Blog Posts |
| Navigating Careers in Digital Research: How the DIRECT Framework Can Help |
Digital and computational skills have transformed the way we do science and research. From managing datasets to developing complex software and running analyses on high-performance computing platforms, the work is increasingly technical, collaborative, and fast-moving. With this complexity comes a question: how do researchers and digital technical professionals plan their careers and build the right skills for the future? The DIRECT (Digital Research Competencies) framework tries to provide at least a partial answer to this question. |
| What is a knowledge exchange placement, and could it help develop your career? |
| A placement is a visit to another work area outside of your organisation for a period of up to a week. ‘Knowledge exchange’ means that you are finding out how others work, learning new techniques, seeing new methods or experiencing new equipment, and bringing that knowledge back to your workplace. |
| Beyond the Code – Shaping your Career as a Research Software Engineer |
| Research Software Engineers (RSEs) sit at the intersection of cutting-edge research and high-quality software development. Despite their critical role in advancing research, the career path of an RSE is often unclear, varied, or undervalued. Here are 5 steps to help you explore what’s next in your career. |
| Green Skills and Training for Digital Researchers |
| Digital skills are becoming increasingly important for research, unlocking powerful tools that accelerate discovery and innovation - but these advances can come with an environmental cost. Every dataset stored, every AI model trained, and every simulation run consumes energy and contributes to emissions. And as the scale of digital research grows, so too does its environmental footprint. |
| Research Technical Professional Career Paths in UCL’s Advanced Research Computing Centre |
| A key aim with the hybrid nature of ARC has always been to provide a home for digital research technical professionals – who support and collaborate in the delivery of team-based research, but don’t fully fit into traditional PS or academic career pathways. We seek to provide outstanding career development opportunities for these staff, now all on permanent contracts, so that they can apply their skills to cutting-edge research problems for the greatest public benefit. |
| Building Sustainable Outreach: Reuse, Repurpose, Reinvent |
| Effective outreach is key to growing and diversifying the scientific computing community, engaging everyone from students and researchers to policymakers and the public. Yet, many organisations struggle to build or sustain outreach programmes, especially without dedicated staff or resources. |
| Early Career Perspectives on Career and Skills in Research Software |
| Research Software Engineering (RSE) is a crucial component of modern research, but as a profession, it is often misunderstood, under-recognised, and discovered by accident. Researchers often find themselves writing software long before realising that their work constitutes a career pathway in its own right. While RSEs’ contributions are not always supported or acknowledged, the field is gaining visibility, and efforts to strengthen recognition and support are growing. |
Sessions & Recordings
Knowledge Exchange in Research Software
Chair: Marion Weinzierl
Panelists: Emma Karoune, Deborah Udoh, Eamonn Bell, Kirsty Pringle, Toby Hodges
The corpus of knowledge in the research software and digital research infrastructure community is constantly growing and evolving. It is impossible for a single group, person or institution to hold all the knowledge in their field. Therefore, knowledge exchange has become more crucial than ever. And it seems so easy - everyone can access huge amounts of information and data within seconds. But how to navigate the sheer mass of this information? How to reach the right people with the knowledge you want to share amidst all the noise? How to decide what knowledge is important and what can be discarded? How to build connections with those you want to exchange knowledge with? And how can you do all of this as part of a day job where knowledge exchange is rarely seen as an essential task?
Building Sustainable Outreach: Reinvent, Reuse, Repurpose
Presenters: Eleanor Broadway, Karina Pešatová, Darren White, Will Furnell
Effective outreach is key to growing and diversifying the scientific computing community, engaging everyone from students and researchers to policymakers and the public. Yet, many organisations struggle to build or sustain outreach programmes, especially without dedicated staff or resources. This session is designed to ease those challenges by showcasing practical ways to reinvent, reuse, and repurpose existing outreach materials to meet diverse needs and audiences. By considering important factors such as accessibility, communication style, and background knowledge, participants will leave with a ready-to-use strategy for adapting outreach, lowering the barrier to more inclusive and impactful outreach efforts.
