Welcome to the 2025 DRI Retreat! Building on the success of the pilot program we ran in 2022, we are happy to be back in Manchester again. The original event was inspired by the “virtual residency” hosted by Oklahoma Supercomputing Centre (USA) that has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) since 2015 under the leadership of Henry Neeman. This event has been customized to meet the needs of the UK community, with contributions from RSE, RIE and RDMs. The funding has come from STFC, and the organization & vision has come from N8 CIR.
We are excited to have around 100 in-person attendees this year, and over 40 online in a fully hybrid event. You are all very welcome. We hope you will find this event different from anything else you have attended. The intention is not to have experts tell you what to do with lots of PowerPoint, but rather to have facilitated panels and open-to-the-floor discussions, where everyone can share their experiences and learn from each other. Hence, the focus is on research software engineers, infrastructure engineers, and data managers at any stage of their careers, especially those new to these fields. Whoever you are, and whatever your career stage, we hope you will find this retreat to be informative and useful, an opportunity to reflect on your skills and needs, and a chance to network with others in the community.
Have fun, and enjoy the retreat!
Matt Probert, Director of N8 CIR.
Interact with the panellists and all attendees (online and in-person)
There is time in the programme for Q&A at the end of each session. This will be facilitated in the room but we will be using Slido for online participants which we have set up as daily events. Slido includes the ability to ask questions and answer polls that we can share with the room. You can use it on your phone or a web browser without creating an account. You can access this by either:
- Going to Slido.com (Slido link will go live on Monday 13th January)
- Clicking on the link button
- Scanning the QR code
In-person attendees can use these pages during the retreat and are available now so once you have read the programme feel free to go to the Slido link for the relevant day and ask your questions. Please don't be anonymous and include the session in which you would like your question to be asked. Questions can be voted up, so those you want to be asked are.
Thanks.
Monday 13th January : COLLABORATION AND COMMUNICATION
EVENT CODE 3854963
Access Slido Event directly
Tuesday 14th January : FINDING ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS
EVENT CODE 3959725
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Wednesday 15th January : EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND THE FUTURE OF DRI
EVENT CODE 7827232
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Thursday 16th January : LEADERSHIP AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT
EVENT CODE 8503138
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Friday 17th January : THE WAY FORWARD FOR DRI PROFESSIONALS
EVENT CODE 1118672
Access Slido Event directly
Learn more about the panellist from reading their biographies
The programme is available to download below
DRI Retreat 2025 ProgrammeMonday 13th January
COLLABORATION AND COMMUNICATION
Attendee table allocation and programme for Monday 13th January
| 09:00-10:30 |
Welcome and Registration
|
| 10:30-10:45 |
Introductory address
Alan Real (Durham University) |
|
SESSION TWO 10:45-11:30 |
Building trust and effective communication between DRI professionals and researchers from different disciplines
Chair: Saranjeet Kaur Bhogal (Imperial College London) Panellists: Arianna Ciula (King's College London), Kirsty Merrett (University of Bristol), Paul Niklas Ruth (ARC, University of Durham), Massimillano Fasi (University of Leeds), Tobias Weinzierl (University of Durham) |
| 11:30-12:00 | Break |
|
SESSION THREE 12:00-13:00 Round Table Discussion Session |
Linking all DRI Roles, how do we ensure collaboration across the professions?
Facilitated by: Sophie Janacek (UKRI) |
| 13:00-14:00 | LUNCH |
|
SESSION FOUR 14:00-15:00 |
Provision of training materials and digital support networks for academics
Chair: Chris Jewell (Lancaster University) Panellists: Eamonn Bell (University of Durham), Keming Yang (University of Durham), Stephanie Thompson (University of Birmingham), Tristan Martin (University of Manchester) |
| 15:00-15:30 | Break |
|
SESSION FIVE 15:30-16:15 |
Making connections as the ‘lone’ DRI professional in you workspace and hybrid working solutions
Chair: Manhui Wang (University of Liverpool) Panellists: Ben Pietras (University of Liverpool), Diego Alonso Alvarez (Imperial College London), Martin Wolstencroft (University of Bradford), Saranjeet Kaur Bhogal (Imperial College London), Sam Bland (University of York) |
Tuesday 14th January
FINDING ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS
Attendee table allocation and programme for Tuesday 14th January
|
SESSION ONE 09:30-10:15 |
Data collection, sustainability and integrity
Chair: Bill Ayres (University of Manchester) Panellists: Fred Sonnenwald (University of Sheffield), Keming Yang (Durham University), Kirsty Merrett (University of Bristol), Michael Holliday (University College London), Adrian Clark (Figshare/Digital Science) |
