From Software Sustainability Institute to Institute for Research Software
The Institute was founded in 2010 to help the research community build better, more sustainable research software. Previously known as the Software Sustainability Institute, or SSI (2010-2016), our work has always been guided by a simple but powerful idea: better software leads to better research.
Research software is used to collect, analyse, model, visualise and share research across every discipline. When the Institute was founded, software was treated as a hidden part of research and received less recognition than data, papers, and equipment.
Since then, we have helped research software, and the people who create and maintain it, become increasingly recognised as essential to the research ecosystem. Our transition from SSI to Institute for Research Software reflects that progress and the growth of our leadership role: we have grown from an initiative raising awareness of research software good practice into a national facility driving change for software in research, and the people and the communities that depend on it.
Where the idea came from
The Institute was born from a shared challenge: software was central to modern research, but its importance was not always acknowledged, and researchers did not always have the skills, guidance or support needed to make it reliable, reusable and sustainable.
In 2014, we carried out the first study of software reliance across UK academia, providing evidence for something many researchers already understood: modern research depends heavily on software.
Our approach has never been to take over researchers’ code and fix it for them. Instead, we work with researchers and communities to develop their own skills, improve their practices and build lasting capacity.
This focus on people, collaboration, and practical support continues to shape our work and values.
Better Software, Better Research
“Better Software, Better Research” became our informal mission statement in 2013. It captures our purpose in four words: improving software improves the quality, reliability and impact of research.
What began as a slogan quickly became part of our identity. It appeared on stickers, T-shirts and presentation slides across the research community, helping people rally around a shared idea: software matters and the people who create, maintain and use it deserve support and recognition.
From hidden infrastructure to recognised research practice
Since 2010, we have worked with researchers, technical professionals, funders, institutions and policymakers to improve how research software is understood and supported.
We helped establish the Research Software Engineering movement and supported the development of RSE as a recognised professional identity and career path. We continue to work alongside the Society of Research Software Engineering and the wider international RSE community.
We have also supported hundreds of Fellows, trained thousands of researchers and helped communities across disciplines and countries improve their software practices.
Our history is not only the story of an organisation. It is a shared story of researchers, developers, trainers, funders, policymakers and community leaders working together to make research more open, reliable, reproducible and sustainable.
“To be the leading national facility for cultivating better, more sustainable research software to enable world-class research.”
In Phase 4, we help researchers and institutions understand the central role of software in research, improve software practice, support the people who develop and maintain software and build a stronger UK research software ecosystem.
Core funding: UKRI through the Digital Research Infrastructure Programme, led by AHRC, £8.1 million, grant AH/Z000114/1.
Additional funding: £4.8 million from UKRI to establish and run the Research Software Maintenance Fund.
“To be the world-leading hub for research software best practice.”
We strengthened our role as a national and international leader in research software, expanding our work in training, policy, community development, guidance, events, evidence gathering and supporting the growing research software community. We also expanded our partnerships and contributed to wider projects addressing research software skills, recognition, sustainability and policy.
Core funding: AHRC, BBSRC, EPSRC, ESRC, MRC, NERC and STFC, £6.8 million, grant EP/S021779/1.
“To cultivate better, more sustainable research software to enable world-class research.”
We expanded our training, helped grow the RSE movement and developed the Fellowship Programme, evolving from a specialist service into a broader community-building organisation supporting people who wanted to improve research software practice across disciplines and institutions.
Core funding: EPSRC, ESRC and BBSRC, £3.5 million, grant EP/N006410/1.
“To establish a national focal point based around specialist software-engineering skills for driving the continued improvement and impact of research software, working in partnership with key research communities.”
In our early years, we worked directly with research groups, built credibility through practical consultancy and began developing guidance on sustainable software practice, laying the foundation for the community that remains central to our work today.
Core funding: EPSRC, £4.4 million, grant EP/H043160/1.
Further reading
- The impact of the Institute: 10 years on: Reflections and testimonials from collaborators across the research software community.
- The Institute turns 10: An interview exploring how the Institute began and developed.
- 10 pivotal moments in the history of the Institute: Key events that shaped our first decade.
- A not-so-brief history of Research Software Engineering: A timeline of the early RSE movement.
- Research Software Engineers: The story of our contribution to the growth of RSE as a profession.