New Zealand participating in international survey of Research Software Engineers
Do you develop software used in research? Your input is needed as part of an international survey to learn more about the characteristics, opinions, and career opportunities for Research Software Engineers (RSEs).
Led by the University of Southampton on behalf of the Software Sustainability Institute (SSI), the survey is a global endeavour, running simultaneously across New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, South Africa, UK, and USA.
Conducted online, the survey is completely confidential, takes about 10-15 mins to finish, and only has a handful of mandatory questions. Whether you are a postdoctoral researcher, applications consultant, or bioinformatician, anyone developing software used in research is encouraged to participate.
Click here to complete the survey.
Nooriyah Lohani, NeSI's Research Communities Advisor, has been collaborating with RSE community leaders in New Zealand and Australia to support the survey's creation and its distribution across the southern hemisphere. They hope to share an initial summary of findings at eResearch Australasia (15-19 October 2018) and eventually release the anonymized data as an open dataset.
For New Zealand, participation in the survey is a first step towards identifying key characteristics of its local RSE community. It also feeds into a larger strategy to better support, link, and strengthen the RSE communities in New Zealand and Australia. Inspired by the success of the RSE Association in the UK, they are seeking to establish an Australasian Chapter of the RSE Association.
With support from research institutions, NeSI, and other national organisations such as AeRO, CAUDIT, the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC), the Australasian Chapter plans to organise regular events to allow RSEs to meet, exchange knowledge and collaborate on methods to create greater recognition and career opportunities for RSEs.
For more information on the Chapter, or the RSE survey, visit the newly created RSE AU/NZ website.
