International Research Software Conference (IRSC)
7–8 September 2026 | Sheffield, UK & online, co-located with RSECon26
Save the date and join a global gathering of leaders and change-makers working to advance global shifts toward strategic coordination, long-term sustainability, and high-level collaboration across the research software community.
Join the IRSC mailing list for updates
Connect on ReSA’s Slack: #irsc
Research software is increasingly recognised as critical to research outcomes. Yet research software, and the people who develop and maintain it, operate with tremendously unstable resources and funding. This instability negatively impacts innovation by slowing research and creating unstable career pathways.
There is an urgent need for international cooperation that supports research software to solidify next-generation research and innovation.
This new event recognises that the international research software community is moving towards aligning global policies and funding, sustaining essential infrastructure, recognizing and equipping its diverse workforce, responsibly integrating AI, improving how software impact is measured, and ensuring interoperability through open, standards-based infrastructure.
This event aims to support the evolution of this shift toward strategic coordination, long-term sustainability, and collaboration across boundaries.
The conference will foster:
Leaders and change-makers of organisations, initiatives, and communities committed to supporting research software, and those who develop it, as fundamental and vital to research.
This includes decision makers and key influencers from:
The event format will combine multiple elements:
The event supports three levels of engagement in line with the ReSA Strategic Plan 2025–2028:
Specific goals and objectives include:
In 2024, ReSA engaged with key stakeholders in order to identify and recommend one or more community-supported routes for convening the first-ever international research software conference. This report summarises the findings of the scoping activity.
ReSA has been supported to undertake this work as part of Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant 2024-22426, Research Software Alliance: Catalyzing community-led collaborations