Contributing to national discussions on training for digital research professionals

On 27 November 2025, ELIXIR-UK contributed to a national discussion on strengthening and coordinating training provision for digital Research Technical Professionals (dRTPs) at the “Building a comprehensive and coordinated training landscape for dRTPs” meeting held in London and organised by STEP-UP.

Participation from ELIXIR-UK reflects ongoing work within the Node to support dRTPs in the life sciences through coordinated, high-quality training, skills development and career recognition. This includes established leadership in the area, through initiatives such as the ELIXIR-UK Data Stewardship Fellowship, which has played a key role in developing capacity, career pathways, and community-led training for data stewards and related roles across the UK life sciences research community.

ELIXIR-UK was represented through its training involvement, with Dr Alexia Cardona (ELIXIR-UK Training Platform Coordinator, University of Cambridge) attending and contributing perspectives informed by both national Node-level activity and ELIXIR’s broader European training infrastructure.

The meeting brought together organisations and initiatives involved in national training provision for digital research professionals, including The Carpentries, CaSDaR, DiRAC, UKRI, DisCouRSE, EMBL-EBI, HDR UK, and other UK training leads.

Discussions focused on shared challenges across the UK training landscape, including mapping competencies for dRTP roles, identifying gaps in existing provision, and improving coordination across programmes and infrastructures.

During the meeting, participants referenced and recognised ELIXIR training resources and collaborators. This included Galaxy Training Network, with a strong ELIXIR involvement,  HDR-UK Futures, HDR-UK now a member of our Node, and TeSS, ELIXIR’s training portal, which is led from the University of Manchester through ELIXIR-UK and plays a central role in improving the findability, accessibility and reusability of life science training across Europe and beyond.

This engagement highlights how ELIXIR-UK’s activities and leadership feed into, and are reinforced by, ELIXIR’s European-level infrastructure, supporting a more coherent, sustainable and life-science-focused training ecosystem for digital research professionals.