and to use it only for the purposes of the approved research. Researchers must also undertake to publish their results and to return details of their methods, derived data, and/or sample assay results for incorporation into the UK Biobank dataset so that they can be made available to other approved researchers (see www.ukbiobank.ac.uk/scientists/ for details). UK Biobank encourages, but does not mandate, publication of results of research based on the resource in open access journals. Ensuring that the resource and its access arrangements are widely communicated is an important task, requiring a dedicated communications team to manage UK Biobank’s website, scientific meetings, and other methods for communication with the scientific community, including emails, newsletters, and other social media. In the first two years after the launch of open access to UK Biobank, over 1,000 researchers successfully registered, and over 200 applications were submitted (see www.ukbiobank.ac.uk/approved-research/ for a summary of research that is currently underway). Over 80% of registered researchers were from the UK and over 95% from academic rather than commercial institutions. Approximately 85% of applications were for data only, with few as yet requesting use of samples or participant re-contact. UK Biobank has now started to receive notifications of
