University of Sheffield
Research Software Engineering

Through comprehensive programmes and collaborations, the RSE team's objective is to lead, support and guide the research community in leveraging software and data engineering to produce excellent research.

As data and research methods are becoming more complex and more computationally demanding, our mission is to ensure that all researchers and aspiring researchers have access to the necessary expertise to be proficient in developing and maintaining advanced research software tools.


The RSE team is supported by the School of Computer Science, IT Services and the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences.

RSE hero element

Collaborate

The RSE team works on more than 30 projects a year with successful collaborations in each Faculty of the University. We have a wide range of expertise, from Machine learning and AI (including LLM and agentic AI), code optimisation and performance, GPU computing, general software development with high standard software engineering practice, developing infrastructure and computational workflows, data science/visualisation, etc.

Collaboration span various lengths, from a few weeks to longer term partnerships of multiple years. Our team has a track record of successful funding applications either as PI or as co-Is and thrives to build new collaboration. If you want to find more about, please consult our collaboration page.

Projects

Add fractional RSE time from the team to your funding application

RSE Project Enquiry Form

Opportunities

Whether you need quick coding advice or dedicated project support, discover how our team can help advance your research software.

Code Clinics

Work with an expert for 30 mins on your code.

Book a code clinic

FORGE Programme

Get two days of focused RSE support to help improve your research software.

Find out more

Events

We organise and run many events throughout the year - including training, seminars & workshops.

Learning

The RSE Team participates in a wide range of training and teaching activities. We provide training for people who work with code for research to build their skills in areas that academic training might not provide.

We have developed training courses for the University of Sheffield which have been recognised and adopted by external organisations. Additionally, we lead and co-lead academic modules at undergraduate and PhD levels within the university.

FAIR² for research software

Dedicated training on how to apply FAIR principles to research software, enabling you to make your research more open.

FAIR² 4 RS

About

Founded in 2016, the University of Sheffield RSE team applies expert software engineering techniques across a wide range of academic disciplines. As permanent research partners, we provide long-term continuity—eliminating recruitment overhead and ensuring critical software expertise stays within the University.

September 2026 Newsletter

Read the latest University of Sheffield Research Software Engineering Community Newsletter

Edwin Brown
4 September 2026

Featured Blog: A Novel Deep Learning Architecture for Multi-label Text Classification of Patent Data

Farhad Allian
18 February 2026


Overview

Text classification is a foundational problem in natural language processing (NLP), allowing us to automatically assign predefined labels to massive volumes of unstructured text. In the context of technological innovations, one of the most valuable applications of text classification is automating the assignment of International Patent Classification (IPC) hierarchies to technical documents.

Read More All Blog articles