Sponsor Engagement Terms and Conditions of Use

Content last updated: 14 May 2024. Changes made to address change of legal body from CRNCC to RDNCC under new contract from 1 April 2024.  Change of presentation on site to show all content on one page but also leave distinct site links to separate pages.

Introduction

In agreeing to these Terms and Conditions of Use, you are undertaking to ensure the protection and security of all data accessed by you in the Sponsor Engagement Tool and to process these data in accordance with the following conditions.

The NIHR RDNCC reserves the right to change these Terms and Conditions of Use at any time. The date of issue of this version can be found at the top of this page.

Acceptable Use: What you are agreeing to do

Data within this service is owned by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). The DHSC is the Data Controller. Data can only be copied, downloaded or shared with 3rd Parties with permission and in line with these Terms and Conditions of Use.  Specific queries can be made through the information contact listed below.  

In agreeing to these Terms and Conditions, you are undertaking to ensure the protection and security of all data accessed by you in the Sponsor Engagement Tool and to process this data in accordance with the following conditions:

For all users:

You are expected to adhere to standard information security good practice, for example:

• not sharing accounts 

• choosing secure passwords

• only accessing confidential information when you cannot be overlooked

• not sharing data with people who are not authorised to see it 

This list is not exhaustive.

You are expected to:

• adhere to any relevant data sharing agreements

• respect the privacy of the personal data that you are using in line with the Sponsor Engagement Privacy Notice.

• adhere to any prevailing legislation

For Sponsor or delegated contacts:

In accessing RDN support, you agree to maintain your study record, informing the RDN when any changes to funding, sponsorship arrangements,  study status, targets, or timelines (planned and actual dates) occur.

The key items of study data you can access in the Sponsor Engagement Tool have been shared from the RDN's Central Portfolio Management System (CPMS). This includes key details from the study record (for non-commercial studies, this will include the name of the Chief Investigator) and details of the sponsor organisation or delegated CRO/CTU organisation that you are associated with. You will only be able to see details of studies linked to that sponsor organisation, CRO or CTU.

Details of assessments made in the Sponsor Engagement Tool will be shared with the RDN’s Open Data Platform (ODP), and Central Portfolio Management System (CPMS). This will include 

• Details of any required changes to the study’s key data items

• Assessment details, stating whether the study is on or off track, selection of common statements about study progress and any optional free-text information provided

• Your email address to record the assessor

• The time and date of the assessment 

The Sponsor Engagement Tool is part of an Integrated Research Intelligence System. It receives data from the NIHR Central Portfolio Management System. When accessing the Sponsor Engagement Tool, you are required to be cognisant of the respective terms and conditions of these other systems. 

• CPMS Terms and Conditions of Use 

• ODP Terms and Conditions of Use

In the future, 

• RDN may implement functionality in the Sponsor Engagement Tool that will allow you to download key data items for each study that your organisation sponsors along with your contact email and the email of any other contacts (if any) associated with your organisation. 

• Other contacts (if any) associated with your organisation, will also be able to download the key study data and list of sponsor contacts, this will include your contact email address. 

• Representatives in your Regional Research Delivery Network would also have the ability to download the lists of study data and contacts for your sponsor organisation from a non-public section of the Open Data Platform, these will only be shared with you and other contacts (if any) associated with your organisation.  

For RDN Contact Managers:

The RDN has nominated contact managers within the RDNCC and the RRDNs whose role is to add or remove sponsor contacts or their delegates in CRO/CTU organisations to ensure that only the correct contact(s) from those organisations have access to the Sponsor Engagement Tool.

Availability: What RDNCC provide

The NIHR RDNCC endeavours to ensure that all information on this system is accurate and available in a timely manner. If you find inaccurate information please let us know by contacting supportmystudy@nihr.ac.uk. 

We endeavour to provide high levels of service availability. However, availability at any point, particularly out of support hours, is not guaranteed. Support is limited to core service hours (weekday hours). Please note the system is unavailable when system changes or fixes are deployed. 

Breaches of these Terms of Use: Who to contact

If you become aware of any breaches in the use of this service and the data involved, then you should report it to  rdncc.ig@nihr.ac.uk

 Access to accounts may be suspended without notice. 

Intellectual Property: Who owns the information

The intellectual property of this service and all materials relating to it belong to the Department of Health and Social Care.

Further information and contacts

Further sources of information are:

• Privacy Notice for this service, which includes within it contact details for GDPR-related information requests -  Sponsor Engagement Privacy Notice.

• Email address for reporting security breaches: rdncc.ig@nihr.ac.uk 

• For queries about these terms and conditions: supportmystudy@nihr.ac.uk