This page provides details of our STEP-UP project events.

Upcoming STEP-UP project events

A group of people working on a group project, seated around a table looking at a laptop. Photo by Jo Mieszkowski for Imperial College London

Software Carpentry workshop: Introductory Shell, Git, and Python for research

Date: Wednesday 3 December 2025 - Friday 5 December 2025

This Software Carpentry workshop is for researchers developing software or process data as part of their research. It will provide an introduction to working with the Unix/Linux command line (bash shell), version control (git), and programming in Python to support more efficient and reproducible research. See the schedule and register


A group of people engaged in a group projected, seated around a table with multiple laptops. Photo by Thomas Angus for Imperial College London

Building a comprehensive and coordinated training landscape for dRTPs

Date: Thursday 27 November 2025, 10:30-16:00 BST

There are many repositories of excellent dRTP training, e.g. the Carpentries, CodeRefinery, ELIXIR, HDR UK Futures, DRESA… So if we’re developing new training, how do we make sure we’re (1) not duplicating effort and (2) developing training for all the skills needed? This workshop is for anyone involved in developing, delivering, or investing in skills training for research software, data, and computing infrastructure professionals. Register here


Performance Profiling & Optimisation for Python

Date: Wednesday 5 November 2025, 10:00-17:30 GMT (TBC)

Is your research code (in Python) slower than you’d like it to be? Do you want to optimise your code performance, but you’re not sure how? This introductory level workshop will show you how to assess where time is being spent during execution of a Python program and introduce good practices for optimising your code. It will also provide a high level overview of how code executes and how this maps to the limiting factors of performance. Hosted by the King’s College London e-Research team, in person at the King’s College London Strand campus.

Register here


Software Carpentry: Introduction to Python, version control, and the Unix shell

Date: Monday 3 November 2025 - Tuesday 4 November 2025

Carpentries workshops teach computational skills that help researchers work more efficiently, using lessons and datasets that allow researchers to quickly apply what they have learned to their own work. This workshop is suitable for researchers with little to no prior computational experience and will include an introduction to the Unix shell; programming in Python; and version control with Git. Hosted by the King’s College London e-Research team, in person at the King’s College London Strand campus.

Register here


Previous STEP-UP project events

Two research computing engineers conferring in a data centre. Photo by Dave Guttridge for Imperial College London

Building central research computation facilities at London universities

Date: Wednesday 22 October 2025, 12:30-16:00 BST

What does it take to build a central research computing facility in a university setting? This session explores the practical, strategic, and cultural dimensions of establishing shared infrastructure for research computing in research performing organisations in London. This event is co-organised by the STEP-UP project and King’s College London RSE community.

Register here


A group of researchers talking around a conference table. Photo by Thomas Angus via Imperial College London

Recognising research software: licensing, credit, and quality

Date: Thursday 4 September 2025, 12:30-17:00 BST

Software is a cornerstone of modern research, but too often it’s overlooked as a formal research output. This session is for research software engineers and researchers who want to ensure their code is protected, reusable, and professionally recognised. We’ll unpack the essentials of copyright and licensing for research software: how to choose a licence that aligns with your goals, navigate intellectual property (IP) ownership, ensure your software is legally reusable by others, handle third-party dependencies, document your licensing choices, and align with institutional or funder policies.

Register here


One Birdcage Walk, London. Photo by IMEchE

STEP-UP RSLondon Conference 2025

Date: Monday 7 July 2025, 10:00-16:30 BST

Join us at One Birdcage Walk for the 6th edition of our regional community conference. We’re expanding the event to have separate tracks focusing on research software, research data and research computing infrastructure.

See the Conference page for full details and to register.


A street view of King's College London's Strand campus Photo by King’s College London

Digital Humanities & Research Software Engineering Summer School 2025

Date: Monday 30 June 2025, 08:30-19:00 BST

The DH & RSE Summer School 2025, hosted at King’s College London, Strand Campus, combines talks and practical activities and will explore how the intersection of digital humanities and software engineering is shaped across different UK institutions. Participants will have an opportunity to gain an invaluable insight into the roles and practices of Research Software Engineering in Digital Humanities research.

Further information and registration


An exterior view of the Institute of Education building at UCL. Photo by UCL

UCL Open Science Festival / STEP-UP dRTP event

Date: Tuesday 3 June 2025, 14:00-16:00 BST

Calling all researchers and research technology professionals to come together to discuss challenges and opportunities to support open research! This event is part of the Open Science & Scholarship Festival 2025 and will focus on the skills and training needed to enable research software engineers, data stewards, and computational infrastructure developers to support researchers working to create a culture of Open Science. If you are a researcher - what do you need in terms of technical support and services? If you are a research technology professional - what skills and training do you need to be able to offer this support?

Register here


People sitting in a conference talk in a small seminar room. Photo by Brendan Foster via Imperial College London

STEP-UP Imperial RSE community event 2025

Date: Friday 30 May 2025, 14:00-17:00 BST

Join us for our next STEP-UP/RSLondon/Imperial RS Community get-together on Friday 30th May 2025 at Imperial’s White City Campus. The event will provide an informal forum for members of the community to share experiences, network and learn about new tools and techniques which might benefit their own work.

Further information and registration


A group of people standing in a room. Photo by M ACCELERATOR on Unsplash

STEP-UP Westminster dRTP event 2025

Date: Monday 12 May 2025, 13:00-16:00 BST

As research is becoming increasingly computational and the demand for dRTPs is growing rapidly, we see different models emerging for where these technical professionals are based. When is it better for dRTPs to be embedded in research groups vs in central teams? Join us to explore how different universities in London organise their software, data and computing infrastructure professionals. What factors lie behind embedding this expertise within discipline-specific teams, or within central teams? What are the pros and cons of each system? This event is organised by the STEP-UP project and is hosted by the University of Westminster.

Register here