👋 Introduction
Our Trusted Research Environment, or TRE, is a secure computing environment that is specifically designed for handling sensitive data in a way that protects privacy and ensures security. Our TRE enables users (you) to conduct research in a flexible, scalable environment, but has security controls that you need to familiarise yourself with. This guide will provide step-by-step instructions to help you understand and navigate the TRE.
🧑💻 Background
You (or your PI) will have had various conversations with HIC staff and are now at the stage that all your approvals are in place, the data extract has been provisioned and you are ready to begin your research analyses within the TRE. This how-to guide should be used in conjuction with the more technical TRE knowledge base developed by HIC, you can find this here.
\uD83D\uDCD8 Instructions
How you log-in to the TRE depends on if you are an internal 
University of Dundee user or an 🌍 external user.
For security, we use “Multi-Factor Authentication”, or MFA, which means we require two pieces of evidence to grant access to the TRE. We rely on:
your username and password (our BST team e-mail user credentials)
a second factor, either a single use code generated by a mobile device, or a separate approval step.
University of Dundee users
Open your preferred web browser, e.g., Google Chrome, and navigate to our TRE.
Select UoD Active Directory (Legacy) and click Login.
You will be taken to the Microsoft Active Directory login page, which will also prompt you for a second factor. This will either require you to approve the login using the Microsoft Authenticator app on your phone, or to enter a one time code. See https://www.dundee.ac.uk/guides/set-multi-factor-authentication-your-account from UoD-IT.
Once the multi-factor authentication is completed you will be logged into the TRE.
🌍 External users
Open you preferred web browser, e.g., Google Chrome, and navigate to our TRE
Select HIC Single Sign On and click Login
You will be taken to a new page which asks for your username and password, followed by a One Time Code. This is a six digit number which can be generated by opening Microsoft or Google Authenticator on your phone. More specific technical how-to information can be found in a separate knowledge base item What is multi-factor authentication?
Once the multi-factor authentication is completed you will be logged into the TRE and see your home screen similar to below. Your project can be found under the “Studies” tab in the TRE.
TRE home page
You should see your home screen similar to below. Your project can be found under the “Studies” tab in the TRE.
The next step is create your TRE workspace, a tailored environment to suit your needs, please click here for that how-to article.