Code for Thought

Hosted by Peter Schmidt

Technology Science Education

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Episodes

227

Latest episode

Oct 2026

Language

EN-GB

About the show

Welcome to Code for Thought, the podcast about software for research and the people who make it. Languages: English, German, French

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60 recent

October 19, 2026Episode 945 min

[EN] Data on ice: the Arctic World Archive

English Edition: How can we preserve data not for years, but for centuries, perhaps even millennia? Meet the Arctic World Archive (AWA), located on the Norwegian island of Spitzbergen part of the Svalbard archipelago. I met with the 2 co-founders, Rune Bjerkestrand and Katrina Leon to find out what's behind AWA and how data can be preserved for the longterm. Links https://arcticworldarchive.org https://piql.com the PIQL way of storing data on film https://archiveprogram.github.com/faq/ GitHub is on AWA https://www.seedvault.no/ The Global Seed Vault on the same island https://unlocked.microsoft.com/sealed-in-glass/ Storing data in glass - Microsoft's Project Silica https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-10042-w https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism the Antikythera mechanism - an object found in 1901 and seemingly an ancient (analog) computer Get in touch Thank you for listening! Merci de votre écoute! Vielen Dank für´s Zuhören! Contact Details/ Coordonnées / Kontakt: Email mailto: peter@code4thought.org UK RSE Slack (ukrse.slack.com): @code4thought or @piddie Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/code4thought.bsky.social LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pweschmidt/ (personal Profile) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/codeforthought/ (Code for Thought Profile) This podcast is licensed under the Creative Commons Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

October 14, 2026Episode 1138 min

[EN] ByteSized: AI, agents and coding

English edition: As part of our ByteSized series, we are going through some of the (many) aspects of AI assisted coding with my guests Robert Chatley (Imperial College London, UK), Reece Walsh (Newcastle Uni., UK) and Faruk Diblen (eScience Centre, Amsterdam, NL). Links: https://missing.csail.mit.edu/2026/agentic-coding/ A good run-through of agentic coding by MIT/USA https://martinfowler.com/bliki/AgenticProgramming.html Martin Fowler on agentic coding https://github.blog/ai-and-ml/generative-ai/agent-pull-requests-are-everywhere-heres-how-to-review-them/ here's GitHub's suggestions on how to deal with AI generated pull requests https://github.com/fdiblen/rseng-agent-skills Faruk Diblen's set of SKILLS for research software engineering https://ai-declaration.org and here is Faruk's AI declaration website and tool https://modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/2026-07-28/getting-started/intro Model Context Protocol (MCP) by Anthropic https://rdr.ucl.ac.uk/articles/report/AI-Assisted_Software_Development_Policy_for_UCL_Advanced_Research_Computing/34070631?file=69660984 an example policy of how to deal with AI assisted coding tools - from UCL (University College London, UK) ByteSized dRTP is part of the STEP-UP project and I would like to thank them for supporting this show. Get in touch Thank you for listening! Merci de votre écoute! Vielen Dank für´s Zuhören! Contact Details/ Coordonnées / Kontakt: Email mailto: peter@code4thought.org UK RSE Slack (ukrse.slack.com): @code4thought or @piddie Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/code4thought.bsky.social LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pweschmidt/ (personal Profile) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/codeforthought/ (Code for Thought Profile) This podcast is licensed under the Creative Commons Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

October 12, 2026Episode 846 min

[EN] From research to startup: scikit-learn and :probabl.

English Edition: scikit-learn is THE open source programming library for all things machine-learning. And since 2024, it is the core part of a company called :probabl. What this means for the millions of users of scikit-learn and the many contributors is something we find out in this episode, where I talk to Marie Sacksick (skore), Arturo Amor (skolar) and Yann Lechelle (president and co-founder of :probabl.). Links: https://www.probabl.ai Home page for :probabl. https://probabl.ai/skore Skore https://github.com/probabl-ai/skore GitHub repo for skore https://scikit-learn.org/stable/about.html scikit-learn Python library https://blog.probabl.ai/intel-and-probabl-announce-collaboration-to-accelerate-scikit-learn-on-intel-hardware Collaboration between Intel and :probabl. https://scikit-learn-central.probabl.ai/#/catalog The central catalogue https://github.com/probabl-ai/scikit-learn-central GitHub repo https://skolar.probabl.ai/ skolar, the certification programme https://inria.github.io/scikit-learn-mooc/ the INRIA MOOC for scikit-learn https://skrub-data.org/stable/ skrub (another project at :probabl.) https://github.com/skrub-data/skrub Get in touch Thank you for listening! Merci de votre écoute! Vielen Dank für´s Zuhören! Contact Details/ Coordonnées / Kontakt: Email mailto: peter@code4thought.org UK RSE Slack (ukrse.slack.com): @code4thought or @piddie Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/code4thought.bsky.social LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pweschmidt/ (personal Profile) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/codeforthought/ (Code for Thought Profile) This podcast is licensed under the Creative Commons Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

