RSE Professionalization
Definition of research software
“Research Software includes source code files, algorithms, scripts, computational workflows and executables that were created during the research process or for a research purpose. Software components (e.g., operating systems, libraries, dependencies, packages, scripts, etc.) that are used for research but were not created during or with a clear research intent should be considered software in research and not Research Software.”
Definitions of a Research Software Engineer
Research Software Engineers are people who combine professional software expertise with an understanding of research. They work with researchers to develop, maintain, and improve software that is critical to research outcomes, often spending more time developing software than doing “traditional” research.
The term Research Software Engineer (RSE) refers to a professional who combines expertise in software development and methodology with deep knowledge of one or more research fields. RSEs focus on developing and/or maintaining research software, with the aim to answer research questions and solve problems within their research disciplines.
A Research Software Engineer (RSE) plays a crucial role in bridging the gap between research and software development. They have a deeper understanding of engineering practices, performance, software quality and tooling and work alongside researchers to translate scientific problems into robust software solutions and are often required to work across multiple projects or domains.
The term RSE does not refer to a specific job profile, but rather to a role that can vary significantly. In practice, the role exists on a spectrum, from a full-time researcher who may develop and maintain software, to a dedicated ICT professional.
Job profiles
University job profiles are based on the so-called UFO system, the job classification system adopted by all Dutch universities. A recent report on Professionalizing the role of Research Software Engineers in the Netherlands has surveyed the current RSE role in the Netherlands and made recommendations for improvements. At the moment, no specific UFO profile exists for the role of RSE.
More information:
Professional communities
Several organizations and communities support and promote the role of RSE. One of the objectives of the European Virtual Institute for Research Software Excellence (EVERSE) is to provide a framework that will ensure appropriate recognition, reward, and career development for researchers and RSEs who implement research software and code quality assurance practices and policies. The community is developing a Research Software Quality Kit (RSQkit), a knowledge base to gather and curate expertise that will contribute to high-quality software and code across different disciplines, and TechRadar, a catalogue of tools and services designed to evaluate, measure, and improve the quality of research software.
NL-RSE website brings together the community of people writing and contributing to research software from Dutch universities, knowledge institutes, companies and other organizations to share knowledge, to organize meetings, and raise awareness for the scientific recognition of research software. The network has been established by the eScience Center in 2017 and has 200+ members from more than 30 institutes across the country. They are part of a broader network of national RSE associations.
Together with the Software Sustainability Institute (SSI), the RSE associations organize regular international surveys on the role of RSE. An overview of the results can be found in this dashboard.