If the UK is to continue to be a major research leader, effort and resources must be invested into nurturing our community of Research Software Engineers. Without them, the software used in research will fail to meet the demands of researchers.
It is impossible to get the best out of research software if the people behind that software are not recognised and rewarded. Although most people enter the career because of a passion for applying their skills to challenging research problems, this cannot sustain a long-term career. After working in academia, many Research Software Engineers move to industry which highly values their expertise. It’s academia’s role to provide a highly skilled workforce for industry, but it’s also vital for the UK’s research economy to keep some Research Software Engineers working in academia.