Meeting of South West RSEs at the University of Bath
When: Friday 31st July 2026, 10am – 4:00pm (refreshments from 9:30am for a 10am start)
Where: 10 West 2.47, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath, BA2 7AY (A3 on campus map)
Accessibility: Please see the University’s Campus Accessibility Map and the AccessAble guide to 10 West
Meeting blog
Read our meeting blog for a full write-up of the day, including summaries of all the talks and the panel discussion.
Organisers
- Stephen Cook
Purpose
It will be another day to showcase interesting topics, share knowledge and build networks. All are welcome, whether or not you are from the South West of the UK, and whether or not you self-define as a Research Software Engineer (RSE). What is an RSE?
Registration
Deadline for registering for talks passed (Friday 10th July 2026) Registration closed: Monday 20th July 2026. It is too late to arrange additional lunches, but interested parties can still sign up to attend the talks.
Outline Agenda
9:30-10:00 Welcome refreshments
Collect name badges and morning refreshments on level 2 of 10 West.
10:00-10:10 Introduction
- Introduction from Bath’s RSE Facility.
- James Thomas (Bristol): Introduction to RSE South West mailing list and website.
10:10-10:55 Keynote speaker
- Ed Bennett (Swansea): SHAREing
10:55-11:15 Morning refreshments
11:15-12:15 Contributed talks 1
Lightning talks:
- Tom Burnett (Bath) Intro to the Institute for Mathematical Innovation
- Miquel Perello Nieto (UoB) Launching our Mathematics Innovation Initiative (slides)
- Wilf Wilson (MO) SSE in space weather at the Met Office (slides)
Talks:
12:15-13:00 Lunch
Taking packed lunches either on the balcony or by the lake (5 minute walk).
13:00-14:00 Contributed talks 2
Lightning talks:
- Mateus Bernado-Harrigton (Cardiff) Pair Programming as Peer Mentorship: Building Research Software Communities One Session at a Time (slides)
- Evie Grace (UoB) Plotting the route from research engineering to policy: a Quarto geospatial analytics toolkit built with and for local government (slides)
- Emma Hogan (MO) What Happened Next? Advancing learning resources for iterative, customer-focused development of research software (slides)
Talks:
14:00-14:20 Afternoon refreshments
14:20-15:40 Contributed talks 3 and discussion
Lightning Talks:
- Francesco Devoto (MO) Machine Learning for Visibility Range Forecasting and Classification (slides)
- Honey Chauhan (Bath) Thousand calculations - multiple options: Choosing an HPC submission strategy (slides)
- Rita Rasteiro (UoB) DEICAP: Measuring the Hidden Carbon Cost of Digital Research (slides)
- Harry T Mason (UoB) Assessing the impact of COVID-19 on neurodegenerative diseases in vaccinated and unvaccinated people, using the secure OpenSAFELY platform (slides)
Talks:
- Roberto Scipioni (Red Oak) EasyBuild and EESSI the Initiative for Software Usage on HPCs (slides)
- Ashutosh Londhe (Bath) EuroHPC Access for UK Researchers: Opportunities Beyond Local HPC (slides)
Discussion:
- Ben Westhenry (UoB) How do you use GenAI for coding? (slides)
15:40-15:45 Close
Getting Here
Please see the University’s travel advice for general information. Roadworks in Bath city centre are affecting routes (Manvers Street, Bath - Road Closures), so please plan your journey accordingly and check the roadworks and traffic map before you travel.
By Bus
If you’re arriving at the Bath Spa train station, the nearest stop for campus is Grand Parade; walk north along Manvers Street, where you can catch the U1 bus.
By Car
Event parking is £6.00 per day, please use JustPark to make your payment using location code 860906. Please ensure that you follow the parking regulations when parking on site.
Car park: West Car Park (use JustPark and speak to the organisers about registering your car).
Code of conduct
All participants are expected to adhere to the Society of RSE code of conduct for events.
Contact Organisers
This event is being organised by the RSE Facility at Bath. To get in touch, find contact details on the Facility Lead’s Website.
Acknowledgements
We’re grateful to the Society of Research Software Engineering for providing financial support for this meeting.
Social
An informal pub trip to the beer garden at The Bell Inn, which serves sourdough pizza from The Pizza Bike.
The Bell Inn, 103 Walcot Street, Bath BA1 5BW