Open data, open software, and reproducible and transparent research are increasingly endorsed by funders, publishers, institutions, and learned societies. But what does making your research open, transparent, and reproducible mean in practice? What tools are available to store, archive and publish your software and data? 

This edition of the Data Conversations will focus on Research software and introduce a new software related community event series: the programming cafe Bites and Bytes.

Come and share your software stories and listen to others. Find the registration button at the bottom of this page.

12:00 - 12:15 Grab your free lunch and get comfortable

12:15 - 12:20 Bites and Bytes - a new software cafe at the VU

12:20 - 12:35 Brett G. Olivier: What else are weekends for? Leeping research software alive.

12:35 - 12:50 Sophie I. Arnoult: Programming in the sciences.

12:50 - 13:05 Lieke de Boer: The eScience Center Fellowship Programme

13:00 - 13:30 (optional) Further discussion, sharing ideas and experiences and networking

What else are weekends for? Keeping research software alive

Brett G. Olivier

Brett Olivier is a Biochemist and Computational Systems Biologist who is currently working as a Data Steward in the Faculty of Science. During the course of his research, he has developed various software packages, some of which have far outlived their original research projects. Software differs significantly from data in that it needs to be maintained to stay useful and relevant. In this talk he will highlight some experiences writing and maintaining the simulation software PySCeS.

Programming in the sciences

Sophie I. Arnoult

I will expose in this talk how I, slowly but surely, became an experienced programmer. Whereas I faced the double ordeal of learning new (computational) methods and programming during my Masters, I now find myself able to jointly develop these skills. In the first part of the talk, I will discuss my early programming experience, and how I developed it in during my PhD. I will then discuss my experience as a post-doc, focusing on the work done for a digital humanities project. I will end with the lessons learned from becoming a software engineer for the Faculty of Humanities while continuing research in the digital humanities, explaining how open science practices and community efforts are supporting me in my projects and in developing skills further.

The eScience Center Fellowship Programme 

Lieke de Boer

Whether you’re a PhD candidate scripting your analyses, a postdoc teaching version control to your colleagues, or a scientific programmer building advanced digital tools – working with research software has become an integral part of research. The eScience Center Fellowship Programme supports individuals who are passionate about research software and who want to promote or improve the awareness and good use of research software within their academic community. During the Fellowship year, Fellows carry out activities to this end. Examples of such activities are organising study groups or seminars, improving software documentation, recording podcasts or creating video tutorials – the sky is the limit! Because not everything needs to be novel, applicants can submit existing initiatives as Fellowship projects. Beyond recognition for their important work and a community of like-minded people, accepted Fellows will receive consultancy on their projects from eScience Center experts, and a personal budget towards expenses and consumables.

What to expect?

Data Conversations will feature two short talks from researchers or colleagues who support research. Each talk will be about 10 minutes long. There will be a joint Q&A after the talks. Don't miss the free lunch at the beginning of the event! Those who are willing to stay longer than an hour are welcome to continue discussion and networking after the presentations. Use the registration form at the bottom to indicate your dietary restrictions.

Who should attend?

Data Conversations brings together researchers, research support staff and data management and data science experts from all subject areas. Early career researchers, as well as experienced academics, are welcome to attend.

About Data Conversations

Data Conversations started at the University of Lancaster in the UK. The Lancaster Data Conversations aim to bring data practitioners together to talk about how researchers create, collect, use and share data. The Data Conversations at the VU Amsterdam share the same aim and are intended to provide a forum for researchers from different subjects and disciplines to exchange practices and ideas around open data, FAIR data, research data management and related open science topics.

Call for Talks

You can attend and benefit from your colleagues' experiences or come and present your own experiences. We welcome short talks on topics related to Open Science and Reproducible Research from early career researchers as well as from more experienced academics and research support staff. This is an informal and inclusive event, so whether you are a seasoned presenter or a first-timer, your contribution will be welcome.

If you would like to propose a talk, please complete this form.