TRACE
Modern research with TRACE
Trusted Research Access & Collaboration Environment · Search our multicenter studies
What is TRACE?
TRACE is built with Django to provide a secure, auditable workflow for discovering studies, requesting access, and working in a Trusted Research Environment—without moving sensitive data.
The architecture integrates catalogue metadata, REDCap and CSV connectors, and sealed analysis spaces via Ginko, a qemu-web-desktop adaption. Role-based access control and detailed audit trails help teams collaborate confidently and stay compliant with institutional and GDPR requirements. By storing each researcher's variable selections alongside their access applications and the feature to save the corresponding analysis code, TRACE also enables the exact reproduction of analyses—even years later—ensuring transparency and long-term reproducibility.
Explore study catalogueFrom study catalogue to analysis
Researchers can browse rich study metadata, select variables, and submit access applications. Approved users work in remote desktops and notebooks connected to curated datasets.
Under the hood, Django orchestrates connectors, stores variable selections, and enforces Data Use Agreements (DUAs). Multiple data owners within an institute can register their own studies in TRACE and, when external researchers apply for access, establish DUAs that define the permitted use of the data. This keeps sensitive information under the control of its owners while still enabling reproducible workflows and efficient review.
Data access applications