Jasmin Frangenberg

For me, the deRSE25 was my chance to network and get to know all topics around RSE, which is a future career field for me that I am just exploring. I am currently a PhD student in the field of life science and bioinformatics seeking opportunities to interact with the RSE and FDM communities and get involved. This conference was the second big RSE event for me at all, and I am incredibly grateful for the JuRSE Travel Grant which allowed me to participate and to get new and foster old connections.

I was amazed by the diversity of topics which were presented in talks, keynote lectures and posters. Diverse domain-specific tools were shown where I (coming from biological sciences) tried hard to wrap my head around, but also how LLMs can be applied for automated code review which is closer to my personal everyday work life.

Not only different research fields but also initiatives like FSFE (Free Software Foundation Europe) or FIfF e.V. (Forum InformatikerInnen für Frieden und gesellschaftliche Verantwortung) were actively discussed during workshops and breaks, covering many aspects and implications of (research) software development on (among others) ethical, geopolitical, and ecological topics.

I would like to highlight one workshop which I valued a lot: The teachingRSE initiative aims to determine education systems for (new) RSEs and invited everyone to contribute ideas and opinions. Towards establishing methods and institutions to effectively train RSEs, we discussed 4 topics in rotating workgroups so that we maximized the output of the brainstorming. The results will be further structured and summarized into a position paper after the conference. Examples included a scenario in 10 years – “How will specialized RSEs interact with scientists in the AI era?” – or how to attract future RSEs in different stages of academia, where I could very well contribute my view as a PhD student coming from Biology originally.

I appreciate the great networking opportunity during the scientific and social events on deRSE25 which facilitate my next career steps. I am looking forward to staying in touch with some of the projects and people, and take home the impression of a diverse and very welcoming community. See you soon!