This is the 1st of 6 Fellows’ stories sharing how the Fellowship programme has supported both their career and advocacy for good software practices. The stories were developed as part of the Fellows Impact Evaluation. The full report can be found here. Pseudonyms have been used for anonymity.

Vicky: Becoming a leader in research reproducibility.

“I would say I’m doing more leadership of stuff. So, I’m now more involved with the reproducibility agenda at the university more widely which I would attribute, at least partly, to my SSI fellowship.”

Vicky applied for the Fellowship to find others for whom reproducibility in research was important rather than being a lone voice within her workplace. She felt a sense of commitment from being awarded a fellowship and that led to her engaging with the SSI more than she would have done otherwise. This included attending a Collaborations Workshop which increased her knowledge and use of good practices and seeded fruitful collaborations.

Vicky built a sense of belonging at the SSI through meeting others who also had non-standard routes into research and from seeing that a wide range of roles were acknowledged as important for good research outcomes. She felt that the inclusive, non-judgemental culture originated from the SSI leadership and it resulted in her engaging more fully than she would have expected given her perceived lower level of technical expertise to other fellows.

Hearing other fellows speak in support of good software practices and being introduced to the evidence base gave her the confidence to advocate for good practices in her own department. Alongside this, the external affirmation from being awarded a fellowship also gave her greater influence with her colleagues to promote change. Vicky found that the Fellowship opened her networks and that collaborations with SSI staff and other fellows resulted in positive outcomes.

The Fellowship has given Vicky more confidence in the value of her own skill set and her contribution to research. She now has more leadership responsibilities and is involved with reproducibility at a university wide level which she partly attributes to the Fellowship raising her profile. Her experiences during her Fellowship are a contributing factor to her having the ambition to apply for a Professorship in the future.