Working Groups
What is a Working Group?
A working group addresses an unmet need or open question broadly across the US-RSE community. Unlike an affinity group, a working group must have a work product, deliverable, or specific goal, such as a report or a task that it performs. A working group may start with a need or problem and may or may not have specifically determined deliverables at the onset, but it should be something the community is large enough to support with a specific goal in mind.
How do I join a Working Group?
All the working groups have Slack channels, main points of contact, and/or email addresses. Look through the list below and view their pages for more details!
How do I make a new Working Group?
If you see an unmet need that a current working group is not addressing, we invite you to make your own! The Group Management Working Group provides a process for getting your new group set up, including all of the infrastructure to support it.
Please review the Processes and Requirements for Forming US-RSE Working Groups page for more details!
Active Working Groups
Code Review
The goal of the US-RSE Code Review Working Group is to build a community of RSEs who are
interested in code review. The working group will provide a forum to gather
resources related to code review, discuss the use of code review in research
software project, and seek help in conducting code reviews.
To get involved, visit the #wg-code-review channel on the US-RSE slack, or
contact the Code Review working group list.
Visit the Code Review Working Group page for more details and a catalog of work products.
Community Calls
The Community Calls Working Group plans monthly virtual meetings to promote community connections
and share information on topics of interest to US-RSE members. We usually have a brief
speaker or two, followed by some time spent in breakout rooms discussing the topic of the month.
Topics are chosen from a GitHub Issues list;
we encourage everyone in the community to submit ideas for future topics as Issues on this list.
To get involved, visit the #wg-community-calls channel on the US-RSE slack, or
contact the Community Calls working group list.
Visit the Community Calls Working Group page for more details and a catalog of work products.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
The US-RSE Association is committed to providing an inclusive environment with
equitable treatment for all and to promoting and encouraging diversity
throughout the RSE community in the US. At US-RSE, integrating DEI practices
into our education programs, governance structure, and culture is at the
forefront of our mission to ensure a welcoming, nurturing, and robustly
inclusive community. We believe that the amplification of diverse perspectives
is essential for driving innovation, promoting creativity, and encouraging
engagement for the success of RSEs. We welcome and respect individuals of
any race, color, caste, economic status, gender expression, gender identity,
sexual orientation, disability, age, religion, national origin, and ethnicity.
To get involved, visit the #wg-diversity-equity-inclusion channel on the US-RSE slack, or
contact the DEI working group list.
Visit the DEI Working Group page for more details and a catalog of work products.
Education & Training
The Education & Training Working Group is for those who are interested in
regular discussions about education and training for RSEs. The goal of the
group is to develop resources and strategies that support RSE education and
training and contribute to the establishment of a more formal career path for
RSEs. Thus far, we have begun describing the types of people who work as RSEs
and their training needs. We are also working on defining the list of skills
often needed by RSEs. Furthermore, we’ve begun to assemble a list of resources
for the US-RSE community, including a growing list of useful training links.
The group currently meets monthly via Zoom and welcomes all newcomers.
If you would like to join the conversation, please join the
#wg-education_training channel on the US-RSE Slack.
Visit the Education & Training Working Group page for more details and a catalog of work products.
Group Management
The US-RSE Group Management Working Group is dedicated to enabling support and conversation between the various US-RSE Working Groups. We strive to provide a platform for discussion between chairs and regular updates to the wider community on what the working groups are doing for US-RSE.
To get involved, visit the
#wg-group-management channel
on the US-RSE slack or contact the
Group Management working group list.
Mentorship Program
The US-RSE Mentorship Program aims to create and sustain an inter-institutional program dedicated to promoting mentorship among research software engineers within US-RSE. By actively exploring and developing effective strategies, we aim to create an inclusive and supportive environment that enables the growth and development of both mentees and mentors across institutions. Through our collaborative efforts, we seek to enhance the professional skills and career advancement opportunities for research software engineers, ultimately strengthening the research software engineering community as a whole.
To get involved, visit the
#wg-mentorship-program channel
on the US-RSE slack.
RSE Empowerment in National Labs
The RSE Empowerment in National Labs Working Group, conceptualized in 2022, is for those
who are interested in working towards the empowerment of RSEs in national labs and other similar organizations.
RSEs from national labs are an important part of the RSE community in the United States.
The goal of this working group is to understand the specific challenges faced by RSEs
in this ecosystem, advocate the goals and mission of US-RSE, assimilate resources that
help us educate and train RSEs, increase RSE awareness across the entire spectrum, and
create a community and sense of belonging among the RSEs at National Labs.
If you would like to join the conversation, please join us on
the #wg-national-labs-empowerment
channel on the US-RSE slack or contact us on the
national lab empowerment working group list.
Visit the RSE Empowerment in National Labs Working Group page for more details.
Testing
The Testing Working Group aims to bring together RSEs, researchers, and practitioners to discuss current limitations in testing research software, share knowledge, and collectively address cutting-edge challenges, thereby advancing the reliability and quality of research software. This will include examining, adapting, and using valuable industry software testing practices and methodologies, as well as studying and harnessing AI technologies. Some key focus areas include testing legacy code, ensuring comprehensive code coverage, and enhancing overall verification and validation processes.
If you would like to join the conversation, please join us on
the #wg-testing
channel on the US-RSE slack or contact us on the
Testing working group list.
Visit the Testing Working Group page for more details.
User Experience (UX)
The User Experience Working Group (UXWG) advocates for increased awareness and
adoption of user experience (UX) methods in research software engineering. UX
practices help create products that provide meaningful, relevant, and usable
experiences for target users. Our primary aims are to share knowledge, experiences,
and challenges and to foster a diverse and inclusive community for research
software UX practitioners and RSEs who are interested in UX. Doing so will
collectively help us advocate for and demystify UX to the larger RSE
community, scientists across domains, and funding agency staff who support
products and services. We welcome all who
are interested in helping us with this goal. To get involved,
visit the #wg-ux channel on
the US-RSE slack or contact the
UX working group list.
Visit the UX Working Group page for more details and a catalog of work products.
Website
The US-RSE Website Working Group assembled in late 2020/2021 to proactively work on the content and design of the US-RSE website.
If you are interested in working on the site, or want to suggest features or a
better design, you can join the #website channel on the US-RSE slack,
or jump right in and start a discussion on the
GitHub issues board.