Career Planning for Research Software Engineers
Presenter: Sarah Allen
This workshop provided an opportunity for Research Software engineers to think about their careers, including self-awareness, opportunities, decision making and planning.
Attendees had the opportunity to consider their own skills, strengths and motivations around work and identify how different career opportunities match these. Attendees discussed their own career development as well as explore some activities which could help them achieve your next steps.
Owning Your Value in RS: A career workshop for underrepresented groups
Presenter: Kathryn Entwistle and Anita Banerji
Find the best way forward in your career and align your work with what matters most to you. This was presented as a practical workshop to build clarity and career confidence for people from underrepresented groups who write research software.
Participants left the session with the ability to identify, articulate, and celebrate their unique contributions to the research environment. This awareness will support their careers in many ways — from identifying which projects align with their strengths to showcasing their skills in CVs, LinkedIn profiles, and funding applications.
From spreadsheets to R
Presenter: Yanina Bellini Saibene
RStudio certified instructor, Yanina Bellini Saibene has put together this R introductory course for new or beginner coders. “From spreadsheets to R” was intended for people who use spreadsheets for data manipulation and analysis, but have never programmed and would like to learn how to work with R. This course aims to answer questions such as: "Why use R?" and "Where to start?"
Data Visualisation in Python
Presenters: Annajiat Alim Rasel and Md Intekhabul Hafiz
Does your visualisation tell a story? Data is continuously expanding and becoming more complex. On its own, data can feel daunting. However, through visualisation, we can transform raw numbers and text into captivating narratives. Attendees had the opportunity to learn about fundamental visualisation techniques, customising visualisation, and effective storytelling with data.
Creación de tablas publicables y reproducibles con {gt} y Quarto
Presenter: Riva Quiroga
Las tablas son un componente central en la comunicación de resultados de investigación. Es por ello que resulta clave que su diseño garantice una comunicación precisa, favorezca la reproducibilidad y se ajuste a estándares de publicación.
En este taller, introduciremos la "gramática de tablas" usando el paquete {gt} de R. A partir de actividades prácticas, aprenderemos a configurar las distintas secciones de una tabla, a ajustar el estilo en que se muestran los datos y a incorporarlas en documentos reproducibles creados con Quarto. Al finalizar el taller, sus participantes habrán aprendido estrategias para mejorar la calidad de sus tablas e incorporarlas en flujos de trabajo reproducibles.
Контроль версій за допомогою Git
Системи контролю версій, такі як Git, дозволяють відстежувати зміни у будь-яких файлах (наприклад, код, дані, наукові публікації, веб-сайти тощо) та синхронізувати їх на різних комп’ютерах. Вони полегшують співпрацю з іншими шляхом спільного використання репозиторіїв (тобто проектів із повною історією змін), та є невідʼємними інструментами для розробки надійного та стійкого наукового програмного забезпечення.
Цей семінар базуватиметься на уроці Software Carpentry “Контроль версій за допомогою Git” та розповість про основи використання Git: його налаштування на вашому комп’ютері, створення репозиторію, запис змін, перегляд історії змін, взаємодію з віддаленими репозиторіями на GitHub, та співпрацю з іншими. Попереднє знання Git не потребується.
Семінар буде інтерактивним: інструктор буде виконувати усі операції покроково на своєму комп’ютері. Ми заохочуємо учасників встановити Git, дотримуючись інструкцій тут, a також створити безкоштовний обліковий запис GitHub тут, та намагатися повторювати дії інструктора на своїх комп’ютерах, наскільки це можливо.
При цьому ми радимо використовувати широкий або додатковий екран, щоб зробити це найбільш зручнішим.
Інструктор: Олександр Коновалов (University of St Andrews)
Помічник: Єгор Бояр (University of St Andrews)
Мова викладання: українська
