Beavan, David and Piza, Andre and Gillespie, Stuart and Buchuck-Wilsenach, Cyara and Bailey-Ross, Claire and Jake, Bickford and Chalstrey, Edward and Chester-Kadwell, Mary and Hong, Neil P. Chue and Ciula, Arianna and Cooper, Jonathan and Couch, Tom J and Sarah, Dietz and Stephanie, Fagan and Francois, Pieter and Goudarouli, Eirini and Grindley, Neil and Guest, Felicity and Hobson, Timothy and Kitcher, Natasha and Marchionni, Paola and McDonough, Katherine and Mellen, Pamela and Osborne, Nicola and Otty, Lisa and Parsons, Mark and Pidd, Michael and Ramirez-Marengo, Clementina and Emma, Rowlands and Seip, Oscar and Sichani, Anna-Maria and Storrar, Thomas and Terras, Melissa and Tupman, Charlotte and Weinzierl, Marion and Westerling, Kalle (2025) Towards a National Research Software Engineering Capability in Arts and Humanities Research: a Roadmap. [Report]
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
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...