Simon Hettrick
Professor Simon Hettrick is Director of Strategy at the Software Sustainability Institute, and a Director of the Southampton Research Software Group.
Research Software Engineers:
Where it started and where it’s going
Simon Hettrick
s.hettrick@software.ac.uk
17 October 2024 - US RSE 2024, Albuquerque - @sjh5000 ORCID: 0000-0002-6809-5195
Collaborations
Workshop
2012
No recognition
No career
Limited software skills
In a world submerged in water...
...you'd expect the boat builders to be pretty important
It's about success
and how we measure it
A history of lessons
1. Small changes can be powerful
jobs.ac.uk
10,000 jobs assessed
~400 related to software development (4%)
Analyst Developer Analyst Programmer Analyst Programmer - SITS (x 3) Analyst/Programmer Applications Developer Applied Scientist Architectural Robotics Developer Assistant Data Programmer Assistant Project Manager Atmospheric Correction and Radiative Transfer Model Scientist Audio Software Developer - KTP Associate Bioinformatician Bioinformatician In Potato Genomics and Genetics Bioinformatician/Computational Bioscientist in Microbiology Bioinformaticians Bioinformatics Analyst Bioinformatics Postdoctoral Researcher Bioinformatics scientist Biometric Software Systems Developer Biorespository Software Developer C++ / 3D Graphics Software Engineer Casebooks Project Editor (Research Assistant/Associate) Climate Researcher (Research Associate) Clinical Study Programmer CoMPLEX Research Associate Computational Biologist / Bioinformatician Computational Scientist Computational Scientist in Computational Fluid Dynamics & Industrial Applications Computational Scientist in Structural Mechanics and Industrial Applications Computer Scientist Computer Vision Researcher Content Developer/Programmer Control Engineer-IMG - 3 posts CREATe Data Specialist Data Analyst Data Integration Coordinator Data Manager x3 Database and Software Engineer Database Manager/Researcher Database Programmer Digital Media Technician E-Learning Portal Manager (KTP Associate) e-Learning Systems Development Analyst e-Learning Systems Development Analyst (Moodle, SQL) E-Learning Web Developer E-Portfolio Learning Technologist Embedded Systems Engineer Engineering Technician Environmental Scientist EPSRC Studentship on Algorithmic Construction of Finsler-Lyapunov Functions Experimental Officer in Bioinformatics Experimental Psychologist Finance Assistant Gaia Alerts Software Developer Gaia Software Developer (Gaia UK Team) GIS Applications Specialist Graduate Programmer / Software Developer Graphics Programmer Health Data Manager / Scientist High Throughput Bioinformatician High Throughput Sequencing Bioinformatician (Two posts) HIVE Manager/ HIVE Co-ordinator HIVE Senior Researcher and Technical Lead Hydro-informatics Scientific Software Developer Image Analysis Manager for Cancer Imaging Information Systems Developer Instrumentation Engineer Investigator Statistician IT Developer IT Services Manager IT Services Specialist (e-Learning Systems) IT Support Technician (Unix / Windows Systems) Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) Associate: Innovent Technologies LTD Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) Associate - Software Developer KTP Associate - Robot Vision Scientist (Research Fellow) KTP Associate (Fixed Term Contract for 24 months) KTP Associate (Precision Agriculture Data Analyst) KTP Associate – Graduate Web Developer KTP Associate: Electronics / Robotics Engineer Learning Technologist Leicester Respiratory BRU IT Developer Linguist / Psycholinguist Maker Space Technician Marie Curie Early Stage Researcher Marie Curie Early Stage Researcher in Radar Rainfall for Integrated Water Quality Modelling Marine Earth Observation Scientists Medical Statistician Medical Statistician/Senior Medical Statistician Metrology Engineer Mobile Application Developer NASC IT Support - Programmer and Systems Administrator (Fixed-term) NIHR Research Methods Fellow PDRA on EU Project on Automated Multisensor Surveillance Planning Officer Policy Modeller 2014 Post - Doctoral Research Assistant INSTRON Post Doctoral Research Worker Post Doctoral Researcher in the application of Digital Technology Post-Doctoral Research Assistant in Simulation and Visualization Post-Doctoral Research Associate Post-Doctoral Research Associate (Pathogen