US-RSE: �Empowering Hidden Contributors Driving Science

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May 23, 2024

Sandra Gesing

sandra@us-rse.org

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Hidden Contributors – Inspirations for the Title�

The real “Hidden Figures”: Dorothy Vaughan, �Katherine Johnson and Mary Jackson/Fotos courtesy from NASA

Human Computers

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• Late 19^th – early 20^th century at Harvard
• Since 1935 at NASA

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Hidden Contributors – Inspirations for the Title�

https://hidden-ref.org/

From the UK

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Research

Excellence

Framework

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Hidden Contributors – Inspirations for the Title�

https://hidden-ref.org/

Hidden roles

These roles can include, but are not limited to

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Clinical trials managers 

Data stewards and managers 

Librarians 

Technicians 

Lived Experience Contributors 

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Research Software Engineers 

Professional Research Investment and Strategy Managers 

Professional Services Personnel

Public Engagement Professionals Researcher Developers

Research Knowledge Engineers

Research Managers and Administrators

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Hidden Contributors – Inspirations for the Title�

https://hidden-ref.org/

Hidden roles

These roles can include, but are not limited to

​

Clinical trials managers 

Data stewards and managers 

Librarians 

Technicians 

Lived Experience Contributors 

​

Research Software Engineers 

Professional Research Investment and Strategy Managers 

Professional Services Personnel

Public Engagement Professionals Researcher Developers

Research Knowledge Engineers

Research Managers and Administrators

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

What is a Research Software Engineer?

A Research Software Engineer (RSE) combines professional software engineering expertise with an intimate understanding of research.

https://society-rse.org/about/

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We like an inclusive definition of Research Software Engineers to encompass those who regularly use expertise in programming to advance research. This includes researchers who spend a significant amount of time programming, full-time software engineers writing code to solve research problems, and those somewhere in-between. We aspire to apply the skills and practices of software development to research to create more robust, manageable, and sustainable research software.

https://us-rse.org/about/what-is-an-rse/

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https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Research Software Engineers

http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.843607

• 50% neither formal nor informal �training �in software engineering

Lack of career paths in the US

Lack of incentives to stay in academia

and/or national labs

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

US Research Software Engineers Association

Movement and Term: Born in the UK

• 2012 SSI’s Collaborations Workshop - “Research Software Engineer”
• Late 2013 UKRSE Association forms
• Since 2019 Society of Research Software Engineering

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https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Part of an International Movement

Photo by Antonia Cozacu, Jan Philipp Dietrich, de-RSE e.V. (CC BY 4.0).

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https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

2013

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

2024

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

US-RSE – The First Steps�

• US: Winter 2017-2018 
• US Survey of RSEs: ~175 responses
• 12 responded with interest to build a national community
• UK Sponsored 1^st International RSE Leaders Meeting
• 5 US delegates
• Jan-Feb 2018: US-RSE Slack workspace and first website go live
• Building of steering committee in 2018
• First Steering Committee elections and Annual General Meeting in 2020

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https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

US-RSE Mission

1. Community
• Create a professional community to share knowledge, connections, and resources
2. Advocacy
• Promote RSEs impact on research, highlighting the critical and valuable role RSEs serve
3. Resources
• Provide access to information and material to support individuals and RSE groups
4. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Actively promote, encourage, and improve diversity within RSE community

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

US-RSE

A community-driven grassroots organization

Members:

• Writing and contributing research software at
• Universities, laboratories, knowledge institutes, companies, & more
• Interested in research software engineer careers
• Students, researchers, software engineers
• Identifying as RSE “allies”
• Manage, sponsor, support

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https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Membership Growth

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

US-RSE Members

https://us-rse.org/usrse-map

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

US-RSE Members

https://us-rse.org/usrse-map

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

US-RSE Resources

• Website
• Newsletters
• Slack Workspace
• LinkedIn, Twitter, Mastodon
• Job Board
• YouTube

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

US-RSE Recurring & Upcoming Events

• Monthly Community Calls
• Annual Conference
• Funder Speaker Series*
• DEI Speaker Series* & Media Club
• Education & Training Speaker Series*
• Conference Panels/BoFs/Workshops/Outreach

https://us-rse.org/events/

*Many available on US-RSE YouTube channel

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Working & Other Groups

Affinity groups

• RSE Group Leaders' Network
• Neuroscience group (under discussion)

Regional groups

• Chicago
• Front Range (CO)
• New England
• New Orleans

Working groups

• Awards
• Code of Conduct and Moderation
• Code Review
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
• Education & Training
• Grants
• Group Management
• Mentorship Program
• Outreach
• RSE Empowerment in National Labs
• User Experience (UX)
• Website
• Regional and affinity groups (being formed)

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Resource - Career Guidebook

• US-RSE & ADSA Career Support Workshop (Oct ‘22)
• Guidebook for RSE & DS career paths in academia
• Published in Aug ‘23 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8264153

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100+ pages!

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Resource - RSE Career Guide

• In partnership with IEEE Computer Society*
• 25 page brochure
• Intro and background
• How to build an RSE Career
• Why Research Software Engineering?
• Published in Nov ‘23
• Zenodo & https://us-rse.org/resources/rses

*Special thanks to Dan Katz for leading the effort!

