RSE activities in the UK revolve around four organisations:
The UKRSE Association. Formed in January 2014, this is the focal point for anyone who identifies as an RSE. It has just over 700 members as of November 2016 and is governed by a committee elected from its membership. It is also responsible for the RSE AGM and annual conference (the AGM is held at the annual conference).
RSE Groups. These are small groups of RSEs based at a research organisation who provide software-related services to researchers. By providing services across a research organisation, an RSE Group can provide consistent employment for RSEs – something which is lacking in many research groups.
The RSE Leaders network. This is a special interest group for RSE leaders within UK RSE. It is for anyone involved in leadership of RSEs (managing a group, attempting to set up a group, coordinating a local network, leading a multi-developer research software project). Membership is open to anyone meeting those criteria and is not limited to one person per organisation. The leaders’ group provides a forum to share information, discuss issues with others in similar roles, and establish collaborations. We use an email list and Slack team as well as meeting in person twice a year with members taking turns to chair. Formed in August 2015, the network shares information to help RSE set up and run an RSE Group. Responsibility for the network rotates around each of the leaders who take part in the network. If you are a leader of a RSE Group, contact c (dot) wyatt@soton.ac.uk to join the leaders network and attend the bi-annual meetings.
The EPSRC RSE Fellows are five-year Fellowships offered by the EPSRC to allow RSEs to provide software-related services to research organisations. It is expected that many of the Fellowships will be used to set up RSE Groups. (Many of the people in the RSE Leaders network have applied for Fellowships).
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