Giving RSEs a Larger Stage through the Better Scientific Software Fellowship

TL;DR

The paper discusses the impact of the Better Scientific Software Fellowship in elevating the role and recognition of research software engineers, fostering community growth, and promoting sustainable scientific software practices.

Contribution

It provides case studies demonstrating how BSSwF has benefited RSEs and the scientific community, highlighting the program's role in increasing visibility and recognition.

Findings

BSSwF has helped RSEs expand their collaborations.

The program increased the visibility of scientific software efforts.

Participants reported enhanced recognition and community engagement.

Abstract

The Better Scientific Software Fellowship (BSSwF) was launched in 2018 to foster and promote practices, processes, and tools to improve developer productivity and software sustainability of scientific codes. BSSwF's vision is to grow the community with practitioners, leaders, mentors, and consultants to increase the visibility of scientific software production and sustainability. Over the last five years, many fellowship recipients and honorable mentions have identified as research software engineers (RSEs). This paper provides case studies from several of the program's participants to illustrate some of the diverse ways BSSwF has benefited both the RSE and scientific communities. In an environment where the contributions of RSEs are too often undervalued, we believe that programs such as BSSwF can be a valuable means to recognize and encourage community members to step outside of their regular commitments and expand on their work, collaborations and ideas for a larger audience.