RSE South Workshop 16th May 2023

On Tuesday, 16th May 2023, members of RSE South, the regional research software engineering network in the UK South came together for the first time in person for the RSE South Workshop 2023. Hosted at the beautiful Meadow Suite at the University of Reading, delegates from many RSE groups and institutions across the South of the UK met for a day of talks, discussion and networking opportunities. In the lead up to the event, 50 delegates registered and the workshop saw an attendance of around 40 on the day.

The workshop was funded by the Open Research Action Plan at the University of Reading and inspired the theme of the event, namely ‘Sustainability and Reproducibility of Research Software’. Talks were centered around these fundamental pillars of reproducibility and also covering a wider range of RSE community topics. The full schedule of talks can be found below and slides from the presentations where speakers have granted permission for them to be shared are here.

It was clear that this first RSE South workshop was very much enjoyed by the community and for many attendees this was the first opportunity to meet community colleagues in person. The post-event survey received overwhelmingly positive feedback with comments centering around the highly interesting and inspiring talks and discussions. Many respondents highlighted the need for more networking and discussion time as well as an appetite for more RSE South community events of different formats, so this will certainly be taken into account for future planning. Look out for our upcoming RSE South activities which we will advertise on slack, our mailing list and the RSE South Website!

Workshop Schedule

• 9:30 - 10:00 Registration opens, Tea & Coffee & Refreshments
• 10:00 - 10:15 Welcome - Maria Broadbridge and Adrian Bell, University of Reading
• 10:15 - 10:30 What is RSE South and who are we? Maria Broadbridge, University of Reading
• SESSION 1: Chair: Maria Broadbridge, University of Reading
• 10:30 - 11:00 Keynote: Chris Edsall, University of Cambridge: Environmental Sustainability - What can RSEs do?
• 11:00 - 11:30 Tea & Coffee & Refreshments
• SESSION 2: Chair: James Knight, University of Sussex
• 11:30 - 12:00 Etienne Roesch, University of Reading: Computational Reproducibility
• 12:00 - 12:10 Fliss Guest, University of Exeter: RSE South Webinars
• 12:10 - 12:30 Stephen Cook, University of Exeter: Lessons from a laboratory-based RSE project
• 12:30 - 13:00 Keynote: Katie Finch, University of Exeter: Is it possible to grow an RSE group quickly and stay sane?
• 13:00 - Group photo outside Park House
• 13:00 - 14:00 Buffet Lunch
• SESSION 3: Chair: Stefanie Reuter, University of Cambridge
• 14:00 - 14:20 Sadie Bartholomew, University of Reading and National Centre for Atmospheric Science: The soft side of code review and why it matters
• 14:20 - 14:40 James Knight, University of Sussex: Large scale brain simulation: A success story for sustainability and reproducibility
• 14:40 - 15:00 Hannah Williams, UK Health Security Agency: Reflections on pandemic response
• 15:00 - 15:30 Tea & Coffee
• SESSION 4: Chair: Maria Broadbridge, University of Reading
• 15:30 - 15:40 SSI Hack Day Showcase:
•   Colin Sauze, National Oceanography Centre Southampton: Climate Aware Research Computing
•   Hannah Williams, UK Health Security Agency: RSE Skills and Competency Framework and Profiles
• 15:40 - 16:00 Open Discussion: Where do we want to go with RSE South?
• 16:00 -16:10 Closing comments (Maria Broadbridge)
• 16:10 onwards: Post-workshop networking in Park House Bar

Code of Conduct and Accessibility

Please read our workshop Code of Conduct statement. Accessibility requirements can be specified at registration time but please contact us if you have any questions.