Simon Hettrick
Professor Simon Hettrick is Director of Strategy at the Software Sustainability Institute, and a Director of the Southampton Research Software Group.
Recognising all research outputs and everyone involved in their creation
Simon Hettrick
6 May 2025 - Research Enablers Meeting, Bath ORCID: 0000-0002-6809-5195
If we don't recognise everyone that is vital to research,
we limit our ability to conduct research.
www.software.ac.uk
Use software
Fundamental to results
69%
92%
n=417
Who's writing all the software?
Ascension, John Singleton Copley, Public Domain
Researcher
Software
Engineer
Research
Software
Engineer
>10,000 RSEs worldwide
Image courtesy Dan Katz
Why did it take until the 2010s to recognise that software is so fundamentally important to research?
WHY ARE WE HERE?
Discovery, reliability, reproducibility, transparency.
Publications are the Bhurj Khalifa
Height = 830 m
Exhibitions are a typical UK bungalow
Height = 3.5 m
Software is a lego person wearing a top hat
Height = 5 cm
What are the dangers of using...
Publications
...as the only metric of research success?
People who are
vital to research
People who are named in publications
Academics
RSEs, Technicians,
Librarians, Data
Stewards, PRISMS,
RMAs... and more
?
The Venn of academic importance and recognition
Imagine a world
where...
Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome
- Charlie Munger
Recognising all research outputs and every role that makes research possible
www.hidden-ref.org
- Training materials and courses
- Grimpact
- Citizen science
- Enabling access to facilities
- Community building
- Standards
New categories
The Hidden Role
| CC-BY William Murphy |
Data stewards and managers, Librarians, Technicians, Lived Experience Contributors (including patients), Research Software Engineers, PRISMS (Professional Research Investment and Strategy Managers), Professional Services Personnel, Public Engagement Professionals (PEPs), RMAs (Research Managers and Administrators) and Clinical Trials Managers.
What changed?
Text
Thinktank, Birmingham
7-8 October 2025
2025-2030
What are the barriers to change?
- Lack of awareness
- Lack of guidance
- Inherent difficulty of comparison
- Fear of affecting funding
It's not easy to shift from campaigning as an outsider to being part of the establishment
What are our plans?
- Awareness raising
The
5%
Manifesto
What are our plans?
- Awareness raising
- Expert groups for the creation of guidance
What are our plans?
- Awareness raising
- Expert groups for the creation of guidance
- NTO workshops to increase experience of NTO assessment
What are our plans?
- Awareness raising
- Expert groups for the creation of guidance
- NTO workshops to increase experience of NTO assessment
- Working with the REF to develop guidance on the importance of NTOs to the REF assessment
We need help!
If we recognise everyone that is vital to research,
we advance our ability to conduct research.
Thank you!
@sjh5000
ORCID: 0000-0002-6809-5195, EPSRC Grant no: EP/S021779/1
Licence
© Simon Hettrick. These slides are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International : https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Link to slides
https://slides.com/simonhettrick/re-bath-2025
Image credits
- Earth rise: public domain with thanks to NASA
- Bhurj Khalifa: CC-BY-SA courtesy Donaldytong
- Bungalow: CC-BY-SA courtesy Peter Wyatt
- Lego man: CC-BY courtesy Brickset
Research Enablers talk at Bath
By Simon Hettrick
Research Enablers talk at Bath
Presentation for Research Enablers Network at the Uni of Bath
