared frameworks for defining and articulating skills in sensitive data curation. At present, the absence of a common language and structure makes it difficult to map skills across roles or institutions, which limits both individual career progression and organisational workforce planning. It also constrains the scalability of training, as materials repeatedly need adapting to local contexts.

A shared framework would provide a common reference point for capability development, helping individuals navigate career pathways and enabling organisations to design more consistent and interoperable training provision across the TRE ecosystem. This chimes with other work in the DRI landscape on skills frameworks for research technical professionals, such as the DIRECT Framework.

From evidence to curriculum

These findings are now directly informing the next phase of the project: the development of a TRE literacy curriculum and a Train-the-Trainer model.

A key lesson from the research has been the value of iterative co-production. Early focus group work showed that engaging experts during curriculum development, rather than only at the point of delivery, significantly improves relevance and usability. The team are also looking at how training can be scaled and sustained beyond the funded project period, including Train-the-Trainer sessions across TREs, in-person delivery where it improves accessibility and uptake, and an online version of the training via digital platforms such as HDR UK Futures so that materials can be reused and adapted by the wider community.

Calls to action

The Key Recommendations document sets out what different parts of the community can do. In brief:

Training providers and skills organisations

  • Develop training aligned to the priority skill gaps
  • Engage practitioners in design and delivery
  • Strengthen skills frameworks with more granular detail

TRE/SDE/Safe Haven operators and host organisations

  • Align skills frameworks, role expectations and training standards for sensitive data curation
  • Strengthen staff access to formal training opportunities across career stages
  • Recognise sensitive data curation as a technical skill in roles and career pathways

Funders

  • Continue to invest in workforce and capability development
  • Enable coordination of training across organisations
  • Embed expectations for protected development time

Data and information governance bodies

  • Support the interpretation of legal obligations (including and beyond GDPR) as a core component of data curation
  • Promote consistent governance frameworks across sensitive data environments
  • Formalise skills within governance standards

Data curators and professional communities

  • Contribute to defining and articulating core skills and competencies
  • Continue to strengthen communities of practice
  • Advocate for the recognition of sensitive data curation as a professional skillset

Find out more

If you work with sensitive data in a TRE or SDE, the project team are keen to hear from practitioners as the curriculum develops, so do take a look at the reports and get in touch with them via the project page.