We asked for help and you responded! Over the last decade, SSI and our international partners have gathered heaps of data on the research software community. Starting with the UK in 2016 and expanding to include almost 1000 respondents from 43 countries, the International RSE Survey provides an unparalleled longitudinal dataset for understanding the RSE community.
We made that data available and asked the community what insights they could discover. Now we are pleased to share the three finalists from the Data Competition.
Voting will be open from Wednesday 15 April through Wednesday 6 May. Everyone is invited to vote, but please only vote once!
Please cast your vote by looking at the nominations below and following the link to the voting form.
Nominations
What have we learnt from the RSE journey so farBy Saranjeet Kaur Bhogal The role of a Research Software Engineer (RSE) has been evolving since the term was first coined at Software Sustainability Institute’s Collaborations Workshop 2012, almost a decade and a half ago. RSEs play an important role in the research ecosystem by developing and maintaining software that supports research activities. In this analysis, Saranjeet explores the following aspects of the RSE community: disciplines in which RSEs work, how are RSEs typically testing software, version control tools used for software development, funding sources for RSE work and factors influencing the move to RSE roles. Explore the full analysis here. |
The Backbone of Research Software Engineering: Mapping the
Evolution of Programming Language Ecosystems, 2018–2022
By Nabeel Siddiqui
Nabeel uses the survey data to explore whether RSE communities tend to cluster around shared programming language ecosystems, or does adoption data simply mirror the dominance of the most popular languages? The dominant approach to Research Software Engineer (RSE) professionalization assumes that defining essential skills and identifying entry points into careers will result in professional recognition. This perspective is reflected in research that aims to pinpoint core training criteria as starting points for RSEs across various institutional settings. However, such skill profiles are normative tools that specify what RSEs should know rather than depict how actual communities are organized. This analysis questions the idea that standardized training frameworks accurately represent RSE practice.
Explore the full analysis here.
How Team Structure Impacts Organisational Resilience and RSE BurnoutBy Tom Wilson and Liam Berrisford Tom and Liam use the survey data to argue that a centralised Research Software Engineering (RSE) team is likely to provide stronger organisational resilience and lower burnout risk than models in which RSEs are embedded as isolated individuals across separate projects or departments. Centralisation does not eliminate project risk, but it changes the risk structure from person-dependent to team-dependent, which is generally more manageable at the institutional level. Explore the full analysis here. |
What happens next?
Based on your votes, and thanks to generous support from the Society of Research Software Engineering, the winner of the competition will:
- Be invited to present their analysis at the annual RSE Conference in September 2026
- Be awarded a cash prize of £250 or a bursary to cover their registration fee for the conference (for reference, in 2025 this was valued at approximately £380 for in-person attendance)
- Have their analysis published on the SSI and Society websites
Results will be announced in mid-May.
If you have any questions, please reach out to m.j.donnay@software.ac.uk.