If my institution signed an institutional agreement, how would researchers from my institution access the Researcher Workbench?
Under an institutional agreement, users affiliated with your institution would gain access using approved email domains. Upon completing the agreement, you will provide us a list of acceptable email domains that are allowed to access the Researcher Workbench. A researcher affiliated with your institution who has an email with an acceptable email domain will be able to proceed with creating their Researcher Workbench account.
Can my institution specify different acceptable email domains for the Registered and Controlled Tier?
Yes, your institution can establish different acceptable email domains for the Registered and Controlled Tier.
Can I add another acceptable email domain at a later time?
Yes, additional acceptable email domains can be added to your institution at any time. If you would like to add another acceptable email domain for your institution please reach out to aoudurasupport@vumc.org. In addition, if we receive a request from a researcher who is affiliated with your institution but does not have an acceptable email domain, we will contact you to ask if this domain should be added.
How do I know which researchers from my institution are using the Researcher Workbench?
Upon completing the institutional agreement, you will provide us with a monthly user report contact at your institution. This institutional contact will receive a monthly user report that shows the users from your institution who have access to the Registered and/or Controlled Tier (i.e., users who have completed all required registration steps). This monthly user report includes the user’s name, email, access tier, and details of the workspaces they have created in the Researcher Workbench.
How do we monitor researcher accounts under our institutional agreement?
As stated above, there is a regular user report sent to a designated contact at each institution. This designated contact will be able to review a list of users with access to the data and to request removal of users from the Researcher Workbench at an institutional level, as needed.
How long will setup in the Researcher Workbench take after the Agreement has been completed?
Once the agreement has been completed, your institution will be enabled in the Researcher Workbench within two business days. The researchers from your institution who requested access will receive an email notifying them they can now proceed with registration.
What registration steps do authorized data users need to complete to gain access to the All of Us Dataset?
The registration steps that each user must complete to become an Authorized Data User include completing the responsible conduct of research training, verifying their identity through Login.gov, and signing the Data User Code of Conduct.
What is included in the All of Us Responsible Conduct of Research Training?
Below is a brief overview of what is reviewed in our Responsible Conduct of Research training:
COURSE I: ALL OF US RESEARCH PROGRAM: Provides a general overview of the All of Us Research Program and the use of its data resources to educate researchers on key elements of data access and user requirements for scientific investigation.
COURSE II: RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT OF RESEARCH: Provides an overview of ethical requirements regarding the protection of human participants in research, research misconduct and behaviors that can compromise research integrity, and requirements for safeguarding All of Us Research Program data. Users will learn that studies of subpopulations or groups have the potential to be stigmatizing, whether these populations are defined by sex, gender, ethnicity, culture, disease status, tribal organization, or any other mechanism. This course will also explain to users that it is incumbent upon them to understand the populations and groups they choose to study well enough to identify topics and attributes that are potentially sensitive for that group.
COURSE III: RESEARCH SECURITY AND PRIVACY PROTECTIONS: Provides awareness training in understanding basic principles of data security and privacy statutes and recognizing national standards to protect individuals’ medical records and other personal health information, including electronic personal health information. This course will also provide awareness on requirements for and the importance of protecting All of Us data resources and participant data.
What project information is included in a workspace description?
When a user creates a workspace, they will be asked to provide information about the research project they intend to complete using the All of Us dataset. The dataset can only be accessed by creating a workspace. They will be asked to address the following questions in their workspace description.
- What is the primary purpose of your project?
- What are the specific scientific question(s) you intend to study, and why is the question important (i.e. relevant to science or public health)?
- What are the scientific approaches you plan to use for your study? Describe the datasets, research methods, and tools you will use to answer your scientific question(s).
- What are the anticipated findings from the study? How would your findings contribute to the body of scientific knowledge in the field?
- Will your study focus on any historically underrepresented populations?
These workspace descriptions are publicly available on our Research Projects Directory. In addition, all workspace descriptions are reviewed for stigmatization concerns when they are created.