In December, I was delighted to be named a 2025 Fellow of the Software Sustainability Institute (SSI). For my fellowship, I will be continuing the discussion around mental health in the research software community.
I’ve just posted a blog post on the SSI website outlining my plans for the Fellowship, and you can read more about it below.
SSI Fellowship
The Software Sustainability Institute (SSI) was founded in 2010 to recognise the vital role that software plays in modern research. Their motto, “Better Software, Better Resarch”, encapsulates their philosophy that improving the quality of research software – through training and collaboration with software engineers and other experts – leads to better quality research. They were instrumental in the founding of the Society of Research Software Engineering – where I am currently serving as a trustee – and without the Society and the SSI, I wouldn’t be working as an RSE today.
Every year, they award fellowships to “passionate individuals in research and software, empowering them as ambassadors of good practice to shape the future of research software”. I was lucky enough to be one of the 27 Fellows selected as part of the 2025 Cohort.
My Plans
I will be continuing the conversation around mental health in our community and building upon the work of Dave Horsfall and the survey he conducted in 2022.
My plans include three main activities:
- Telling my story – to help break the stigma around mental health.
- Sharing tips and resources to help people support their mental health.
- Creating and supporting initiatives to improve mental health in our community.
I hope that by doing this, I will inspire others to be more open about their mental health, provide information to help people find support, and help create/promote communities and initiatives that aim to improve mental health among research software engineers and other related professions.
Why am I doing this?
I’ve often spoken on this blog about my experiences with mental health, not least in the blog series I Am Your Father, where I chronicle my experiences of becoming a new parent during lockdown. During this time, I experienced a range of mental health issues, including burnout and an anxiety attack.
Despite this, I think I handled the situation remarkably well, and that is a key point I want to make. Admitting to mental health problems is often seen as a sign of weakness. But I’m not weak. I’m actually incredibly resilient, BECAUSE of my previous experiences with mental health problems. And it’s better to admit that you’re struggling BEFORE things become overwhelming and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.
I also believe that, while what happened in 2020 was beyond my (or anyone else’s) control, there are things we can learn from my experience and the experiences of others that can help prevent people from having to go through what I went through. That’s why I want to create a resource hub and encourage a wide and diverse collection of authors from the community to contribute stories, tips and advice.
Learn More
You can read more about my plans in the full blog post on the SSI website.