How to join us
If you would like to join, get in touch by email via [email protected]. We have meetings every two weeks. There is no obligation to take on work, or even attend regularly. See below for more information about what we do and how we work.
What we do
The Policy and Funding working group is an extension of the Governance subgroup, and will work closely with the Governance subgroup in fulfilling its aims and objectives. These include:
- Provision of advice and training for members of the community and external committees on RSE policy in engaging with funders and relevant organisations to advocate and lobby for the RSE community.
- Generation and maintenance of a Policy and Funding strategy.
- Support for collaboration between government, funders and employers (particularly universities and Principle Investigators). Create national policies aimed at improving standards of employment for RSEs in academia and industry around length of contract, career paths and pay standards by means of standard assessment criteria. This goal is also aligned with the Society’s Charitable Mission Statement: “…to support the creation of an academic career path for Research Software Engineers.”
- Actively involving community members, including those with experience working with stakeholder and funders, in achieving the above goals and co-creating the Society’s strategy document with their involvement.
We welcome new initiatives that progress the Society’s Policy and Funding aims.
For more detailed information consult our Policy and Funding Working Group Terms of Reference as well as our Strategy document.
RSE Landscape Review and Policy and Funding Strategy
We are currently working on updating our Policy and Funding strategy. We welcome feedback and suggestions. Please email us and/or join the Policy and Funding working group to help us improve!
How does the group work?
The Policy and Funding group aims to meet every two weeks for up to an hour. In those meetings we discuss and review current goals, progress on tasks and anything else that is recent and relevant. Generally, the group as a whole will work on a few projects or other policy & funding activities, and members will contribute what time they can to tasks.
Although we do not discuss anything confidential at the meetings, Policy and Funding discussions can be sensitive and potentially personal in nature so we encourage members to show respect and caution in sharing discussed matters outwith the group.
For more formal details on how the group relates to the Society as a whole, see our Policy and Funding Working Group Terms of Reference.
Policy and Funding Evidence Bank
If you know of any Policy and Funding resources that you think will be useful to the RSE community, please help us out by emailing us the resource!
Upcoming Events
RSE Leaders & Aspiring Leaders meeting, which will be held at Durham University on Monday 15 June. The event will run from 11.00 to 17.00, with coffee and tea available from 10.30.
This event will focus on the policy and funding landscape for RSEs. The Society has recently launched a Policy & Funding Working Group to help the Society better advocate for RSEs with institutions, funders, and policy makers. Attendees will contribute to the Working Group’s strategy and help shape the key advocacy areas that the Society will focus on in the coming years.
If you plan to attend, please register by Monday 11 May.
Provisional agenda:
10:30 AM – Arrival, registration & coffee
11:00 AM – Welcome
11:15 AM – Keynote
12:00 PM – Lunch
1:00 PM – Lightning talks from RSE leaders on policy wins or failures
1:40 PM – Workshop #1: Identify key areas of focus for SocRSE policy & funding strategy
2:30 PM – Break
3:00 PM – Attend HPC Days keynote
4:00 PM – Break
4:15 PM – Workshop #2: Identify key stakeholders, begin developing policy evidence bank, or identify potential working group members
4:55 PM – Wrap up and outline of next steps for policy & funding work in Society
5:00 PM – End of day
We invite participants to submit 5-minute lightning talks reflecting on policy successes (or failures) within their institutions or disciplinary communities.
There will be some funding to support travel bursaries. If you require support to attend in-person, please indicate that when you register.
Funding and lightning talk decisions will be communicated by 18 May.
Lunch will be provided – please indicate any dietary requirements when you register.
We will also provide the option for people to attend virtually. If you plan to join online, please indicate that when you register and we will share joining instructions prior to the event.
The event will run alongside Durham HPC Days, which is taking place from 15-19 June. If you wish to attend any of the other sessions of Durham HPC Days, you will need to register separately. For those staying in Durham after the meeting, there will be an informal pub trip that all are welcome to attend.
The event is jointly hosted by Durham University Advanced Research Computing, SocRSE’s Policy & Funding Working Group, and the RSE Leaders Network SIG.