Genomics) Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Postdoctoral Fellow - population genetics / evolutionary genetic Postdoctoral Fellow in Bioinformatics Postdoctoral Fellow in Cancer Therapeutics Postdoctoral Research Assistant Postdoctoral Research Associate Postdoctoral Research Fellow Postdoctoral Research Scientist Postdoctoral Researcher in Declarative (Logic and Functional) Programming Postdoctoral Researcher Postdoctoral Scientist Postdoctoral statistician Postdoctoral Training Fellow - Statistical and Computational Genetics of Autism Principal / Senior Bioinformatician Principal Bioinformatician Product Development Engineer (Rail) Publishing Portal Web Developer Radio Frequency Engineer Reader in Computer Science Reporting Analyst Research (Software) Engineer Research Assistant Research Associate Research Fellow Research Image Data Manager, Biomedical Engineering Research Officer Research Officer – Social Protection Research postgraduate Research Programmer Research Scientist Research Scientist / Senior Research Scientist Research Scientist in Machine Learning and Computer Vision Research Software Developer Research Software Developer for the Herchel Smith Professor of Organic Chemistry Research Software Engineer Research Studentship Research Worker Researcher SAP Trainee Technical Analyst Scientific Officer with Michela Garofalo Scientist SEAHA Studentship: Extracting epidemiological data from collection
194 different job titles
2. With enough people, you can do anything
The RSE Conference
Image courtesy Dan Katz
3. Everything can change
How many academics does it take to change a light bulb?
What do you mean CHANGE?
"It's a nice idea, but you won't change anything"
- Anonymous
UK RSE Conference 2024
"Oh come on! How big can this Goliath guy be?"
4. Communities can be fragile
www.software.ac.uk
2013
2024
https://society-rse.org/community/rse-groups/
The Society of Research Software Engineering was founded on the belief that a world which relies on software must recognise the people who develop it
Now what?
WHY ARE WE HERE?
Publications
Funding available
$1.7 billion
Cost to run
$20 million
Cost to Universities
$560 million
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
If we do not recognise everyone who is vital to research,
we limit our ability to conduct research
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
If not publications, then what?
We don't have all the answers... yet
Is the impact of your work best judged by the number of publications you're named on?
Industries that use publications as the proxy for success
Industries that do not use publications as the proxy for success
Research/academia
Accommodation and food, Agriculture, forestry & fishing, Arts and recreation,
Buinsess admin and support, Construction, Education, Finance and insurance, Health and social care, IT and communications, Manufacturing,
Mining and extractives, Professional and technical, Public sector and defence, Real estate, Retail and wholesale, Transport and storage, Utilities
..and everything else
A small change:
We need other ways of judging success in research
visibility
significance
| 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.
If we recognise everyone who is vital to research,
we advance our ability to conduct research
Thank you!
@sjh5000
ORCID: 0000-0002-6809-5195, EPSRC Grant no: AH/Z000114/1
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/usrsecon24
Image credits
- Pale blue spot
- Rail track - courtesy hannah-janssen-pujDfGMIxkQ-unsplash
- Map of Hell - By Sandro Botticelli - Botticelli : de Laurent le Magnifique à Savonarole : catalogue de l'exposition à Paris, Musée du Luxembourg, du 1er octobre 2003 au 22 février 2004 et à Florence, Palazzo Strozzi, du 10 mars au 11 juillet 2004. Milan : Skira editore, Paris : Musée du Luxembourg, 2003. ISBN 9788884915641, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10396926
- St Mary's College, Oxford - public domain
- Webb telescope star image: public domain with thanks to NASA and STScI
Research Software Engineers: Where it started and where it’s going Simon Hettrick s.hettrick@software.ac.uk 17 October 2024 - US RSE 2024, Albuquerque - @sjh5000 ORCID: 0000-0002-6809-5195
RSE: where it started and where it's going
By Simon Hettrick
RSE: where it started and where it's going
Presentation on Hidden REF for the Capturing Creativity workshop.
- 1,163
