Research participants

The Privacy Notice for Research Participants should be read in conjunction with the University’s overall Privacy Notice and the Participant Information Sheet/Consent Form (PIS) which you will have been provided with by the researchers involved in the project you are participating in. If you have not been provided with a PIS or have mislaid it, please get in touch with your contact at the University to request a copy.

This section of the Privacy Notice applies to individuals who have agreed to take part in a research project involving researchers at the University of Stirling.

Sources of Data

The way the University obtains your personal data will be different for each research project. Some common methods of obtaining personal data include activities such as interviews, questionnaires, surveys, focus groups or monitoring. The circumstances for your research project will be explained in your PIS.

What Personal Data we process about you

Details of your personal data processed as part of the research project will be explained in your PIS.

Purpose of Processing

The University will use your personal data to help achieve the objectives of the research project you are participating in. Further information about the project background, how your personal data will be used and the benefits of the research are included in your PIS.

Lawful Basis for Processing Your Personal Data

Unless stated otherwise in your PIS, the lawful basis the University uses to process your personal data will be public interest/the official authority of the University (Article 6(1)(e) of UK GDPR). The University’s Charter and Statutes give the University official authority to carry out certain functions including undertaking research.

If the research project includes the processing of special category data such as health data, racial or ethnic origin, data concerning your sex life or sexual orientation etc. the lawful basis for processing this special category data will be that it is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes (Article 9(2)(j) of UK GDPR). If an alternative lawful basis under Article 9 is used, this will be specified in your PIS.

Sharing your personal data with other bodies

Research is often carried out in collaboration with other external organisations such as other Universities and research organisations. Where this is the case the details of the other organisations involved in the research project will be specified in your PIS.

The University will sometimes have to use third party organisations to help with the processing of your data.  For instance, this could be an external transcriber or the provider of specialist software. Where a third-party processor is used this will be specified in your PIS. The University will always have an appropriate contract in place with organisations processing your personal data which ensures that they are processing your data securely and in accordance with data protection laws. 

Retention of your personal data

The length of time your personal data is held will vary depending on the research project and may be influenced by the requirements of the research funder. Details will be specified in your PIS. 

Contact information for research participants

If you have any further questions about how your personal data will be processed as part of the research project, please get in touch with the research project contact you have been given, details should be in your PIS. If this is not possible queries can be addressed to researchdatamanagement@stir.ac.uk.