Research infrastructure roles: perspectives, paths and lived experiences

This session was run as a workshop at Open Science Conference on 28 June 2023. 

Abstract:

It is rare that successful collaborations, and open science practices in particular, occur without an active coordination and knowledge-exchange process. This coordination can take the form of translating information between individuals, or groups of people, structuring participants' interactions, facilitating work co-owned by different teams, and supporting the impact of the project. The expert coordination and facilitation work in open science projects is often taken on by people in either volunteer or paid positions, depending on a project’s funding, size, length, resource availability, goals and number of organisations involved. In The Turing Way, we define them as Research Infrastructure Roles.

Research Infrastructure Roles are diverse, and are taken on by researchers with varied expertise and backgrounds. They often have domain-specific technical skills and research experience, although not necessarily in the field they are now working in. At the Alan Turing Institute, the Tools, Practices, and Systems (TPS) programme supports several of these roles including: Community Managers and Research Application Managers, alongside the more established Research Software Engineers, Data Wranglers and Ethics Advisors. Furthermore, through one of its flagship projects, The Turing Way, the team also works closely with experts in other Research Infrastructure Roles such as Data Stewards, Librarians, Policy Experts and more. These roles have emerged as critical catalysts for the adoption of open, reproducible and ethical research practices, as research methodologies continue to evolve.. 

Several of these roles are only recently created/established and may exist in other forms and under other job titles. Therefore, it can be often challenging to establish standard practices, build frameworks for supporting collaborative relationships, and capture the impact of these roles across different institutions, sectors and research fields. The Open Science conference 2023 provides an incredible opportunity to facilitate a structured conversation about Research Infrastructure Roles, improving awareness and building connections with communities supporting such roles. 

This session will facilitate discussion, inviting attendees to share their experiences and perspectives (1) from working in research infrastructure, (2) importance of creating dedicated roles for implementing open research practices, and (3) how we can work towards a culture that provides better opportunities for individuals who take the non-traditional academic route. Notes from the session will feed back into the evolving chapter on Research Infrastructures Roles in the Turing Way Guide to Collaboration and referenced in related projects led by the TPS/Turing Way teams.