By Denis Barclay, Lucie Woellenstein, and Gina Pegu.

Our Research Software Camp: FAIR software ran from 19 to 30 June 2023. Over the course of two weeks, we hosted talks and workshops which aimed to teach introductory skills, empower researchers with the necessary skills and knowledge to develop and maintain software and provide guidance and resources around the topic of FAIR software.

Live Sessions

Panel Discussion - Approaches to the FAIR software principles: opportunities and barriers

The panel discussion Approaches to the FAIR software principles: opportunities and barriers was our best-attended session. The panel discussion was very interactive with several questions posed by participants on Slido. The panellists were fantastic and shared experiences based on the questions asked. If you have missed it you can watch the full session on our YouTube channel. 

How to publish FAIR research outputs

This workshop opened the RSC and was very well received. The instructor was able to give a concise but detailed explanation of how to publish FAIR research outputs and answer some of the participants' questions. If you have missed this session you can go back and have a look at the slides.

Introduction to R

This R workshop was one of our first workshops to sell out. Using a Data Carpentry lesson, our introduction to R workshop was highly interactive involving live coding and plenty of exercises for participants to try their hand. You can watch the workshop on our YouTube channel.

Plotting & Programming in Python

This Python workshop was well-taught by an experienced and Carpentries-certified instructor and an equally experienced helper. Our participants found the Python workshop very helpful and the pace of the instruction optimal. You can watch the workshop on our YouTube channel.

FAIR Data Principles workshop

Our FAIR Data Principles workshop was a highly interactive workshop with many group exercises and smaller breakout rooms allowing individuals to contribute their own thoughts to discussion questions. The lesson plan came from the recently developed ED-DaSH programme at Edinburgh Carpentries. Watch the workshop on our YouTube channel. 

Byte-Sized RSE: Code Review and Git Version Control

Part of the popular Byte-Sized RSE series, these workshops explored the concept of code review and Git version control. The session was lively and collaborative and the instructors did a great job engaging with the participants and answering their questions. Head to our YouTube channel to watch the session on Code Review or the one on Git Version Control.

Version Control in Git (UKR)

This workshop was one of our best-attended workshops. Our instructor was superb and his passion to teach Data Science and software courses shone throughout the session. The workshop was very interactive with several questions asked by participants—even lasting till after the workshop! You can watch the workshop on our YouTube channel.  

Desde las hojas de calculo a R

For the second year in a row, the RSC hosted a workshop in Spanish. This year our Spanish workshop focused on how to use spreadsheets in R for data manipulation. You can watch the workshop on our YouTube channel. 

Mentorship Programme

Our mentorship programme this year ran over 8 weeks and saw a total of 20 mentees graduate! At our live-streamed graduation, each mentee gave a two-minute lightning talk about their project or journey in the programme. Both mentees and mentors said they loved the programme and getting the chance to collaborate with new people. You can watch the graduation on our YouTube channel.

Blog Posts

As part of the RSC we also published a series of blog posts:

Signpost to training resources

This blog lists some of the free and open training resources in various languages available to researchers and Research Software Engineers. You can read the full blog post here.

Coding Confessions at RSECon2022

The first in-person Coding Confessions session was hosted at RSECon22. Find out some of the main takeaways in the full blog post.

Resources for making your research software FAIR

This blog post puts together a list of resources for making software FAIR. You can read the full blog post here. 

Future Research Software Camps

The next Research Software Camp is likely to take place in 2024. If you have topics you would like us to explore, send us your suggestions and we will consider them for future Camps.

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