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v2026.1CASRAI Dictionary 714 entries across 20 domains · CC-BY 4.0714 entries · CC-BY 4.0

Dictionary termTrack BStablev2026.2

Trusted research environment

A secure computing environment — typically delivered as a remote-access workspace with controlled inbound/outbound data flows — that allows accredited researchers to analyse sensitive data in situ without exporting the data, supporting privacy-preserving secondary research use.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board

· Last updated 21 May 2026

Examples

Worked examples

Is an instance
OpenSAFELY analysing NHS England primary-care data in situ across millions of patient records.
Is an instance
SAIL Databank at Swansea University as a long-established TRE for Welsh population data.

Counter-examples

Looks similar, but isn't

Not an instance
A standard remote desktop with no disclosure controls is not a TRE.
Not an instance
A researcher's laptop with downloaded data is the opposite of a TRE.

Editorial commentary

TREs implement a 'bring the analysis to the data' model, originally articulated by the Office for National Statistics' Secure Research Service and now widely adopted (NHS England Sub-National Secure Data Environments; SAIL Databank; The Health Informatics Centre at the University of Dundee; OpenSAFELY). Researchers connect to a controlled environment, run analyses against the data, and only aggregated, disclosure-controlled outputs leave the environment. Operationalisation of TREs typically aligns to the Five Safes framework. Standards work is underway through the Goldacre Review recommendations, the UK Health Data Research Alliance's Green Paper on TREs, and DARE UK.

References

Goldacre B., 'Better, broader, safer: using health data for research and analysis' (UK Department of Health and Social Care, 2022). Lea N.C. et al., 'Trustworthy use of patient data: an international comparative ethnography of trusted research environments', Nature Medicine 30, 2024.

Also known as

TRE · Secure Data Environment · SDE · Data Safe Haven

Machine-readable encodings

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element

xml

<role vocab="credit"
      vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
      vocab-term="Trusted research environment"
      vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/trusted-research-environment" />

Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)

json

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "DefinedTerm",
  "name": "Trusted research environment",
  "identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/trusted-research-environment",
  "description": "A secure computing environment — typically delivered as a remote-access workspace with controlled inbound/outbound data flows — that allows accredited researchers to analyse sensitive data in situ without exporting the data, supporting privacy-preserving secondary research use.",
  "inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/research-data-infrastructure/",
  "url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/trusted-research-environment",
  "sameAs": [
    "TRE",
    "Secure Data Environment",
    "SDE",
    "Data Safe Haven"
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}

Referenced across the research world

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