The Research Software Engineer Movement

Abstract:

Research Software Engineers (RSEs) have been around for decades - we are graduate students and postdocs that fell in love with writing software, or research support staff that strayed from the traditional academic path and are committed to supporting research. However, we have been hidden. It's only been in the last decade that we have started to find one another, and form a strong community that offers to elevate and champion our role.

In this talk, I will tell the story of the RSE movement, starting from the UK and spreading internationally to now what is a global movement. We will focus on events from the past, different avenues for learning or getting involved, and hopes for the future. Whether or not you are a research software engineer, you are also a part of this story and journey toward having high quality software for sustainable, reproducible research.