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10073233

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Resource – Getting Started with the RSE Movement within Your Organization

• By the National Organization Empowerment Working Group
• 19 page brochure
• Raising Awareness
• Building informal to formal groups
• Recruiting allies
• Published end of December ‘23
• Zenodo & https://us-rse.org/resources/rses

https://zenodo.org/records/10436166

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

US-RSE - Fiscal Sponsor

• January ‘23: we switched to a new fiscal sponsor
• After ~2 years, US-RSE left Open Collective Foundation (OCF)
• Community Initiatives - 501(c)(3) non-profit
• US-RSE is a “sponsored project”
• Provides grant support, legal services, support for crowdfunding�and donation management, and certain types of insurance for volunteers
• Enables US-RSE to hire staff
• We are still navigating the non-profit landscape!

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

US-RSE Grant

Enabling investment in 3 key and �transformative areas:

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1. Dedicated staff
2. Activities & initiatives
3. Organizational tools & �community health

So excited!

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Newly-Enabled Strategic Investments

Dedicated staff

Full-time Community Manager

Support and grow internal US-RSE �community activities

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Part-time Executive Director

� Long-term financial sustainability of the organization

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Community Manager Sophia Anyatonwu

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Newly-Enabled Strategic Investments

Dedicated staff

Activities and initiatives

• Full-time Community Manager
• Part-time Executive Director

• Conference
• Enable signing contracts
• Bootstrap first two years
• Community Funds
• Provide funding to members
• https://us-rse.org/grants-and-awards/
• Awards
• Research Software Engineering Awards

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Community Initiative & Travel Funds

• Program Goals:
• Grow and diversify the US-RSE community and larger RSE community
• Connect people within the US-RSE community
• Assist individuals to grow in their own career
• Increase visibility and viability of Research Software Engineering as a career
• Create opportunities for underserved community members
• Applications fall into two categories:
• Community: These benefit a group of individuals within the community (e.g., hosting a regional group meetup)
• Individual: These benefit an individual applicant (e.g., a travel grant)
• Funding
• From $100-$10,000 per proposal
• Most expected to be <$2,500

https://us-rse.org/funds-and-awards/

Next deadline: June 30

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Community Awards

Goals

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• Recognize individuals who have made noteworthy contributions to RSE community.
• Recognize individuals who have helped US-RSE mission.
• Connect people within the US-RSE community.
• Assist individuals to grow in their own career.
• Increase visibility and viability of Research Software Engineering as a career.

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US-RSE Excellence in Service

US-RSE Impact Award

�

https://us-rse.org/community-awards/

Announcement: May 30, 2024

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Newly-Enabled Strategic Investments

Dedicated staff

Activities and initiatives

Organizational tools & community health

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• Full-time Community Manager
• Part-time Executive Director

• Conference
• Community Funds
• Awards

• DEI consulting
• Code of Conduct response training
• Swag!
• Tools & software to make US-RSE more effective

https://otter.technology/

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Next Stage and Next Steps�

• I know that there are things I don’t know about non-profit
• I know that I don’t know how some sustainability measures can work out, e.g., membership fees

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

The Basis of US-RSE are the Members

Only a growing vibrant community opens up possibilities

for financial sustainability

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Reasons why members joined

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• Feeling addressed and included
• Belonging to a community
• A space for discussions
• A space for learning
• Support of a non-traditional career path

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https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Sustainability

Study of nearly 900 associations

• What are the primary challenges to association growth?
• How do dues affect membership?
• Why do members join and renew?
• What are the common uses for social media?
• How does your association compare with similar �associations?

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https://www.marketinggeneral.com/knowledge-bank/reports/

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Sustainability

Study of nearly 900 associations

• What are the primary challenges to association growth?
• How do dues affect membership?
• Why do members join and renew?
• What are the common uses for social media?
• How does your association compare with similar �associations?

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Main two reasons for being a member

1. Access to a unique community of like-minded individuals
2. Access to specialized information and resources in our niche 

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Sustainability

Study of nearly 900 associations

• What are the primary challenges to association growth?
• How do dues affect membership?
• Why do members join and renew?
• What are the common uses for social media?
• How does your association compare with similar �associations?

​

​

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Main two reasons for being a member

1. Access to a unique community of like-minded individuals
2. Access to specialized information and resources in our niche 

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Next Steps

• Grant writing
• Unicorn fundraiser

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Our unicorns are not really growing on trees –

they are ready to travel to you though!

https://give.communityin.org/02OaKa?ref=ab_5CNhbc

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Next Steps

• Grant writing
• Unicorn fundraiser
• Community manager awards and �member snapshots

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Next Steps

• Grant writing
• Unicorn fundraiser
• Community manager awards and member snapshots
• Organizational memberships

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• Start at PEARC 2024
• Founding members have status for lifetime
• For 1.5 years 3-monthly meeting with Steering Committee, Executive Director and Community Manager
• THIS IS YOUR TIME TO HELP SHAPE US-RSE!

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Organizational Membership - Discussion

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Next Steps

• Grant writing
• Unicorn fundraiser
• Community manager awards and member snapshots
• Organizational memberships
• Membership database

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Pilot

• Local chapter at TACC
• Maybe also at Texas A&M?

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Establishing Unconventional Paths

Changing Academic Culture

Welcoming and �Sustainable

Environment

Keep�Grass-Root

Character

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Get Involved

• Most activity is happening in Slack...
• Can I post in #<insert_channel_name>?
• Yes!
• Can I create a channel in Slack?
• Yes!
• Can I start an initiative or organize an activity/event?
• Yes!
• Can I join a working group?
• Yes!
• Can I start a working group?
• Yes!
• Is US-RSE only for HPC, national labs, universities, etc.?
• No!

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https://us-rse.org/join

Free signup for newsletter and slack.

https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org

Thanks!

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sandra@us-rse.org

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https://us-rse.org

@us_rse@fosstodon.org