In modern science, software-based research is playing an increasingly central role. The professional development and competent use of software are essential for progress in almost all scientific disciplines.

In response to this, the profession of the Research Software Engineer (RSE) has emerged – combining expertise in software development with a deep understanding of scientific research processes. As the importance of this role grows, particularly through the establishment of RSE service centres at research institutions, so too does the demand for specialised Master’s programs in RSE or for the integration of RSE specialisations into existing degree programmes.

We invite all members of the Research Software Engineering (RSE) community – as well as interested researchers and lecturers – to contribute to the development of a modular Master’s Degree curriculum tailored to the specific requirements and challenges faced by RSEs. Each curriculum module will focus on a specific area of the RSE landscape and will be developed as a proposal – including a competence matrix, sample courses and teaching ideas – in the form of an open educational resource (OER).

The core idea is to supplement general courses in software engineering, data science and domain-specific sciences with RSE-specific modules. These are intended to address the specific context of software development in research.

The project is a joint initiative of the German Informatics Society (GI), the Society for Research Software (de-RSE e.V.) and the GI specialist group “Research Software Engineering”. The project is made possible by funding from the Klaus Tschira Foundation.