Accessibility statement

PURE at the University of York

What is PURE for?

PURE is a web-based system that brings together data on research at York. It captures a wide range of research-related outcomes and activities and promotes the University’s research excellence to the wider community via the York Research Database (YRD).

PURE’s strength is that it organises content in a relational way i.e. it allows networks of links to be built between people, grants, publications, impacts and datasets. It is a rich and dynamic source of information on York’s research and underpins many of the University’s processes. These processes range in scope from strategic returns such as the Research Excellence Framework (REF) to supporting applications for internal pump-priming funding. PURE is also used to support the new University Research Strategy. PURE, however, is not ‘just’ a central tool – it also supports departments in understanding their strengths and capabilities through engagement with and oversight of their data.

Why do we need to use PURE?

As an institution in an increasingly competitive funding environment it is vital that we manage our research information in a systematic way; not only to meet the requirements of funding councils and other external bodies but to demonstrate to the broader community the excellence and significance of the work we do and help us understand York’s strengths (be that at individual, departmental, faculty or central level). PURE plays a pivotal role in addressing these needs.

Using PURE at York

PURE user guides

A short series of user guides on how to use PURE and how to add data to it.

News and updates

Find out about the latest developments in PURE at York.

Training and support

Details of who to contact for support and training resources available for PURE users.

York Research Database (YRD)

Promote your research to the wider public on the YRD - a publicly-accessible interface to PURE

Replacement of YRD

The project to update the custom YRD with a new ‘like-for-like’ interface has now been completed.

The new YRD launched 4th October 2022.

Contacts

Link to PURE

Questions about PURE at York

How do I get a PURE account?

A personal PURE account is automatically created for all academic and research staff (Grade 6 or above) through synchronisation to ResourceLink (the University’s HR database). Teaching fellows, honorary/emeritus and support staff do not have a personal PURE account as standard. PURE can be accessed at https://pure.york.ac.uk using your standard University logon details and is compatible with most browsers. There is no longer a requirement to use the Virtual Private Network (VPN) when accessing PURE off-campus.

How do I add data to PURE?

PURE is automatically populated with data from three other University of York business systems: Agresso, ResourceLink and SITS. It synchronises with each of these on a nightly basis to bring in and automatically update content:

  • Agresso
  • ResourceLink
  • SITS
Since this content comes in automatically it is not editable in PURE. If you require corrections to any of these data please contact the relevant University team in charge of each system (see ‘Who do I contact about problems with my data?’ below). Other content (eg personal profile, publications, activities, impact) can (and should) be freely added by users. To help make this easier, we have prepared a short series of user guides.

How much content should I add to PURE?

There is no set limit to how far back researchers need to go in terms of adding content though the University recommends a minimum of at least three years or as otherwise necessary to reflect your research profile; a wider time period may need to be covered if submitting publications for REF (details to follow). Please note that adding data to PURE is also a requirement of the following University of York policies:

Who can I contact for training and support?

Please see our separate training and support page.

Who do I contact about problems with my data?


PURE Support are happy to assist though please note that enquires about data errors and inconsistencies should be directed to the relevant University of York business system team in the first instance:
Queries on other issues should continue to be directed to PURE Support (pure-support@york.ac.uk).