Simon Hettrick

Professor Simon Hettrick serves as a Professorial Fellow Enterprise at the University of Southampton's School of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS), where he leads initiatives through the Web and Internet Science research group and the Southampton Research Software Group (SRSG). His work bridges academic research and industry applications, focusing on professionalizing research software engineering practices and developing policy frameworks that enhance research reproducibility and impact across scientific disciplines.

His primary research interests center on research software engineering sustainability, digital skills development for researchers, and innovative approaches to research evaluation. Hettrick investigates how FAIR principles can be extended to research software, examines policy development for arts and humanities communities, and explores the critical role of software engineering in accelerating biomedical discoveries. His work consistently emphasizes community building, recognition frameworks for software contributions, and practical training solutions for the research ecosystem.

Analysis of his recent publications reveals a clear trajectory toward establishing research software engineering as a recognized academic discipline, with growing emphasis on career pathways, policy influence, and cross-domain applications. His work shows increasing integration of software engineering practices into biomedical research translation and arts/humanities scholarship, while maintaining strong focus on community-driven solutions and sustainable infrastructure development.

Professor Hettrick actively supervises PhD candidates including Mada Mansour A Alaskar in Computer Science. He has secured substantial research funding from major bodies including EPSRC and the Arts & Humanities Research Council for projects such as Software Sustainability Institute Phase 4, Embedding Trust in Evaluation, and Careers and Skills for Data-driven Research (CaSDaR).

He operates within the Southampton Research Software Group (SRSG) and Web and Internet Science group, which provide critical infrastructure for interdisciplinary collaboration. These groups facilitate national initiatives like the Software Sustainability Institute and drive forward the integration of professional software engineering practices across academic research domains.