Contribute further
A long-term health study
UK Biobank is a long-term prospective study, which means it plans to follow your health over many years. In this section you can find out about our current health studies that will add extra layers of detail to your health data. This ongoing relationship with you is one of the reasons why UK Biobank is uniquely able to enable scientific discoveries that improve human health. Without you, this would not be possible. Thank you for participating and your long-term dedication to tomorrow's next key discovery.
Take part in the biggest imaging study in the world
We have set ourselves the goal of undertaking MRI imaging of the hearts and brains of 100,000 participants. This is the largest imaging study ever undertaken and is transforming research into diseases like dementia, heart disease, arthritis and diabetes. Click on the button below to find out more about this project.
A carotid artery scan
Heart monitor
We want to enable the discovery of vital clues to prevent and treat life-altering diseases like stroke and dementia. If you are aged 65 or over and attending one of our imaging centres, we may ask you to wear a heart monitor to measure the rhythm of your heart. It will shine a light on a heart rhythm disturbance called atrial fibrillation, which is often symptomless but can have a devastating effect on health.
Online questionnaires
There were lots of things we wanted to ask you about your health and wellbeing when you first joined UK Biobank, but because of time constraints, we were unable to do so at your first visit. However, email communication has allowed us to re-contact you and continue to gather important information.
Online questionnaires have proven to be enormously successful, and around 1 in 2 participants have taken part in each one. Because they are online and therefore generate digital results, there is little delay in making these data available to the international research community. By asking you these sorts of questions via online questionnaires, we are building on the existing wealth of data with new insights into your health on day to day basis. Published health findings on many conditions have started to emerge through the use of these questionnaires.
You can complete our online questionnaires on a PC or a mobile device, whatever is easiest for you. If you have questions, or need help, please call our Participant Resource Centre on 0800 0 276 276 free of charge, Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm, or send us an email.
Please ensure your contact details are up to date so we can notify you when these questionnaires are available for you to partake.
Log in to update your contact details
Our participant website will be shut down for essential maintenance on the first Wednesday of each month between 8am and 9am.
We apologise for any inconvenience.
Explore our active online questionnaires
Inactive online questionnaires
How we involve you
Our participants are at the heart of our organisation and, in many cases, know best how we can get things right. Our participants have influenced our work in a range of important ways over the past 20 years.
Our broad aims:
- Participant involvement is embedded in UK Biobank culture –participant involvement is a normal and expected part of our work.
- Participant involvement at UK Biobank meets the highest standards – our approach is meaningful, respectful, inclusive and transparent.
- Participants and staff are supported to collaborate with each other – we provide the information and opportunities that participants and staff need to be able to work together effectively.
Participant events
We hold regular events for participants, both online and in person. We don’t have any events planned at the moment but you can catch up with past events on our YouTube channel.
Involvement activities
We use different activities to make sure we are having in-depth discussions as well as reaching a wide range of participants.
- Participant Advisory Group: this group plays a central role in ensuring we hear and act upon the views and opinions of UK Biobank participants.
- Ethics Advisory Committee: two members of this committee are participants, and they help provide ethical advice to the UK Biobank Board and the Access Committee.
- Workshops and focus groups: we regularly bring participants, patients and members of the public together to discuss the issues and dilemmas we are facing. Examples include:
- Brain Health Study workshops
- Communicating with participants workshop
- Ethics of accessing biological samples focus groups
- Participant feedback surveys: we use surveys to consult large numbers of participants. In 2024, we asked all participants to tell us how they would like UK Biobank to communicate with them.
- Participant events: these happen throughout the year for participants in different regions. Watch recordings of past events.
Get involved
We are always looking for participants who are willing to get involved and provide their views on UK Biobank’s work.
You do not need to have any prior knowledge of health research. In fact, we would like to encourage participants who have had other personal and professional experiences to get in touch. We would love to hear from you.
Please contact us on PPIErecruitment@ukbiobank.ac.uk to express your interest and we will be in touch.
2024/25 participant newsletter
Stay up to date with our activities from the past year.
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