Why Work With Us?

Find out more about how Generation Scotland works and how a collaboration can support your research. 

Image
Man at desk on multiple monitors

We aim to provide researchers around the world with a resource that enables scientific discoveries and improves health knowledge and disease treatments. We aim to inform and influence health policy through rigorous scientific evidence to improve lives.  

Generation Scotland has been recruiting volunteers since 2006. Over 24,000 people have already joined from around 7,000 families.  We are growing. We are inviting new families and family members aged 12 and older to join. We aim to double the number of Generation Scotland volunteers between now and 2024.   

Generation Scotland combines responses to questionnaires on health and well-being from birth through life. We combine this with NHS health records and innovative laboratory science to understand health trajectories. We work closely with researchers and our volunteers to create a rich evidence base for understanding health. Through this rigorous, ethical and safe approach to research, we seek to enable meaningful change in public health.   

What makes Generation Scotland unique? 

  • Multi-generational family cohort 
  • Clinical visit and questionnaire data 
  • Consent for recontact of participants 
  • Linkage to the rich and long-standing medical records in Scotland 
  • Genetic and biological measures 
  • Collaborative approach to open science research 
  • Agile response to new initiatives 
  • Work with commercial and academic partners to pilot new technologies