Dr. Fergus Cooper

Principal Research Software Engineer - Training Lead

Fergus co-founded the Oxford RSE group in 2018 and currently leads the group’s training provision. His focus is on improving the quality of research software developed at the University by ensuring every researcher has access to practical training in software engineering.

Prior to OxRSE, Fergus did his DPhil in the Wolfson Centre for Mathematical Biology. His research focused on the development of computational tools which he applied to the understanding of mechanical processes in epithelial development. Through the development of computational modelling tools he became interested in, and an advocate for, software best practices within academia. From 2021-23 he served as a trustee of the Society of Research Software Engineering, the charitable organisation backing RSE as a profession, by recognising the vital role of software in research.

In addition to training, Fergus is actively involved in software projects including:

Chaste (Cancer, Heart and Soft Tissue Environment), a general purpose C++ simulation package aimed at multi-scale, computationally demanding problems arising in biology and physiology, which is currently funded by a BBSRC grant on which he is a co-investigator
PalamaraLab, working with Professor Pier Palamara and Alex Allmont on a suite of Python and C++ tools for statistical genetics applications, which has resulted in several high-profile publications
UNIVERSE-HPC, a project creating training materials and defining training pathways for Research Software Engineers, and the associated Gutenberg open source teaching platform