Research Grant Privacy Policy

Ataxia UK's Research Grant Privacy Policy

Effective Date: 17 March 2026

1. Purpose of this Privacy Policy

Ataxia UK is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains how Ataxia UK collects, uses, and protects personal data in connection with research grant applications and grant-funded research projects.

If you have any requests concerning your personal information or any queries with regards to your data, please contact:

The Data Protection Lead

Ataxia UK
12 Broadbent Close
London
N6 5JW

Tel: 020 7582 1444
Email: office@ataxia.org.uk

2. What Personal Data We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:

• Name, title, institutional affiliation, job role
• Contact details (email, phone, address)
• CVs and career history
• Details of research proposals, including scientific and lay summaries
• Information on ethics approvals (where applicable)
• Financial and administrative data, including salary costs, expenditure details included in invoices, bank details for payment processing

3. How We Collect Your Data

• Directly from you when you submit a grant application or provide updates
• From your institution when they share details of funded researchers
• From publicly available sources (e.g., publications, institutional websites)

4. Purposes and Legal Bases for Processing

We process personal data for the following purposes:

• Grant administration and management
  Legal basis: Performance of a contract
• Scientific review and grant decision-making
  Legal basis: Legitimate interests – ensuring fair and transparent funding decisions
• Monitoring and reporting of grant applications
  Legal basis: Legitimate interests and compliance with legal obligations
• Publication and dissemination of research outcomes
  Legal basis: Legitimate interests – promoting research and transparency
• Compliance with legal and regulatory requirements
  Legal basis: Legal obligation

5. Who We Share Your Data With

We may share limited personal data with:

• Peer reviewers and members of our Scientific Advisory Committee
• Service providers (e.g., Researchfish, grant management platforms)
• Other relevant third parties (e.g., the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC), Elsevier (operators of Researchfish), CureDRPLA, and Digital Science Research & Solutions Inc. (DSRSI))
• Other funders (where co-funding applies)
• Regulatory bodies, where required by law
• Public disclosure on the Ataxia UK website: Information regarding your funded research, such as project title, lay summary, institution, award amount, and duration of research, may be published on our website. We will not publish personal contact details.

6. International Transfers

Whenever we transfer your personal data outside the UK (e.g., to service providers), we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with the GDPR. In particular, we rely on the UK’s adequacy decisions to transfer personal data to EU countries, and the UK’s approved contractual clauses to transfer personal data to CureDRPLA in the United States. Where we transfer personal data to peer reviewers, we rely on adequacy decisions, the UK’s approved contractual clauses and, in limited cases, on derogations where the transfer is necessary to meet public interests in carrying out scientific research.  If you would like any further information about these transfer mechanisms, please contact us using the details below.

7. How Long We Keep Your Data

We retain your personal data for different periods depending on the purpose we use it for. We retain personal data used for our financial records for seven years after payment, in order to comply with our legal obligations. We retain grant applications and related correspondence: until project completion, and for a further period, based on how long we need it to comply with research integrity and audit requirements, and for record-keeping to improve future research.

8. Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access your personal data
• Request correction or deletion
• Object to processing or request restriction
• Data portability (where applicable)
• Complain to the ICO (www.ico.org.uk)

To exercise any of these rights please contact our Data Protection Lead:

Email: office@ataxia.org.uk

Written enquiries: Ataxia UK, 12 Broadbent Close, London, N6 5JW

9. Changes To Our Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will be available on our website.

Download a PDF of this policy here.