Workshop on Sustainable Research Software Engineering

Are you looking to simplify your code and boost development efficiency? Would you like your codebase to be easier and safer to enhance?

Join us on July 17-18 at the University of the Western Cape and learn how to minimise the effort required to build and maintain complex software systems with our workshop on Sustainable Software Engineering.

Workshop Information

Led by Prof’s Colin C. Venters (University of Limerick and CERN) and Birgit Penzenstadler (Chalmers University of Technology, University of Gothenburg) in collaboration with the University of the Western Cape, Research Software and Systems Engineering Africa (RSSE Africa), the UCT eResearch Centre, Talarify and Research Software Engineering Ireland, this Erasmus+ funded workshop shows you how to optimise code for maintainability to reduce software system complexity, and build applications that are modular and modifiable based on core software engineering principles and practices.

Discover how to engineer sustainable software while gaining practical skills that are in high demand.

Open to postgraduate students and researchers who develop software for science and engineering, do not miss this opportunity to future-proof your skills and software projects, and be part of the global movement toward sustainable software systems engineering.

Dates: Thursday, 17 July to Friday, 18 July 2025
Times: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Venue: South African National Bioinformatics Institute, 5th floor, Life Sciences Building, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, Cape Town.
Format: Hands-on, in person
Total participants: Maximum 30
Cost: Free to attend - morning and afternoon coffee/tea and a light lunch are included (Funded by Erasmus+ and SANBI)
Transport & accommodation: Participants are responsible for their own transport and accommodation arrangements and costs.
Trainers: Prof’s Colin C. Venters (University of Limerick and CERN) and Birgit Penzenstadler (Chalmers University of Technology, University of Gothenburg)
Eligibility:
- Participants will need to submit a link to their research code (GitHub, GitLab, BitBucket, or similar) as part of the application process to show they are actively developing research/engineering software.
- Affiliated with a South African university or research centre.
- Able to attend both days 9am - 5pm at the University of the Western Cape, Bellville Campus.
- Able to arrange own transport/accommodation if needed.
Application form: Apply here

Our Trainers

Prof. Birgit Penzenstadler

Chalmers University of Technology, University of Gothenburg

Associate Professor

Associate Professor at Chalmers | University of Gothenburg and Adjunct Professor at LUT, Dr. Penzenstadler explores sustainability, resilience, and well-being in software engineering. She is a founding member of the Karlskrona Alliance and co-author of the Karlskrona Manifesto. Her interdisciplinary work bridges technology, mindfulness, and permaculture, as highlighted in her 2022 TEDx talk. #InteractionDesign #SoftwareEngineering #ComputerScience #Engineering

Prof. Colin C. Venters

University of Limerick, Ireland and European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)

Associate Professor

Associate Professor at the University of Limerick and Research Software Engineer (RSE) at CERN associated with the ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC Apparatus) experiment; the largest general-purpose particle detector experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Dr. Venter’s research interest focuses on sustainable software engineering from a software architecture perspective for pre-system and post-system maintenance and evolution. #SoftwareEngineering #SoftwareSustainability #SoftwareArchitectures