What is Research Software Engineering?
Research software engineering (RSE) sits at the intersection of software development and research. An RSE is someone who combines professional software development skills with an understanding of research — contributing to scientific work not by doing the science directly, but by building and maintaining the tools that make it possible.
Why it matters
Modern research across virtually every discipline depends on software — for data collection, analysis, simulation, and communication. Yet in many institutions, this software is written by researchers who have little formal training in software development practices. The result is often fragile, poorly documented, and difficult to reproduce or build upon.
RSEs bring skills including:
- Version control and collaborative development workflows
- Testing and validation
- Software design and architecture
- Documentation and reproducibility
- Research data management
A growing field
The RSE role has grown significantly since the term was first coined in the UK around 2012. There are now RSE communities across Europe, North America, Australia, and beyond, with dedicated conferences, journals, and professional bodies.
The RSE-CEP project is contributing to this growth by building capacity where it is needed most.