equersa
Welcome to Equersa
Equitable global collaboration and opportunity in Research Software
Purpose Statement
Equersa fosters true global knowledge sharing and collaboration in research software through the creation of equitable environments for Research Software Engineers 1. We do this by creating safe spaces, creating opportunities, and breaking down barriers through shared power.
What we do
Equersa supports conferences by creating a joint organising committee and providing opportunities for volunteers to improve their skills, raise their profile, and work in a safe space. The conferences we support are:
- Research Software Africa (RSAfrica)
- Research Software Latinoamérica (RSLA)
- Research Software Asia Australia (RSAA)
We aim to give RSEs in overlooked regions a community to belong to.
We do this in collaboration with RSE Asia, RSE-AUNZ, RSE Argentina, and RSE Chile. RSSE Africa is included in recognition of its role in supporting and connecting research software and systems communities across Africa.
Call for Accessibility Fellows, Scholarships, and Micro-grants for RSAA, RSAfrica, and RSLA
Apply for the Accessibility Fellowship for 2026
2026 Accessibility Fellowship Form
2026 Formulario de la Beca de Accesibilidad
Apply for the Scholarships and Accessibility Micro-grants for 2026
2026 Application Form for Scholarships and Accessibility Micro-grant
2026 Formulario de solicitud para becas y microbecas de accesibilidad
Follow RSAfrica, RSAA, and RSLA on Social media
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Statement
We acknowledge that achieving inclusivity and equity is challenging, and we won’t always get this right. Everyone experiences different levels of difficulty, and the playing field is not level. We recognise that discrimination over time and intersectionality can also reduce opportunities.
We recognise that we may not be fully aware of all individual needs, and we may not be doing enough to address specific circumstances.
If you want to let us know how we can improve, or to give us positive feedback, please reach out to Rowland Mosbergen via LinkedIn.
We follow the principals created by Practical Diversity and Inclusion, and underpin that in as many processes as we can.
How do we practice DEI?
We practice DEI by creating safe spaces, creating opportunities, and breaking down barriers through shared power.
Examples of this includes:
- our Accessibility Fellows,
- our 3 levels of maturity for presenters, and
- our Scholarships and Micro-grants.
Code of Conduct
The RSE-AUNZ Code of Conduct is designed to provide all participants with community participation guidelines.
Everyone volunteering at Equersa and attending the conference needs to abide by them.
Want to Volunteer?
We are still welcoming volunteers, especially those closely connected to Africa and Latin America.
You can find out more in our volunteer page.
Are you an organisation who wants to support us?
Supporting Equersa can extend your impact into Africa, Asia, and Latin America in a way that is decolonial, by centering the people who are most marginalised, creating safe spaces and sharing power through creating opportunities - the three principles based off the work with Practical Diversity and Inclusion.
The first way we did this was to invite local co-chairs that have authority over their own conference. That is why RSLA26 will be hosted in Spanish.
The second way we did this was to recruit 50 volunteers from 20 countries across 6 continents via a joint organising committee (not including reviewers and session chairs) to help support the co-chairs from all three conferences. We are also sharing power with each community through our knowledge, skills and support. We did this without imposing any beliefs—we simply provided tools, skills, and knowledge such as documentation from the last 4 years of RSAA and asked what they wanted to use and what they wanted to ignore.
The third way is that we are sharing any leftover funding equally to help support further community work across the Global South.
The fourth way is that we will have unlimited scholarships (free tickets), 30 micro-grants, and 6 Accessibility Fellows across the three conferences. Combined with our three accessibility presentation levels framework, it shows that supporting Equersa allows your organisation to demonstrate, not merely state, its DEI values through tangible funding for underrepresented communities in research software.
You can find out more through our Equersa Prospectus.
Key Dates (Tentative)
| Item | Open | Close |
|---|---|---|
| Call for Presentations | 30th March | 29th May |
| Accessibility Fellows | 14th May | 26th June |
| Notification of presentations | 7th July | — |
| Call for Session chairs | ASAP | 7th August |
| Call for Reviewers | ASAP | 15th May |
| Micro-grants | 14th May | 10th July |
| Scholarships | 14th May | 14th August |
| Early Bird Registrations | 15th June | 10th July |
| Standard Registrations | 11th July | 14th August |
| Conference | 25th August | 28th August (depending on conference) |
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RSEs are researchers who code, software engineers who work in the research domain, generalists who bring communities together, and sysadmins who maintain research software systems ↩