Carpentries instructor training - summer 2025

Are you interested in becoming a certified instructor to teach the computing, software, and data skills that facilitate open and reproducible research?

Supported by Research Services through the Research England Enhancing Research Culture allocation to Oxford, Reproducible Research Oxford (RROx) has renewed the University’s institutional membership of The Carpentries. The Carpentries is a non-profit, community-led organisation, which specialises in teaching Software, Data, or Library skills to researchers across disciplines in an inclusive environment.

As part of the institutional membership, we offer training for members of the collegiate University to qualify as instructors for The Carpentries. The training involves attendance of a 16-hour online event (two 8-hour days or four 4-hour days), followed by a simple check-out process. There are a range of dates to choose from. Certified instructors are then able to help deliver Software, Data or Library Carpentry workshops, for example by organising an event for their research group or department. We expect newly trained instructors to be involved in delivery of at least one workshop at Oxford within 12 months of completing the training.

We have a limited number of places on the instructor training free of charge, or subsidised, to members of the collegiate University (indicatively, on the order of 5 places free of charge). 

The fee for one place on the instructor training is $1,500. If you wish to secure a place, and you have funding available to cover the fee in full, please contact RROx via the UKRN Local Network Leads (rrox-steering@maillist.ox.ac.uk) as soon as possible. Similarly, do get in touch if you have funding available for members of your unit to join the training. For example, you or your line manager may have access to a training budget that can be used for this purpose; if you are a student, you may have access to training funds via your programme, College, or Department.

If you have partial funding to cover the fee, or no funding, please read the information below and fill out this application form. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with RROx (rrox-steering@maillist.ox.ac.uk). 

Important dates

Application deadline: Monday 23 June 2025

Applicants notified: applicants will be notified by Friday 4 July 2025

Instructor training: Those offered a place are encouraged to attend the online training as soon as possible. Participation for the whole duration of the training is required. The training runs over two full days or four half days and covers the basics of educational psychology, evidence-based classroom practices, and how to apply both to teaching workshops for The Carpentries.

Workshop delivery: We expect newly trained instructors to be involved in delivery of at least one Carpentries workshop at Oxford within one year of completing the training.

Eligibility criteria: This call is aimed at postgraduate research students, research staff or fellows, and research support staff from any department, who expect to be based at Oxford at least through the end of September 2026.

Selection criteria: Places funded in full, or subsidised, are limited and they will be allocated in line with the goal to build a sustainable community of instructors based at Oxford. Criteria include:

•              Career stage, motivations, and experience (i.e. balance between early-career researchers interested in building a community of peers, and permanent University staff already involved in training);

•              Representation across Divisions (i.e. balance between discipline with high demand for training in computing skills, and disciplines with limited training opportunities in this area);

•              Previous involvement with Reproducible Research Oxford and/or with The Carpentries (both favoured, but not necessary);

•              A commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, to ensure that all future workshop participants are able to access training in a welcoming environment.

We warmly encourage applications from members of the University who identify with groups that have been historically excluded from computer science and related fields (e.g. women, people of colour and/or from ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ+ community).

Click here to access the online application form.