The University provides two types of storage space for your research: personal space and shared spaces. Personal spaces are where you can store information that only you or named colleagues need to access. Shared spaces are where you can store information that needs to be made available to a team or group of collaborators.
For all staff and doctoral researchers, the University’s preferred personal storage space is OneDrive, and the University’s preferred shared storage space is SharePoint.
Storing your research in the University’s OneDrive and SharePoint spaces ensures that your research is automatically backed-up and recoverable. OneDrive and SharePoint are also compliant with the Data Protection Act 2018 (which incorporates the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)), so you should always use OneDrive and SharePoint to store any information that is personally identifiable or commercially sensitive, or which is classified as confidential or highly confidential
To help you identify which category your data and documents fall into, read our guidance on Information Categories (staff login to access).
To help you choose the appropriate storage option for your documents and data by information category, see Where to store your documents and data (staff login to access).
To find out how to set appropriate access restrictions by file and folder, read the guidance on sharing OneDrive files and folders.
There are certain types of research which require the University to provide an alternative storage solution or to provide further advice and guidance about the options available. For example, if you are conducting practice-based research, if you are using specialist software or formats, or if you have significant volumes of data that need to be stored and analysed. In these circumstances, log a ticket with the Service Desk outlining your requirements to access additional support.
OneDrive
Each staff member has 1TB personal storage with OneDrive. You can access OneDrive via the staff intranet, or by signing in at outlook.office365.com using [email protected] and your network password. From OneDrive you can create Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents, and share documents with internal (University) colleagues.
SharePoint
SharePoint is a shared storage space for information that needs to be accessible by colleagues and other staff members. From SharePoint, Schools, research groups and University research projects can create, store, and share Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents, and collaborate on documents with internal (University) colleagues. To request a SharePoint site for your Academic Unit or academic research project, complete the form ‘Application for a new site in SharePoint’ (staff login).
Sharing data with external collaborators
You can now share and collaborate on files with external colleagues at Trusted Partner organisations via OneDrive and SharePoint. Trusted Partners include every educational institution with a domain ending in 'ac.uk'.
If your collaborator is at a commercial or other type of organisation that does not fit into the 'ac.uk' environment, you'll need to create a request for Trusted Partner status to be allocated before you can invite your external partners to collaborate on documents. To find out how to complete a request for an organisation you work with regularly, see 'Trusted Partners – improving collaboration' (staff login).
More information
- University Data Protection guidance
- University guidance on Research ethics and for Research governance & ethics on the Virtual Research Environment (VRE) (staff login)
- Data protection and research data (Jisc)
- UK Data Service guidance on data security
- UK Data Service guide to good data storage
Contact us
For further advice and guidance, contact [email protected] or log a ticket with the Service Desk.