What US Research Software Engineer Association does

US Research Software Engineer Association (US-RSE) is a community-driven nonprofit association founded in 2019 to support people who develop and maintain research software in the United States. The organization operates as a fiscally sponsored project of Community Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and is governed by an elected Steering Committee. US-RSE serves Research Software Engineers (RSEs)—professionals who apply programming expertise to advance research—alongside universities, national laboratories, knowledge institutes, companies, and RSE allies. It is the only national association specifically for RSEs in the US and positions itself as the recognized voice for the profession.

US-RSE's core offerings are programmatic rather than product-based. These include a central website and community platform, a job board, the RSE Stories podcast, bi-monthly newsletters, eleven working groups (DEI, Education & Training, Mentorship, Outreach, Testing, Code Review, RSE Empowerment in National Labs, RSE Group Leaders' Network, UX, Group Management, Website), a mentorship program, community and travel funds, community awards, and an annual conference series (USRSE'26 scheduled for San Jose, CA). Proprietary technical components include the US-RSE Map (interactive map of RSE organizations across the United States) and the Software Checklist Tool (a repository reproducibility scoring and badge generator). Digital distribution is layered across Slack, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, GitHub, Mastodon, the RSE Stories podcast, and a syndicated blog.

The business model is grant- and donation-funded. Membership is free and self-serve; the organization accepts donations and is developing organizational membership tiers for institutional supporters. Primary disclosed funding has come from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (2019 and 2023 grants supporting the Community Building Workshop and ongoing activities). Strategic partners include Princeton University (workshop host), the UK RSE Association, German de-RSE, URSSI, and the Software Sustainability Institute. The organization reports 1-10 employees and is primarily virtual, with Princeton, NJ as its principal in-person event location.

Name

US Research Software Engineer Association

Legal name

US Research Software Engineer Association

Website

https://us-rse.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

US Research Software Engineer Association is a US-based nonprofit community association founded in 2019 that supports Research Software Engineers from universities, national laboratories, and companies through free membership, working groups, conferences, mentorship, and job board resources.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Virtala

HQ country

Finland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Grants and Donations: US-RSE is a fiscally sponsored project of Community Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The organization receives grants (such as from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation) and accepts donations to fund activities, workshops, and community building efforts.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

US-RSE is a community-driven nonprofit association that brings together people who write and contribute to research software within the United States. It provides free membership, working groups, an annual conference, a job board, a podcast, newsletters, community awards, workshops, mentorship, and an interactive US-RSE Map to support the professional development, advocacy, and networking of Research Software Engineers.

Product overview

US-RSE is a community-driven association, not a product company. The organization's primary offerings are community-building programs and resources for Research Software Engineers. These include the US-RSE Website and Community Platform as the central hub, a Job Board for career opportunities, the RSE Stories Podcast for community storytelling, regular Newsletters for updates, Working Groups organized around DEI and professional development topics, annual Conferences (USRSE'26), Community Building Workshops, Community Awards recognizing excellence, an RSE Map showing geographic distribution, a Mentorship Program, and Community Funds for travel and participation support. These services work together to build a connective, supportive, and diverse community of RSEs from universities, laboratories, companies, and other enterprises.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• US-RSE Community Platform and Membership The primary digital platform serving as a hub for the US Research Software Engineer community, providing free membership access, resources, working groups, news, and governance information for RSEs and allies from universities, laboratories, companies, and other enterprises.
• RSE Job Board A centralized online job board where employers post research software engineering positions and candidates browse opportunities from across the community, with a published submission policy for job posts.
• US-RSE Annual Conference (USRSE'26) Annual in-person conference bringing together the RSE community to discuss advancing science, with USRSE'26 focused on advancing science in the age of AI.
• RSE Stories Podcast An interview-style podcast series that spotlights diverse people within the RSE community, celebrating the uniqueness of the RSE role through personal stories and career journeys, hosted by Vanessa Sochat.
• US-RSE Bi-monthly Newsletters Bi-monthly newsletters sharing recent, current, and planned activities of the US-RSE Association, including community news, job postings, and member highlights.
• US-RSE Community Building Workshop In-person workshop focused on planning the path forward for growing the US-RSE Association, with breakout sessions on community, advocacy, resources, and DEI.
• US-RSE Community Awards Annual awards recognizing outstanding technical contributions and community leadership that advance research software engineering, with Technical Excellence and Community Impact and Leadership categories, each with Student/Early Career and Professional subcategories. Winners receive certificates and $250 gift cards.
• US-RSE Map An interactive map showing the distribution and location of Research Software Engineers and RSE groups across the United States.
• US-RSE Mentorship Program A structured program connecting experienced RSEs with those seeking guidance and career development support within the community.
• US-RSE Community Funds and Travel Funds Financial support programs enabling community members to participate in RSE events, conferences, and regional group activities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Community Awards recognize outstanding technical contributions and community leadership with certificates and $250 gift cards
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and moderate.

