SORSE is a series of community events intended for networking and collaboration in the international RSE community. We value the participation of each and every member of our community and want all attendees to have an enjoyable, welcoming, and fulfilling experience. Accordingly, all attendees are expected to show respect and courtesy to other attendees throughout the series and at all associated events.

To make clear what is expected, all attendees, speakers, sponsors, organisers and volunteers at any SORSE event are required to conform to the SORSE Code of Conduct. Organisers and volunteers will enforce this code throughout the event and we will publish detailed policies and procedures for the enforcement of the Code of conduct and reporting of misconduct closer to the event. We will also make a public (and anonymised) report of the number of incidents and outcomes present during the event (if any).

Underrepresented groups in the RSE community

It’s not simply iniquitous that the underrepresented groups of our community – for example, women, people of non-European descent, people with disabilities, people coming from certain research disciplines – find it harder to participate in the community and its events: their participation is vital to its health and needed now more than ever. If you belong to one of these or any other under-represented groups in our community, we’re especially keen to have you participate in SORSE. We want to help redress the imbalance, make a clear statement about your value to the community and affirm your position as a first-class citizen of it.

Availability

To ensure as many members of the RSE community as possible benefit from SORSE we are making all content available online at any time for those who may have commitments that prevent them attending scheduled events. This includes recordings of events as well as the materials presented. As far as possible all events will be delivered more than once to support a wide range of timezones and personal schedules.

Participating in SORSE is free for all, a measure we hope will allow members of the community of all backgrounds and levels of seniority to participate.

Auditory impairments

Subtitles will be added to all archived recordings of SORSE content. We will investigate technological solutions to allow subtitling of live events where possible.

Event diversity

We’re actively seeking to increase the diversity of our attendees, topics presented, speakers, and sponsors through our calls for contributions, other open submission processes, and through dialogue with the RSE community. This is an ongoing process. We are providing clear submission guidelines and sample submissions to make the submission and selection process as transparent and friendly as possible. We are also providing mentorship to those requiring additional help or guidance.

Help Encourage Diversity

Here are some ways you can help us build a more diverse experience:

  • Recommend appropriate speakers and/or Programme Team members to the SORSE committee.
  • Recommendations of speakers from commonly underrepresented voices in our community are particularly welcome. You may also send an email to the SORSE programme committee SORSE.enquiries@gmail.com
  • Forward our call for proposals to relevant affinity groups with the message that we are looking for a diverse speaker roster.
  • Suggest to potential speakers that they submit a proposal to our continuous call for contributions (see the Call for Contributions page for details).
  • Suggest ways that the online event experience can be more welcoming and supportive, free from intimidation and marginalization.
  • Share your ideas and best practices for how we can realize our vision.

Is something missing?

Have we neglected something you need, or is there something not mentioned here that would make your attendance possible, or improve your experience of the event? Please let us know. We’ll do what we can to provide it.