How We Work

Our team of Research Software Engineers (RSEs) work with academics at every stage of the research lifecycle. We help to ensure that software is appropriately architected, well-engineered and sustainable; meaning that your research outputs are accurate and reproducible.

Applying for funding

Talk to us as you prepare your research funding application. We can help you plan the process of software development during your project. We can be costed into applications to write the code, or simply to provide reassurance to your funders that software outputs will be well-managed. UKRI now encourages the use of RSEs on its projects and members of our team have helped write its current software strategy.

Developing your research software

Our RSEs have a wealth of experience working with researchers across many disciplines. We know the research process, not just the technology. We work with you to understand your requirements and find the most appropriate solutions.

Our expertise covers a broad range of technologies – from High Performance Computing to Web, from Databases to IoT and Cloud. We write code in most commonly used programming languages including Python, C, C++, Fortran, Java, JavaScript, etc.

We’ve worked on more than 150 projects lasting from a few days to several years.

Training and Mentoring

As well as writing code ourselves, we work with researchers and other developers to offer guidance and support – for example help with selecting appropriate technologies and architectures.

More than a thousand researchers have attended our highly rated Software Carpentry workshops, providing a firm foundation in software engineering fundamentals.

Increasing Impact and Research Commercialisation

Maximising research impact is an increasingly important consideration. We can help the process of publishing your software outputs, advising on the selection of appropriate licences, and advice on growing and supporting a user community.

We also help researchers make their software ready for the commercial world. From ensuring robustness and standards compliance, to developing MVPs that secure investment, to developing and supporting commercially deployed applications, our team has enjoyed considerable success.

Software Archaeology

The period following the departure of a postgraduate student or postdoc sometimes leads to the discovery of partially functional, sparsely documented code that needs to be coaxed back into life; either to be extended or to reproduce results. This “Software Archaeology” is a particular specialty of our team.

Please also read our guide to acknowledging our contribution to research.

For more information on how we can help you, get in touch.