ASCEND Process

Overview

A Statement of Community Engagement and Needs for Digital Research Infrastructure (ASCEND) 

What is it?  

This initiative provides an opportunity for the UK’s research and innovation communities to inform UKRI of their needs regarding Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI), thereby informing the DRI Programme’s future actions such as investments, opportunities and policies. This is a key engagement activity that complements the DRI Programme’s strategy and seeks to capture both urgent and long-term requirements in a way that complements the sector and capability-specific outreach efforts led by individual UKRI Councils.  

Desired outcomes 

• Identifies gaps: It helps us identify gaps in the current and forthcoming infrastructure, both in capacity as well as in our outreach, access and awareness efforts. 

• Connects actors: It informs us of potential partnerships, opportunities and ongoing projects where our resources could be effectively utilised. It can also promote collaboration among actors (through joint submissions). 

• Informs programme development: It supports us in prioritising our resources and exploring new opportunities. 

• Supports new strategies: It provides evidence for developing new strategies to improve research infrastructure. 

Funding 

No direct funding is available through this activity. A successful outcome may inform a future funding opportunity. 

ASCEND Process 

The Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI) Programme’s vision is a coherent state-of-the-art national digital research infrastructure that aims to seamlessly connect researchers, policymakers and innovators to the computers, data, tools, techniques and skills that underpin the most ambitious and creative research. We work closely with the research councils and the wider research community to provide essential resources that underpin the UK's research excellence. Click here for more information. 

UKRI recognises the breadth of technologies, communities and processes that make up DRI, as well as the complexity associated with ensuring that UK researchers and innovators have access to efficient digital tools that match their needs. We want to hear about your pressing or future needs relating to DRI. 

These could be needs relating to: 

• new capabilities, tools and techniques 

• current capabilities, tools and techniques that need support to be maintained, documented, benchmarked towards improvements, or updated 

• current or new capabilities that need capacity building (e.g. training) for the community to be taking full advantage of them  

• current capabilities, tools and techniques  that could be better reused or repurposed across sectors  

What we are looking for 

The DRI Programme periodically reviews its investment portfolio and strategy and is considering what projects, facilities and systems will be included in the next phases of the Programme.  

This is an opportunity to inform the DRI Programme about capabilities, tools and techniques related to DRI needed to support research over the next five to ten years. This might include, but is not limited to, facilities, capabilities, programmes and other resources across the areas covered by the DRI Programme; compute, data, software, skills and foundational tools.  

Statements of need submitted to this activity should be related to one or more of the key priorities of the programme:  

• Interconnected DRI: Enabling transformative research and innovation through collaboration that delivers a strong economy and effective public services. 

• Human DRI: Ensuring that we maximise the opportunities to digitalise research and innovation by supporting highly skilled DRI professionals. 

• FAIR DRI: Enabling the UK’s researchers and innovators to contribute to an open, accessible, and collaborative digital research landscape. 

• Sustainable DRI: Building a resilient and environmentally responsible federated national resource that enhances the productivity of researchers and innovators while minimizing its environmental impact and ensuring the security of research data and infrastructure. 

The statement must show the strength and breadth of need for a capability or action for UK digital research communities, and how this will contribute to the Programme’s priorities. 

UKRI values equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) across all its funding programmes, and actively encourages ideas from diverse groups of researchers. 

What we’ll do 

Submissions will be reviewed by a group of external DRI experts as identified by UKRI and its constituent Councils who will make recommendations to the DRI Programme. Submissions will be appraised according to the priorities of the DRI Programme. The recommendations will be used to inform future actions of the DRI programme. 

If the recommendation informs the development of a funding opportunity, then this will be conducted in a transparent and open manner in accordance with UKRI’s standards. There will be no advantage to the authors of the original submission. Ordinarily this will be through an open competitive process and submitters should therefore be aware that information submitted through this process may be disclosed for the purpose of enabling the competitive process.  

Respondents will be notified of the recommendations of the working group within 2 months of the close of the evaluation. 

Timeline 

Because this is a continuous, rolling activity, submissions will remain open throughout the year. Review of the submissions will typically occur on a quarterly basis 

Who can participate? 

This activity is open to the UK’s research and innovation communities in all sectors. We are interested in hearing from users and infrastructure providers in all levels of the research and innovation ecosystem. This includes but is not limited to: 

• UK higher education institutions (HEIs) 

• Independent Research Organisations (IROs) 

• UKRI-associated research centres 

• Industry representatives 

• Entrepreneurs and innovators linked to Innovate UK 

• Other research and innovation institutions 

Since the objective of this activity is to gather views from diverse communities, if you are not sure if this activity applies to you, or have any questions regarding suitability, please email dri@ukri.org. 

To evidence a larger community need, this activity must be co-authored by at least two authors affiliated to different institutions or organisations.  

How to submit a statement 

Participants should carefully read the guidance provided on this page and address all the questions and assessment criteria, using language for a broad audience.  

How will my data be managed? 

We are processing, including collecting, your personal data so we can: 

• Understand the needs of the community 

• Identify potential opportunities 

We will store your data securely and handle it in line with UK data protection legislation. 

When you take part in the ASCEND process UKRI will process any personal details you chose to share during the course of the survey. The personal information that you provide as part of this survey will only be used in the analysis of the submissions and will not be used/shared for any other purpose. 

Individual responses will only be viewed by UKRI staff and the review panels. However, UKRI reserves the right to publish and share aggregated information with stakeholders. 

If you would like to know more, including how to exercise your data protection rights, please see our privacy notice. 

Why your views matter

This type of activity is essential to ensure that the DRI programme meets the diverse and evolving needs of the research community. It helps us make informed decisions and targeted actions to support world-class research and innovation.