SICSA, are pleased to announce a call for proposals for network activities focused on the theme of The Software Practitioner. The objective of the theme is to bring together software practitioners and researchers from across Scotland for joint activities on topics of shared interest. The definition of a software practitioner is intentionally kept very broad and encompasses a variety of professions working in the software industry who are involved in the construction and maintenance of software systems. This includes, but is not limited to software developers, user experience designers, infrastructure engineers and business analysts.
Activities may focus on a wide variety of issues connected to the software practitioner, including (but not limited to) for example, DevOps, secure software development, chaos engineering, user experience and interface design, testing and quality assurance practices, programming language and API design, development and evaluation.
Activities may have symmetric or asymmetric benefits for practitioners and researchers. For example:
- Events promoting the development of shared communities of practice between academia and industry focused on new and emerging trends or practices in industry.
- Continuing professional development events that provide an opportunity for both knowledge exchange and research evaluation. For example, funding might be used for an event that introduces practitioners to recent research outputs, such as a new tool or method, providing an opportunity for evaluation and feedback.
- Focus group studies concerning a particular issue or concern of interest to practitioners that might lead to insights or new research challenges.
- Support for impact or research proposal development with a strong software practitioner focus and engagement. Such applications will be likely to target calls from Scottish Enterprise or Innovate UK, but other impact focused calls will also be considered.
Applications for funding should identify and explain the benefits to both research and practitioner communities for the proposed activity and demonstrate evidence of likely engagement. Ideally, activity leaders in both academia and industry should be named in the application, particularly for research proposal development activities. Proposals that demonstrate engagement from multiple SICSA institutions will also be viewed favourably.
Please see our funding page for details of how to apply.
If you have any questions please contact Tim Storer, SICSA Deputy Director and Director of Knowledge Exchange
