Dear Selina, All, Apropos:
For one, there are expert users for the software taught at these courses. Often, the software developers know these persons, and it would be great if they could nominate at least one or two persons who could teach in their place, having gender balance and (age) diversity in mind. I would say that in many respects an expert user is a better tutor than a developer on many occasions, in addition to any benefits to diversity - they are more likely to be able to see things from the user’s perspective (in my opinion, as a developer) * however * The tutoring is not the only reason developers go on the workshops Sometimes it is necessary to debug / fix things in situ, sometimes weird things happen which only the developer can explain and also - I feel strongly - that developers _should_ interact directly with users both expert and novice otherwise we will never get feedback about the software and make improvements. Without seeing how people use the software - and how experts recommend using it - we will never learn ourselves! It also gives a chance to improve the knowledge of the expert users, since they themselves may be out of date So - sadly for the environment and funding agencies - I can see excellent arguments for *both* expert users and developers to be attending the workshops - which would also provide opportunities for early career scientists - from any group - to get teaching experience as well as helping to train a cadre of expert users to help with workshops. Best wishes Graeme -- This e-mail and any attachments may contain confidential, copyright and or privileged material, and are for the use of the intended addressee only. If you are not the intended addressee or an authorised recipient of the addressee please notify us of receipt by returning the e-mail and do not use, copy, retain, distribute or disclose the information in or attached to the e-mail. Any opinions expressed within this e-mail are those of the individual and not necessarily of Diamond Light Source Ltd. Diamond Light Source Ltd. cannot guarantee that this e-mail or any attachments are free from viruses and we cannot accept liability for any damage which you may sustain as a result of software viruses which may be transmitted in or with the message. Diamond Light Source Limited (company no. 4375679). Registered in England and Wales with its registered office at Diamond House, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 0DE, United Kingdom ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the CCP4BB list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=CCP4BB&A=1
