Working in Harmony: Towards Integrating RSEs into Multi-Disciplinary CSE Teams

Abstract: Within the rapidly diversifying field of computational science and engineering (CSE), research software engineers (RSEs) represent a shift towards the adoption of mainstream software engineering tools and practices into scientific software development. An unresolved challenge is the need to effectively integrate RSEs and their expertise into multi-disciplinary scientific software teams. There has been a long-standing "chasm" between the domains of CSE and software engineering, and the emergence of RSEs as a professional identity within CSE presents an opportunity to finally bridge that divide. For this reason, we argue there is an urgent need for systematic investigation into multi-disciplinary teaming strategies which could promote a more productive relationship between the two fields.