Programme

This workshop will bring together colleagues from across ADR England, ADR Scotland and ADR Wales to inform the development of a coordinated, UK‑wide approach to training and capacity building (TCB) for the 2026–2031 period. The session will include an overview of TCB Strategy for 2026-31, which sets out the long‑term vision for strengthening researcher skills, supporting career development and enhancing the sustainability of administrative data research across the ADR UK partnership.

Building on this strategic framing, attendees will hear short contributions from nation teams on current approaches to training and collaboration. These inputs will highlight areas of strength, innovative practice and key challenges, helping to surface where shared priorities and opportunities for alignment already exist. By bringing these perspectives together, the workshop aims to create a clearer picture of the training landscape across ADR UK and identify where collective action could have the greatest impact.

A facilitated activity will enable participants to explore these issues more deeply. Attendees will consider practical models for cross‑nation collaboration, barriers that need to be addressed, and opportunities to design innovative training pathways.

The workshop will close with a synthesis of themes and a discussion of next steps, ensuring that insights gathered directly inform the development of a collaborative, innovative programme of training for 2026–2031.

Facilitators: 

• Dr Bogusia Wojciechowska, ADR UK Strategic Hub
• Svenja Strong, Scottish Government
• Dr Ting Wang, Datacise Open Learning

This workshop will introduce proposals for developing a Research Ready Data Asset (RRDA) that brings together key education data in Wales for secure, streamlined, and high‑value research use. The RRDA aims to reduce pre‑processing burdens for researchers. The session will outline the data sources that will go into the Wales education RRDA and the proposed structure. Participants will be encouraged to contribute perspectives on user needs, potential analytical value, and practical considerations for ensuring the RRDA is both robust and responsive to real‑world research demands. By the end of the session, potential users will have a clearer understanding of how the proposed data asset could enable richer, more efficient, and more timely evidence generation to inform education policy and practice in Wales.

Facilitator: Katy Huxley, Cardiff University

This participatory workshop, led by the ONS Research Services and Data Access (RSDA) team at the Secure Research Service (SRS), is aimed at sharing our practices around how we gather, digest and act upon user feedback within our organisations, including recognising our own staff as key users.  

We invite you to join a discussion around how we listen to and learn from our users. How can we maximise the use of positive and negative feedback, and draw on users’ needs to drive continuous improvement of our services? What do we do to let users know we are listening? And, are we transparent enough about what is working well, what is in the pipeline, and what we could be doing better?

We will run breakout group sessions to discuss these questions - and hopefully hear some valuable experiences and lessons learned from across our partnership organisations.  

Facilitators:

• Louise Corti, ONS RSDA team (SRS user feedback loop)
• Brogan Taylor, ONS RSDA team (SRS service improvement approach)
• Emma Atkinson, ONS RSDA team (SRS user comms around change)

Embedding lived experience in justice research

Since the launch of the Ministry of Justice Data First programme, there has been a concerted effort to incorporate lived experience, directly or through intermediary organisations, into ADR England crime and justice research. This presentation explores how meaningful public engagement has been embedded within ADR England research fellowships, highlighting case studies that demonstrate engagement with diverse and often underrepresented groups.

Presenter: Shayda Kashef, ADR UK Strategic Hub 

Engaging children and young people in data discussions

We carried out participatory work in a school in a relatively deprived town in Scotland. We spoke to young people aged 13-17 about data handling, consent, who has the right to (withhold) consent, gatekeeping, sharing data and how (best) to participate in research projects. We share our findings in this lightning talk.

Presenters: 

• Prof Morag Treanor, University of Glasgow
• Dr Robert Porter, University of Strathclyde
• Parisa Shirazi, Children in Scotland
• Abbey Stone, Children in Scotland

Enhancing data quality and usability – collaboration between data owners and researchers

This talk will illustrate the benefits of collaboration between data owners and researchers in providing advice on analysis and creating resources for the wider research community. This was achieved by a government analyst joining the research team for an new linked dataset.  This collaboration generated links between the data owners and the researchers,  shared code and will result in the production on a data explained document.

Presenter: Cecilia Macintyre, Scottish Government

Leveraging linked data to strengthen suicide prevention in Northern Ireland

Linking 2011 Census data with death registrations (Apr 2011–Sept 2022) provided a fuller understanding of the socioeconomic and household factors associated with deaths from suicide. The analysis highlighted clear male–female differences in risk profiles and identified several high‑risk groups, including males, people reporting poor mental health or disability, those with no qualifications or who are unemployed, residents of urban areas, and individuals living alone or in lone‑parent households. Ongoing engagement with policy leads ensured the findings supported government strategy and shaped future research priorities. The work also demonstrated the value of high‑quality linked data for generating actionable insights.

Presenter: John Hughes, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency

Communicating population data research online is essential, yet many working in the data space report that they lack the time, confidence, or tools to do it effectively. This interactive workshop introduces a simple, practical framework for translating research into clear, engaging digital content.

Focusing on three core elements — audience, message, and format — participants will work in small groups to turn a piece of research into a concise, audience-focused communication idea. Through facilitated discussion and rapid feedback, the session highlights how to simplify complex information without losing meaning.

Participants will leave with a practical approach they can apply to their own work, as well as a clearer understanding of what makes research content effective in digital spaces.

