April 2026 Newsletter
Welcome to our April Newsletter. This month, we have several updates about our upcoming conference RSECon26, updates from the Society’s special interest groups, plus some updates from the wider RSE Community.
RSECon26 News Updates
Deadline Extended: Call for Submissions
Great news! We have officially extended the deadline for the Call for Submissions. You now have until 8 May 2026 to submit your proposals for talks, workshops, posters and research software papers. With just over a week left to go, now is the perfect time to finalise your proposals and share your work with the community!
Registration is Officially Open
Tickets for RSECon26 are now available! You can join us in person at the University of Sheffield to experience the vibrant atmosphere or secure a remote access ticket to watch live streams and participate from anywhere in the world. Society Member Discount: As a valued member of the Society of Research Software Engineering, you are entitled to an exclusive 10% discount on your conference ticket.
Bursary Applications Open
We are committed to making RSECon26 an accessible and inclusive event. If financial barriers are preventing you from attending the conference, our Bursary scheme is here to help. We offer support for UK and international travel, accommodation, hidden costs and free registration. We warmly welcome applications from early-career RSEs, students, international attendees and anyone facing additional financial barriers. The first review deadline is 1 June 2026.
Call for Award Nominations
It is time to celebrate the amazing contributions to the Research Software Engineering community over the past 12 months! You can nominate colleagues, groups or even yourself for a Community Award (Rising Star, Training & Education or Impact) or the Green RSE Award. Nominations close on 13 July 2026.
Call for Reviewers
There is still time to apply to be a general conference reviewer! If you want to help shape the conference programme, please get your applications in. Our next reviewer deadlines are 14 May and 1 June.
Call for Award Reviewers is Now Open
Would you like to help review this year’s Community Award nominations? The call for Award Reviewers is officially open! We encourage reviewers of all experience levels and diverse backgrounds to apply. The total time commitment is a maximum of 3 hours.
Call for Programme Chair(s) for RSECon27 Now Open!
Do you want to host the annual conference for research software engineering in September 2027? The call for programme chair is now open, and closes on 12th June 2026.
Join the Society of RSE Web Working Group!
The Web Working Group is a newly formed group to encourage direct participation from members of the community in order to improve the society’s web presence. Led by the trustees of the society, the group focuses on creation and maintenance of contents for the society-rse.org website. If you’d like to join or want more information, get in touch!
Special Interest and Regional Group Round-up
Reasonable Performance Computing SIG – the story so far
The Society’s Reasonable Performance Computing Special Interest Group (SIG-RPC) was founded in September 2024. Read a round-up of what they have achieved during this time and how you can get involved.
RSE Midlands 2026 Annual Conference
On Monday 20th April 2026, the RSE Midlands community gathered at the Advanced Manufacturing Building on the Jubilee Campus of the University of Nottingham for its annual meeting, bringing together colleagues with an interest in research software from across the region. Catch up on the outcomes from the event on their website.
Community News & Events
REMINDER: DASH session proposals are due April 30th
Join us on 5 to 7 October 2026 in Dublin (Ireland)! The Data Analysis and Software in Heliophysics (DASH) workshop brings together scientific software and data practitioners in community discussions around topics of interest as proposed by community members. We are looking for individuals or groups to propose session topics for consideration.
Proposals from early career research software engineers are encouraged. Session proposers become the session chairs, and help coordinate the meeting agenda with the organizing committee. As always, we are seeking an interactive meeting, with plenty of time for discussion and networking.
Reproducibility Debt in Research Software
Reproducibility challenges in research software are rarely isolated, they accumulate over time, much like technical debt in traditional systems. Small issues, such as unversioned datasets, missing preprocessing steps, or inconsistent environments, may seem minor individually. However, when left unaddressed, they compound and can ultimately undermine the reliability of the entire system. This interview with Society member Zara Hussain, PhD candidate at the Australian National University who’s been researching reproducibility debt, examines these issues.
Funding Opportunities
CHARTED Funds 2 & 4 Open for Applications
CHARTED aims to make the training landscape easier to navigate for new and experienced digital Research Technical Professionals (dRTP), partly through funding community-driven activities and initiatives. We are now accepting applications for:
– Fund 2: Community Activities (maximum award per activity £5,000; deadline 15 June 2026)
– Fund 4: Professional Development (maximum award per individual £5,000; deadline 15 May 2026)
DisCouRSE Flexible Fund – Round 2
The second round of the DisCouRSE Network’s Flexible Funding scheme is now open, and closes at 16:00 BST on 5th June 2026. A webinar will be held on Tuesday 7th of May to provide further information. This second call has three strands: two main categories, with a third strand open to existing training providers only.
- Pilot projects of up to £15k total budget in any area relevant to DisCouRSE’s aims.
- Growth projects contributing to existing community initiatives, again aligned to DisCouRSE’s aims and with a £15k total budget limit.
- Cohort training: training providers are invited to bid to run a pilot leadership training programme, aligned to Work Package 3, for a dedicated cohort of dRTPs.
Society Updates
And finally, our regular reminder that we have a number of events, initiatives and resources that you might want to check out. These are linked below.
| Special Interest Groups | We have eight Special Interest Groups being run by our community members, and supported by the Society. Check out our SIGs page to get involved (or start your own!). |
| Events and Initiatives Fund | The Society has Events and Initiatives funding to provide support for events and initiatives which support our mission statement and charitable objectives. |
| Membership | Not yet a member? Why not join us today? We welcome anyone who supports our mission, whether or not they are employed as RSEs. |
| Jobs | A reminder that if you are looking for RSE-related jobs, you can join the #jobs channel on the RSE Slack workspace or visit our vacancies page. |
| Zenodo | We have a Community Zenodo Account for RSEs in the community to share publications about RSE. |
| Podcasts | Code for Thought is back and now in its ninth season, with episodes now in English, German and French. It is available on all major podcast directories, including YouTube. |
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