TY - BOOK

T1 - Towards a National Research Software Engineering Capability in Arts and Humanities Research: a Roadmap

AU - Beavan, David

AU - Piza, Andre

AU - Gillespie, Stuart

AU - Buchuck-Wilsenach, Cyara

AU - Bailey-Ross, Claire

AU - Jake, Bickford

AU - Chalstrey, Edward

AU - Chester-Kadwell, Mary

AU - Hong, Neil P. Chue

AU - Ciula, Arianna

AU - Cooper, Jonathan

AU - Couch, Tom J

AU - Sarah, Dietz

AU - Stephanie, Fagan

AU - Francois, Pieter

AU - Goudarouli, Eirini

AU - Grindley, Neil

AU - Guest, Felicity

AU - Hobson, Timothy

AU - Kitcher, Natasha

AU - Marchionni, Paola

AU - McDonough, Katherine

AU - Mellen, Pamela

AU - Osborne, Nicola

AU - Otty, Lisa

AU - Parsons, Mark

AU - Pidd, Michael

AU - Ramirez-Marengo, Clementina

AU - Emma, Rowlands

AU - Seip, Oscar

AU - Sichani, Anna-Maria

AU - Storrar, Thomas

AU - Terras, Melissa

AU - Tupman, Charlotte

AU - Weinzierl, Marion

AU - Westerling, Kalle

PY - 2025/3/25

Y1 - 2025/3/25

N2 - Executive Summary The increasing importance of digital methods in Arts and Humanities (A&H) research presents exciting opportunities and significant challenges. As ideas become more ambitious and projects grow in complexity – leveraging software development, large-scale data analysis, visualisation tools, and new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) – the need for dedicated research software engineering expertise has never been greater. However, Research Software Engineers (RSEs) remain in short supply, are unevenly distributed across institutions, and often lack the skills and training necessary to address A&H-specific research challenges. Meanwhile, many A&H researchers struggle to access the collaborative technical expertise required to innovate effectively and exploit the potential of digital methods. This Roadmap outlines a strategic plan to establish a national, people-centred A&H RSE Capability, ensuring that digital expertise is accessible and sustainable within A&H research. It proposes: a UK-wide Directory and community of RSEs a programme of new and existing skills and training initiatives matchmaking mechanisms to facilitate collaboration an outreach and community-building programme to promote the networking, open-practice collaboration and knowledge exchange that will be crucial for the Capability's effectiveness an Incubator to drive innovation in reusable research methods and tools continuous monitoring and evaluation to ensure the Capability’s long-term success. The expected outcomes of the Capability include: increased access to RSE expertise, unlocking new digital research opportunities in A&H skills and career development for both researchers and RSEs sustainable infrastructure, supporting long-term growth and innovation greater cross-disciplinary impact as A&H digital research methods and knowledge benefit STEM and other domains a more robustly interconnected ecosystem and community that is easier to navigate and collaborate within. Beyond infrastructural improvements, the Capability will foster concrete advancements in A&H research by creating the conditions for innovative, high-impact scholarship. By facilitating non-consumptive computational research on collections such as those held by The National Archives, UK, it will connect curators and researchers with essential technical expertise, enabling new forms of large-scale analysis and interpretation. Additionally, the Capability’s...

AB - Executive Summary The increasing importance of digital methods in Arts and Humanities (A&H) research presents exciting opportunities and significant challenges. As ideas become more ambitious and projects grow in complexity – leveraging software development, large-scale data analysis, visualisation tools, and new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) – the need for dedicated research software engineering expertise has never been greater. However, Research Software Engineers (RSEs) remain in short supply, are unevenly distributed across institutions, and often lack the skills and training necessary to address A&H-specific research challenges. Meanwhile, many A&H researchers struggle to access the collaborative technical expertise required to innovate effectively and exploit the potential of digital methods. This Roadmap outlines a strategic plan to establish a national, people-centred A&H RSE Capability, ensuring that digital expertise is accessible and sustainable within A&H research. It proposes: a UK-wide Directory and community of RSEs a programme of new and existing skills and training initiatives matchmaking mechanisms to facilitate collaboration an outreach and community-building programme to promote the networking, open-practice collaboration and knowledge exchange that will be crucial for the Capability's effectiveness an Incubator to drive innovation in reusable research methods and tools continuous monitoring and evaluation to ensure the Capability’s long-term success. The expected outcomes of the Capability include: increased access to RSE expertise, unlocking new digital research opportunities in A&H skills and career development for both researchers and RSEs sustainable infrastructure, supporting long-term growth and innovation greater cross-disciplinary impact as A&H digital research methods and knowledge benefit STEM and other domains a more robustly interconnected ecosystem and community that is easier to navigate and collaborate within. Beyond infrastructural improvements, the Capability will foster concrete advancements in A&H research by creating the conditions for innovative, high-impact scholarship. By facilitating non-consumptive computational research on collections such as those held by The National Archives, UK, it will connect curators and researchers with essential technical expertise, enabling new forms of large-scale analysis and interpretation. Additionally, the Capability’s...

U2 - 10.5281/zenodo.15083396

DO - 10.5281/zenodo.15083396

M3 - Commissioned report

T3 - Zenodo

BT - Towards a National Research Software Engineering Capability in Arts and Humanities Research: a Roadmap

PB - Zenodo

ER -