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

Upcoming STEP-UP project events

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, 12:30:00-17:00:00 +0100

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


Previous STEP-UP project events

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