2025 is drawing to an end and as we prepare for our festive holidays, things will be quiet at the SSI from today, Monday 22 December, until Monday 5 January 2026.
We would like to take this opportunity to wish our friends and colleagues all the best for the holiday season, and we look forward to another great year in 2026.
If you want to look back at what we have done and achieved during the past year, keep reading. It's time for our yearly Software Sustainability Institute highlights!
Our events
In May, we hosted our flagship event Collaborations Workshop 2025 at the University of Stirling. Over the course of three days, delegates explored the theme of “Future-proofing research software: evolving together as a diverse community”, delving into a variety of sessions to address the challenges and opportunities facing the research software community.
In November, we run our yearly Research Software Camp, which aims to improve coding literacy by providing attendees with tailored programmes consisting of online workshops; panel discussions; resources such as guides, articles, and videos; and one-to-one support around specific topics within research software. This year’s theme focused on Careers and Skills in Research Software.
Our programmes
In March, we launched the Research Software Maintenance Fund (RSMF), a new funding initiative offering £4.8 million to support existing research software. The fund aims to improve how research software is maintained and reduce technical debt, ensuring essential tools remain available to the research community. At the beginning of December we announced the 13 projects that were awarded funding as part of Round 1 of the RSMF.
In April, we wrapped up our Research Software Practices in the Social Sciences project, which aimed to promote research software best practices in social sciences through various outreach activities.
In September, we announced the award of the first Green DiSC Bronze Awards. The Green DiSC (Green Digital Sustainability Certification) was developed to help researchers reduce the environmental impact of their work.
In December, we announced a new cohort of 25 SSI Fellows. The SSI Fellowship Programme supports passionate individuals in research and software, empowering them as ambassadors of good practice to shape the future of research software.
Our publications
In March, we published a report titled Digital and Professional Skills for Industry: Understanding Employers and Graduates Experiences. This report provides analysis into skills gaps for UK graduates as they transition into software engineering and data science roles within industry and the public sector.
In August, we published two new resources aimed at supporting social science researchers in building practical skills with research software. Developed as part of the Research Software Practices in the Social Sciences project, funded by the Economics and Social Science Research Council (ESRC), these guides are designed to address a growing need across the social sciences: the ability to engage confidently with data, code, and computational tools.