Research Software Engineering

Research Software Engineering (RSE) is is the practice of appling a professional software engineering approach to software developed as part of the research lifecycle. Software has typically been a second class class citizen of scientific endeavour with priority given to traditional research outputs rather than sustainability or the vital tools which underpin it. There has been a signifiant community movement towards recognising the importance of RSE which includes the definition of RSE as a job profession and career. I.e. Research Software Engineers who typically develop software to facilitate other peoples research agendas, either as part of an RSE team, by being embedded within research teams or on academic career trajectories that focus on collaborative application of software tools and methods.

As a Professor in the Department of computer Science I work with the Sheffield RSE team and am regularly involved in local and national advocacy around the importance of research software and the role of research software engineers. You can read my Nature Careers article which describes which “Science needs more Research Software Engineers”. I frequently provide RSE mentoring and have supported other organisations in building institutional cases for RSE groups, reviewing promotion cases and advising on promotional pathways for technical staff. I have written open source software to support the operational and financial management of RSE groups (RSEAdmin). Please contact me if you wish to discuss group leadership, sustainable financial group models, recruitment or methods to support RSE career pathways.

Leadership Track Record

2024-Current: Professor of RSE

I work closely with the RSE team on collaborative computation research projects with an emphasis on GPU computing, complex systems simulation, HPC and performance oriented programming. I contribute to the RSE team as a team member and strategic advisor. I am actively engaged in the national RSE community and retain interest in advancing the national provision of RSE collaboration including within the University of Sheffield.

2023 - 2024: Engineering Lead, Institute of Computing for Climate Science (ICCS), University of Cambridge

Between January 2023 and April 2024 I worked part time for the University of Cambridge as the Engineering Lead for a new climate science focused RSE group, the Institute of Computing for Climate Science (ICCS). ICCS is a Schmidt Science funded Virtual Institute for Scientific Software (VISS) center providing international RSE support for six institutes established under the Virtual Earth Systems Research Institute (VESRI) program. As Engineering Lead for ICCS I established the team and its working practice, leading on delivery of the team’s objectives and providing line all line management. I recruited 9 RSEs and implemented the resource allocation process to provide our program of embedded support. I provided technical direction and oversight to the team, ensuring that we advocated for better software practices with the science team that we worked with. I designed and oversaw our delivery of training implementing new initiatives for community engagement as well as delivering training and outreach including GPU training in Kigali, Rwanda and at the ICCS Summer School.

2016-2023: EPSRC RSE fellowship and Director of RSE, University of Sheffield

In 2016 I was awarded one of the first EPSRC RSE fellowships. The focus of my fellowship was in facilitating the use of novel software engineering approaches within research to accelerate scientific discovery. As part of my fellowship I developed software techniques, a provision of skills, and training material to help drive the use of Graphic Processing Units (GPUs) into mainstream science and engineering. A major component of this has been the development of GPU accelerated complex systems simulation software, FLAME GPU, which I have demonstrated in a range of domains, including in transportation simulation. In addition to the simulation and performance aspects of my fellowship, I led the formation of a RSE team which I grew using a sustainable financial model to 13.5 full-time equivalent staff. I ran this team alongside my academic duties as PI/CI on a selection of software focused research projects while holding the role of Professor. In 2023 I stepped back from group leadership at which time the team supported researchers across the entire university and was on average working on ~40 projects worth over £13M in total research award value. I am advocate for the role of research technology professionals and served as the president of the Society for RSE 2020-2021.