• Princeton UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost venue for the first US-RSE Community Building Workshop (April 2022) held at Nassau Inn adjacent to Princeton campus. Princeton RSE group was among the first established in the US, and Princeton hosts organizing committee members.
• UK RSE Association (Society of Research Software Engineering)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational partnership with the UK RSE association that pioneered the RSE movement. US-RSE participated in UK RSE Conference 2019, sharing experiences across borders and learning from UK initiatives.
• German RSE Association (de-RSE)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with German RSE association for international RSE community building and knowledge sharing.
• US Research Software Sustainability Institute (URSSI)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative relationship with URSSI for research software sustainability initiatives, joint blog posts, and shared mission of improving research software.
• Software Sustainability InstitutemoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with SSI for best practices in software development, using speed blogs and collaborative content generation models.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• U.S. Research Software Sustainability Institute (URSSI): U.S.-focused initiative on research software sustainability, listed as a strategic partner of US-RSE. Operates in the same national footprint with overlapping objectives around sustainability, training, and community building for research software.
• Society of Research Software Engineering (UK RSE): UK-based national association for Research Software Engineers and the original international model for the RSE profession. Directly comparable mission, membership structure, and advocacy role, and an explicit strategic partner of US-RSE.
• de-RSE (German RSE Association): German national community for Research Software Engineers with analogous working-group structure and conferences. Same profession-defining mandate as US-RSE and a confirmed international partner.

Others

• Open Source Initiative (OSI): Nonprofit that defines and advocates for open-source software. Not a direct peer, but operates in adjacent ecosystem space and shares the nonprofit advocacy model that underpins much of research software practice.

Broad incumbents

• NumFOCUS: U.S. nonprofit supporting open-source scientific computing projects. Comparable nonprofit/community model and serves a population of research-adjacent software engineers, but at larger scale and with a project-sponsorship focus.
• Software Sustainability Institute (SSI): UK-based, well-funded program advancing research software sustainability through training, fellowships, and advocacy. Larger and longer-established than US-RSE, with overlapping mission around best practices and RSE career development.
• IEEE Computer Society: Large established professional organization serving computing practitioners, including those in research-adjacent roles. Comparable in professional-development scope but with a much broader, industry-weighted membership.
• Python Software Foundation: Nonprofit that stewards Python, a dominant language in research software. Comparable nonprofit, community-driven structure, but operates at global scale and around a specific technology rather than a profession.
• Association for Computing Machinery (ACM): Global professional society for computing. Overlaps with US-RSE on professional identity, conferences, and awards for computing professionals, but at vastly larger scale and broader scope.
• The Carpentries: Community-run nonprofit teaching data and computing skills to researchers. Closely aligned mission of upskilling research software users, with established instructor community and training infrastructure.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/us_rse
• GitHubgithub.com/USRSE
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@us_rse
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/us-rse

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about US Research Software Engineer Association