Presenter: Jeremy Cohen from Imperial College London
The term Research Software Engineering (RSE) was first used in the UK over a decade ago and it is now a recognised role within the field of research in many countries. As research across almost all domains is now increasingly digital, researchers need support not only with building sustainable, maintainable and robust research software, but also with managing and processing research data and the use of specialist research computing infrastructure. Within the UK, this has led to the emergence of a new term, ‘digital Research Technical Professionals’ (dRTPs) which is being used to represent the wider set of roles that are vital to supporting modern digital research.
While the UK now has RSE groups or teams at a number of universities and the RSE role is widely recognised, RSE roles differ and can span a wide range of skills and competencies. At one end of the scale, RSE roles can look quite similar to traditional research roles, at the other, they can look similar to professional software engineer roles in an industry environment. How we provide effective support and career progression for people working across this spectrum, and in other dRTP roles, is not yet a solved problem.
In this talk, I’ll present some work being done in the UKRI-EPSRC-funded STEP-UP project to develop support for RSEs and dRTPs within the London and South East of England region of the UK, through a range of activities. I’ll highlight our work advocating for improved career opportunities and pathways and our programmes to try and build concrete pathways into dRTP roles including a placement scheme and our Research Technical Champions programme. There is much that RSE communities across different countries can learn from each other. It is hoped that this talk and the associated discussion will provide an opportunity to share experiences and ideas around developing RSE career pathways and to understand where the Swiss and UK communities share similar challenges and what approaches and activities have been tried to address them.
This talk is intended to be applicable to a general RSE and research audience. Attendees will learn about some approaches being taken in the UK to support and develop career opportunities for RSEs but also have the chance to provide their own perspectives on the topic of RSE careers through an interactive element of the presentation and the subsequent discussion.