This session is a condensed version of a longer workshop that will be delivered at the International Population Data Linkage Network Conference 2026.

Facilitator: Eleanor Collard, ADR UK Strategic Hub 

This workshop explores how communities of practice can strengthen collaboration, knowledge exchange, and methodological innovation across the ADR UK partnership. Drawing on experiences from ADR UK’s training, capacity‑building, and researcher support initiatives, the session will examine how structured communities of practice can help researchers, data owners, and delivery teams work more effectively together in pursuit of public good outcomes.

The workshop will be co‑led by Dr Bogusia Wojciechowska (Senior Research Manager, ADR UK) and Dr Jamie Murphy (Professor of Psychology, Ulster University; Deputy Director of ADRC–Northern Ireland). Together, they will reflect on how cross‑disciplinary and cross‑institutional communities of practice have supported research quality, skills development, and more consistent approaches to using administrative data. They will also draw on lessons from ADR UK’s wider programme of capability‑building activities.

The participant activity will explore how researcher journey mapping and communities of practice can be used together to understand, support, and strengthen the researcher experience across the lifecycle of an administrative data project. Journey mapping provides a structured way for participants to visualise key stages, touchpoints, challenges, and emotional dynamics as they navigate research infrastructures, funding processes, training pathways, and institutional systems. Making these experiences visible helps identify where communities of practice are best placed to enhance researcher capability, improve research culture, and guide strategic investment in training and support.

By the end of the session, attendees will have co‑developed priorities and potential frameworks for strengthening communities of practice across the ADR UK landscape. These insights will inform future strategy development and contribute to a more connected, supportive, and impact‑driven research environment.

Facilitators: 

• Dr Bogusia Wojciechowska, ADR UK Strategic Hub
• Dr Jamie Murphy, Ulster University

This workshop will explore the role and value of Task and Finish (T&F) groups across the partnership, highlighting what has been achieved so far, what is currently underway, and how these focused groups can continue to drive meaningful progress. Task and Finish groups provide a practical, collaborative mechanism for addressing specific challenges, accelerating delivery, and bringing together expertise from across organisations to achieve tangible outcomes within defined timelines.

The session will showcase completed T&F work, including improvements to the smoothing of data ingest processes, scoping of UK-wide federated analyses, and enhanced approaches to data access. It will also provide updates on ongoing initiatives, such as streamlining application forms (now in final stages), the ADR UK Monitoring and Evaluation Framework with a focus on metrics improvement, and work to better measure and understand the data access journey.

Alongside sharing progress and lessons learned, the workshop will open up a broader conversation across the partnership about how Task and Finish groups can be used more effectively in the future. Participants will be invited to identify areas for further collaboration, and contribute ideas for new priorities or improvements that could strengthen the partnership’s collective impact.

The session aims to demonstrate the practical value of Task and Finish groups while creating space for open discussion, shared learning, and new ideas to support continued innovation and coordinated progress across the network.

Facilitators: Contributors from across ADR UK's Task and Finish groups

ADR UK Flagship Dataset Framework: Towards a shared understanding of dataset readiness across the partnership

ADR UK flagship datasets are a curated selection of research-ready administrative datasets for which ADR UK coordinates activity and provides targeted investment to maximise their research use and public value. The ADR UK Flagship Dataset Framework (FDF) provides a set of principles for identifying such datasets with the greatest potential research value to society. Each ADR UK partner is responsible for applying the FDF principles to develop flagship datasets as enduring research assets over the course of the investment. The UK-wide Data Readiness Task & Finish Group has been tasked with developing a shared understanding of flagship dataset readiness across the partnership using the FDF and new accompanying guidance materials, in time for our upcoming commissioning activities (PhDs, Research Fellowships).

Presenter: Dr Saba Mir, ADR UK Strategic Hub

Education insights: Evidence on learner pathways, attainment, subject choice and careers guidance in Wales

This talk will present key findings from the ADR Wales education and skills and employability research themes, highlighting how linked administrative data has been used to understand learner pathways, attainment patterns, and inequalities across the Welsh education system. We will showcase analyses explore educational pathways across a variety of characteristics, variation in outcomes across geography, subject choices and careers guidance.

Presenter: Katy Huxley, Cardiff University

From data to meaning: Co-producing administrative data research

This session explores the challenges and opportunities of co-production in administrative data research, drawing on recent ADR NI work with care experienced young people. It reflects on the potential of co-production for improving relevance and impact, and shares practical lessons for ADR UK partnerships.

Presenter: Dr Sarah McKenna, Queen's University Belfast

Igniting collaboration: Building partnerships for adult social care research 

ADR Scotland is excited to share how our recent Data with Impact: Adult Social Care event catalysed cross-sector collaboration. By bringing together academics, government analysts and policymakers around three newly available social care datasets, we sparked concrete research ideas that directly shaped the Scottish Government’s strategic planning for adult social care — contributing to the  development of its forthcoming Area of Research Interest (ARI). The momentum didn’t stop there: a policy fellowship has also emerged from the event, focused on advancing data linkage for social care policy priorities, and a new community of practice is now forming to strengthen ongoing collaboration. In this lightning talk, we’ll celebrate how one event kickstarted a growing movement in adult social care research, and what’s coming next in terms of sector collaboration.  

Presenters:

• Stephen O'Neill, Scottish Government
• Svenja Strong, Scottish Government