October 5, 2026Episode 735 min

[EN] PsychoPy, a library for behavioural sciences - Jon Peirce

English Edition: PsychoPy is an open source library widely used in behavioural sciences. I met with Jonathan Peirce, author and psychology researcher himself, about what the library does and how he, and his team, manage to keep it running while still doing research. Links https://psychopy.org the homepage for the library https://github.com/psychopy/psychopy GitHub repo https://opensciencetools.org the company behind PsychoPy https://pavlovia.org Pavlovia - run your experiments online Get in touch Thank you for listening! Merci de votre écoute! Vielen Dank für´s Zuhören! Contact Details/ Coordonnées / Kontakt: Email mailto: peter@code4thought.org UK RSE Slack (ukrse.slack.com): @code4thought or @piddie Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/code4thought.bsky.social LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pweschmidt/ (personal Profile) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/codeforthought/ (Code for Thought Profile) This podcast is licensed under the Creative Commons Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

September 28, 2026Episode 636 min

[DE] RSE Tag(e) in Berlin - Claudia Göbel, Alexander Struck

Deutsche Ausgabe: In der Woche vom 1. Juni fand in Berlin eine Woche zum Thema Forschungssoftware statt - mit Trainingsprogrammen und Meetups. Dazu gehörte auch der erste RSE (Research Software Engineering) Tag in Berlin. Hier hört Ihr von den Organisatoren Claudia Göbel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9785-4154 ) und Alexander Struck (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1173-9228 ) wie das so gelaufen ist. Links Webseiten der Events: https://forschungssoftware.info/RSdays/2026/Berlin/ https://forschungssoftware.info/RSweeks/2026/ https://zenodo.org/communities/rsday2026/ Materialsammlung zum Research Software Day 2026 Berlin & Brandenburg https://www.listserv.dfn.de/sympa/info/researchsoftwaredaybbb Mailingliste zur Organisation zukünftiger Research Software Days in B & BB https://www.berlin-university-alliance.de/commitments/research-quality/core/index.html Center for Open and Responsible Research der BUA (Berlin University Alliance) https://www.matters-of-activity.de/ Exzellenzcluster Matters of Activity. Image Space Material https://de-rse.org de-RSE e.V. – Gesellschaft für Forschungssoftware Get in touch Thank you for listening! Merci de votre écoute! Vielen Dank für´s Zuhören! Contact Details/ Coordonnées / Kontakt: Email mailto: peter@code4thought.org UK RSE Slack (ukrse.slack.com): @code4thought or @piddie Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/code4thought.bsky.social LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pweschmidt/ (personal Profile) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/codeforthought/ (Code for Thought Profile) This podcast is licensed under the Creative Commons Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

September 21, 2026Episode 528 min

[EN] Digital skills in arts and humanities: a roadmap - Andre Piza

English Edition : Andre Piza is one of the authors of the paper: "Towards a National Research Software Engineering Capability in Arts and Humanities Research: A Roadmap". And in this episode Andre tells us what this roadmap contains and how this benefits digital skills in the arts and humanities domain. Links: https://zenodo.org/records/15083396 the original paper https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FU000019%2F1#/tabOverview funding of the project by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) of the UK https://www.diskah.org DISKAH initiative https://www.ukri.org/councils/ahrc/remit-programmes-and-priorities/convergent-screen-technologies-and-performance-in-realtime-costar/costar-national-lab/ CoStar initiative https://www.riches.ukri.org Riches initiative Get in touch Thank you for listening! Merci de votre écoute! Vielen Dank für´s Zuhören! Contact Details/ Coordonnées / Kontakt: Email mailto: peter@code4thought.org UK RSE Slack (ukrse.slack.com): @code4thought or @piddie Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/code4thought.bsky.social LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pweschmidt/ (personal Profile) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/codeforthought/ (Code for Thought Profile) This podcast is licensed under the Creative Commons Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

