Dreaming Spires

Edd Salkield is a research software engineer and founder of Dreaming Spires, a research software consultancy bringing together developers and researchers.

Edd Salkield is a research software engineer in the UK, where he founded Dreaming Spires.
In this episode, we talk about a different kind of future for RSE work to serve the diverse
demands of digital research based on international collaboration of RSE consultants and
freelancers.

After finishing his studies with a MSc in computer science from Oxford University in 2020,
Edd wanted to bring researchers and software engineering talent together to
fulfil scientists’ needs for reproducible and trustworthy software. Only then
he learned about the broader RSE community in the UK.
Despite the difficulties of the pandemic, he funded the startup Dreaming Spires to
bring together researchers, RSE consultants, and freelance developers to find just the right
interdisciplinary skill set needed for research software projects in a scalable way.
Edd and Vanessa discuss the different approaches between traditional RSE groups and
Dreaming Spires’ take on research software engineering, what either approach excels at,
and how they can work together. Edd shares his experiences about working in academia
in contrast with working at a startup - and about tea!

Learn more about Dreaming Spires on the company website at
https://dreamingspires.dev/.