| 10:15-10:45 |
Break
|
|
SESSION TWO 10:45-11:30 |
Building relationships with industrial partners
Chair: Skylar Wan (University of Leeds) Panellists: David Baldwin (University of Leeds), Massimiliano Fasi (University of Leeds), Neil Dullaway (Lancaster University), Owen Thomas (Red Oak Consulting), Wil Mayers (Alces Flight Ltd) |
| 11:30-12:00 | Break |
|
SESSION THREE 12:00-13:00 Round Table Discussion Session |
Barriers encountered accessing digital infrastructure
Facilitated by: David Baldwin (University of Leeds) |
| 13:00-14:00 | LUNCH |
|
SESSION FOUR 14:00-15:00 |
Strategy development, business cases and securing funding
Chair: Stewart Clark (University of Durham) Panellists: Arianna Ciula (King's College London), Li Convey (EPSRC, UKRI), Tobias Weinzierl (University of Durham), Sophie Janacek (UKRI) |
| 15:00-15:30 | Break |
|
SESSION FIVE 15:30-16:15 |
The funding landscape and making connections to align with UKRI calls
Chair: Matt Probert (University of York) Panellists: Jeremy Cohen (Imperial College London), Jools Kasmire (University of Manchester), Li Convey (EPSRC, UKRI), Martin Turner (University of Manchester) |
Conference Dinner, The Midland Hotel
16 Peter Street, Manchester, M60 2DS
Welcome drinks: 19:00
Wednesday 15th January
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND THE FUTURE OF DRI
|
SESSION ONE 09:30-10:15 |
The impact of AI and machine learning on DRI workflows
Chair: Martin Callaghan (Red Oak Consulting) Panellists: Jianping Meng (University of Liverpool), Jools Kasmire (University of Manchester), Keming Yang (Durham University), Stephen Mander (Lancaster University) |
| 10:15-10:45 |
Break
|
|
SESSION TWO 10:45-11:30 |
The environmental impacts of infrastructure
Chair: Samantha Ahern (University College London) Panellists: Bill Ayres (University of Manchester), Fernando Andreu (The University of Durham), Fred Sonnenwald (University of Sheffield), Michael Rudgyard (Alces Flight Ltd), Polly Eccleston (University of Bristol) |
| 11:30-12:00 | Break |
|
SESSION THREE 12:00-13:00 Round Table Discussion Session |
DRI beyond HPC and RSE
Facilitated by: Mariann Hardey (Durham University, online) |
| 13:00-14:00 | LUNCH |
|
SESSION FOUR 14:00-15:00 |
Security and compliance
Chair: Jools Kasmire (University of Manchester) Panellists: Adrian Harwood (University of Manchester), Bill Ayres (University of Manchester), Dave Love (University of Manchester), Matt Penn (King's College London), Saul Cozens (University of Sheffield) |
| 15:00-15:30 | Break |
|
SESSION FIVE 15:30-16:15 |
Preparing for the next generation of research computing infrastructure
Chair: Matt Probert (University of York) Panellists: David Baldwin (University of Leeds), Manhui Wang (University of Liverpool), Michael Holliday (University College London), Tobias Weinzierl (Durham University) |
Thursday 16th January
LEADERSHIP AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Attendee table allocation and programme for Thursday 16th January
|
SESSION ONE 09:30-10:15 |
Career progression pathways for DRI professionals
Chair: Jeremy Cohen (Imperial College London) Panellists: Adrian Harwood (University of Manchester), Andrew (Ed) Edmondson (University of Birmingham), Diego Alonso Alvarez (Imperial College London), Kirsty Merrett (University of Bristol), Stephen Longshaw (UKRI STFC) |
|
| 10:15-10:45 |
Break
|
|
|
SESSION TWO 10:45-11:30 |
Accessible training and staying relevant in a rapidly changing environment
Chair: Kirsty Merrett (University of Bristol) Panellists: Manhui Wang (University of Liverpool), Samantha Ahern (University College London), Skylar Wan (University of Leeds), Tristan Martin (University of Manchester) | |
| 11:30-12:00 | Break | |
|
SESSION THREE 12:00-13:00 Round Table Discussion Session |
Recruitment and diversity. How should it change?
Facilitated by: Cristin Merritt (Alces Flight Ltd.) |
|
| 13:00-14:00 | LUNCH | |
|
SESSION FOUR 14:00-15:00 |
Developing leadership skills for DRI professionals
Chair: Sarah Jaffa (University of Manchester) Panellists: Diego Alonso Alvarez (Imperial College London), Michael Holliday (University College London), Stephen Longshaw (UKRI STFC), Santiago Molina (UKRI) |
|
| 15:00-15:30 | Break | |
|
SESSION FIVE 15:30-16:15 |
Mentorship in DRI
Chair: Matt Probert (University of York) Panellists: Alan Real (Durham University), Adrian Harwood (University of Manchester), Andrew (Ed) Edmondson (University of Birmingham), Stephen Mander (Lancaster University) |
Friday 17th January
THE WAY FORWARD FOR DRI PROFESSIONALS
Attendee table allocation and programme for Friday 17th January
|
SESSION ONE 09:30-10:15 |
Stories from the trenches: the good, the bad and the ugly |
| 10:15-10:45 |
Break
|
|
SESSION TWO 10:45-11:30 Round Table Discussion Session |
Integrating learnings and networks developed during the retreat into your career
Facilitated by: Anita Banerji |
| 11:30-12:00 | Break |
|
SESSION THREE 12:00-12:45 |
Anita Banerji
(University of Manchester, Software Sustainability Institute) |
| 12:45-13:00 |
Closing address
Alan Real and Matt Probert (N8 CIR) |
| 13:00-14:00 | LUNCH |