Open hackathon to prototype discipline-overarching research software engineering (RSE) frameworks.

Research Software Engineering (RSE) practice and training remain fragmented along disciplinary lines: each field reinvents tooling, conventions, and teaching material, so we will conduct an open hackathon to prototype discipline-overarching RSE frameworks — shared, reusable building blocks that work across the social sciences, life sciences, and the humanities rather than within a single silo.

In two days, the team will produce an overall system design (such as a UML diagram) and a working end-to-end prototype. We will use a thin-slice approach: rather than spending time building a complete database or UI, we will connect just enough of each layer to show a user interacting with a real, working feature.

Practical information

The hackathon takes place at University of Glasgow, Scotland on the 26th and 27th of November, 2026.

Day 1: lightning talks framing the challenges, team formation, and prototyping

Day 2: build a short showcase and a community roadmap for carrying winning prototypes forward.

Hybrid attendance for remote contributors is also possible.

The coolest module gets an award and stiped.

People involved (https://personalhel.github.io/RSE-hackathon/contacts.html)

Description supplied by the event organiser.