The Community Member Spotlights celebrate the people behind African research software — sharing their backgrounds, career paths, projects, challenges, and advice for others.
The process has two steps. First, submit your name or nominate someone via the form below. We then follow up with the questions on this page. Most responses are a few sentences to a short paragraph. We edit for clarity and length, and you’ll have a chance to review before anything is published.
What we’ll include about you#
These details appear in the profile box alongside your spotlight article.
- Preferred name and surname
- Affiliation (where you work or study)
- Role
- Photo (a link to download, or we can arrange one)
- Contact and social media — any of the following you’d like included: email, LinkedIn, Twitter/X, ORCID, other
Interview questions#
What is your favourite song?
Our icebreaker — there are no wrong answers.
Can you describe your background and your current role?
What did you study and where? Do you have postgraduate qualifications, and in what area? What is the title of your current role, and what does it involve in one sentence?
Describe a typical workday.
How much time do you spend coding? How many projects do you work on? What keywords would summarise their topics? How often do you work with non-coding researchers?
Tell us more about the organisation where you work.
What is their primary objective? How many people in your organisation are involved in research software development? A rough estimate is fine.
Where do you get training and support?
Which communities of practice are you part of? What training has had the most impact on your career?
Do you see yourself as an academic, researcher, software engineer, technician — all of it, something else, or a mix?
What kind of barriers do you face in your work?
What part of your job do you enjoy the most?
What would make things easier for you and better support you in your work?
What are you looking forward to this year?
What is the most helpful career advice you’ve received, and would like to share with other Africans in similar roles?
Ready to be featured? Submit via GitLab issue or email team@rsse.africa.