What is it like being a (Julia) research software engineer?

gdalle
Tue, 16 May 2023 10:52:38 +0000
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Context

After defending my PhD in machine learning & optimization last December, I started a rather theoretical postdoc on similar topics. Now I’m wondering what to do next, whether inside or outside of the academic world.
I like reading scientific papers and learning or creating new things (algorithms, theorems, etc.), but I also very much enjoy programming. If my time spent on this forum is any indication, I am addicted to solving other people’s coding problems ^^ Oh, and teaching is an absolute blast, so I definitely want to continue doing that.

Question

Yesterday I say a job offer for a Julia research software engineer, and this led me to wonder: what’s it like in your shoes? How much creative freedom do you have? Is contributing to open source projects a big part of your work? Can you interact with or mentor students?
Some people I know think that if I go down the RSE road, I will have to transition to industry, with no hope of returning to a more classical research / teaching position. How true is that nowadays? Is it safer to bet on a research portfolio or dev skills, or can we maybe do both? And what’s the pay gap?

As you can see I’m a bit lost, so any and all advice is welcome!

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