September 14, 2026Episode 436 min

[EN] From Agents to Fellows - with Oscar Seip and Shoaib Sufi

English Edition: The Institut for Research Software (formerly the Software Sustainability Institute) in the UK can look back on a long tradition of promoting 'better software, better research'. A key element of this is the fellowship. Together with my guests Oscar Seip and Shoaib Sufi (both from the University of Manchester) we explore the history of the fellowship and how it evolved over time. NOTE: applications for the next round of fellowship is OPEN until 5 October 2026. Links: https://www.software.ac.uk/programmes/fellowship-programme this is the entry for the fellowship programme. Look here for finding out how to apply etc https://www.software.ac.uk/ssi-fellows-mentorship the mentorship at the Institute for Research Software https://we-are-ols.org Open Life Science initiative supporting the mentorship programme at the Institute for Research Software Get in touch Thank you for listening! Merci de votre écoute! Vielen Dank für´s Zuhören! Contact Details/ Coordonnées / Kontakt: Email mailto: peter@code4thought.org UK RSE Slack (ukrse.slack.com): @code4thought or @piddie Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/code4thought.bsky.social LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pweschmidt/ (personal Profile) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/codeforthought/ (Code for Thought Profile) This podcast is licensed under the Creative Commons Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

September 7, 2026Episode 31 hr 4 min

[EN] Team Portrait: Advanced Research Computing at UCL

English Edition: Just in time for the RSE conference in Sheffield 2026 here a portrait of one of the larger groups of digital research professionals in the UK: the team of the Advanced Research Computing Centre (ARC) at University College London (UCL). Because of its size, I met with a number of staff from different parts of the departments: Jonathan Cooper, Harry Moss, Mahmoud Abdelrazek, Milan Malfait, Stella Prins, Camilla Harris and Hollie Rowland. Links: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/advanced-research-computing https://www.ucl.ac.uk/advanced-research-computing/our-people https://www.pris-managers.ac.uk the PRISM network in the UK Get in touch Thank you for listening! Merci de votre écoute! Vielen Dank für´s Zuhören! Contact Details/ Coordonnées / Kontakt: Email mailto: peter@code4thought.org UK RSE Slack (ukrse.slack.com): @code4thought or @piddie Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/code4thought.bsky.social LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pweschmidt/ (personal Profile) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/codeforthought/ (Code for Thought Profile) This podcast is licensed under the Creative Commons Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

August 31, 2026Episode 239 min

[EN] Online ecosystems: beyond the metaphor - with Nathan Matias and Bastian Greshake Tzovaras

English Edition: what do rivers have in common with online communities? This, and other questions, is something I will be talking about with my two guests Nathan Matias (CatLab, Cornell Uni. US) and Bastian Greshake Tzovaras. It all started with a blog post, which you find below in the list of links: https://citizensandtech.org/2025/12/online-communities-as-ecosystems/ the original blog post https://citizensandtech.org/ https://citizensandtech.org/author/j-nathan-matias/ Nathan's bio https://tzovar.as/ Bastian's homepage https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/ an online community mentioned in the interview https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streeter%E2%80%93Phelps_equation Streeter Phelps equation to quantify river pollution - also known as the “DO (dissolved oxygen) sag equation” Get in touch Thank you for listening! Merci de votre écoute! Vielen Dank für´s Zuhören! Contact Details/ Coordonnées / Kontakt: Email mailto: peter@code4thought.org UK RSE Slack (ukrse.slack.com): @code4thought or @piddie Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/code4thought.bsky.social LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pweschmidt/ (personal Profile) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/codeforthought/ (Code for Thought Profile) This podcast is licensed under the Creative Commons Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

August 24, 2026Episode 111 min

[EN] Welcome to Season 12 - Trailer

English Edition: welcome back from your summer holidays. And what a summer this has been! In this short trailer you'll find out what's in store between now and the end of this year. I hope you find something interesting in there. Get in touch Thank you for listening! Merci de votre écoute! Vielen Dank für´s Zuhören! Contact Details/ Coordonnées / Kontakt: Email mailto: peter@code4thought.org UK RSE Slack (ukrse.slack.com): @code4thought or @piddie Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/code4thought.bsky.social LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pweschmidt/ (personal Profile) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/codeforthought/ (Code for Thought Profile) This podcast is licensed under the Creative Commons Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/