Challenges and opportunities in research software funding

class: center, middle

# <strike>Challenges</strike> Opportunities for computational research funding

Yo Yehudi - Technology Lead<br>
Data for Science and Health - Wellcome Trust

Twitter: @yoyehudi<br>
Fediverse: @yoyehudi@scholar.social

---
# About me
<img src="https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/9271438?s=400&u=67212f487f50781b0ae81ebdb05ee0fefa4ae2e1&v=4" alt="Yo standing with the sea behind them, wearing a deep blue shirt and a sunhat" width="300px" height="300px" style="float:left;margin: 0em 1em 1em 0em;"/>
### Software engineer who accidentally found academia
<div style="clear:both">Previously: tech support -> industry (retail web development) -> academic spinout -> research software engineering.</div>

---
class: center, middle
# Things I learned as an RSE I

### The only person who cares if my code works is the person who maintains it in the future (who might also be me)...

(Less than ideal!)

---
class: center, middle
# Things I learned as an RSE II

### Funding is precarious 😭

---
class: center, middle
# Things I learned as an RSE III

### Code != papers

---
class: center, middle
# Things I learned as an RSE IV

### I was often considered "support staff" and not a researcher

---
class: center, middle
# Challenge -> opportunity

---
# Opportunity (for funders):
### Treat code as a research output
In order to gain funding, researchers may (justifiably) feel the need to hide the code aspects of their work in a grant application, or not realise they are doing (or should be doing) software engineering / data science.

- [Digital infrastructure is crucial to scientific progress](https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/digital-infrastructure-crucial-scientific-progress) (Khokhar, Mateen)
- [A path to the light: stopping ‘secret’ software, managing maintenance and evidencing impact](https://www.software.ac.uk/blog/2021-05-27-path-light-stopping-secret-software-managing-maintenance-and-evidencing-impact) (Yehudi, Antonioletti, Graham, Brown, Sufi)

---

# Opportunity (for funders):
### RSEs are "roadies" for research
Recognise and reward talent by providing career pathways for all aspects of software engineering:
- Coders
- Technical writers
- Accessibility experts
- User experience (UX)
- Designers
- Community managers and trainers

---
# Opportunity (for funders):
### Save money by not re-inventing good wheels

> How can we justify spending money on maintenance? 💸

👉 How can we not?!

Maintain software that exists and works, even if no new exciting features are added.

---
# Opportunity (for RSEs):
### Share your software for your own benefit
- Code developed for research is a research output and a research method.
- You can involve non-scientists and non-researchers in your code quite effectively, with initiatives like [Google Summer of Code](https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/), [Outreachy](https://www.outreachy.org/), [Hacktoberfest](https://hacktoberfest.digitalocean.com/).
- Building **community** gives the chance for more bug reports, testing, better docs.

---
# Improve the diversity of your teams
###  Places where diversity tends to be bad:
- software engineering
- open source
- some research domains

We're at the intersection of these places!

---
# To recap:

- Code is a **research method** and a **research output**
- RSE **careers** need to be valued
- Software needs explicit **maintenance** funding

---
# Wellcome Trust

Wellcome supports science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone.

We support discovery research into life, health and wellbeing, and we’re taking on three worldwide health challenges: mental health, infectious disease and climate.

---
# Thank you

My email: [y.yehudi@wellcome.org](mailto:y.yehudi@wellcome.org)

The team: [ContactDataForScienceAndHealth@wellcome.org](mailto:ContactDataForScienceAndHealth@wellcome.org)

Twitter: [yoyehudi](https://twitter.com/yoyehudi)