EuroSciPyJul 22, 2025
Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes at #EuroSciPy? We're pulling back the curtain on the #EuroSciPy2025 Call for Papers (CfP) and program selection process. Get ready for all the nerdy details! A Thread 🧵➡️
Show threadEuroSciPyJul 22, 2025
1/97
This year, we revamped our CfP categories to better reflect the #ScientificPython landscape. We've created a broad "Computational Tools & Scientific Python Infrastructure" track, consolidating topics like visualization, arrays, and data frames. 💻
Show threadEuroSciPy
2/97
The 'Sci' in EuroSciPy stands for Science (surprised?), and we wanted this year's program to reflect that more than ever! We created dedicated tracks for scientific domains like "Life Sciences & Biomedicine" and "Physical Sciences & Engineering" to put research front and center. 🔬
Jul 22, 2025 at 4:19pmWeb
Show threadEuroSciPyJul 22, 2025
3/97
The AI/ML landscape is booming! 🤖 To better reflect the diverse work happening in this space, we've split our AI track into two distinct categories.
Show threadEuroSciPyJul 22, 2025
4/97
1️⃣ First, we have "#LLMs, #NeuralNetworks and #AI Development." This track is for the #builders—those creating the new architectures, frameworks, and foundational models. 🏗️
Show threadEuroSciPyJul 22, 2025
5/97
2️⃣ Second, there's "Applied AI and LLM Technologies and Use Cases." This is for the practitioners—those using AI to solve real-world scientific problems. 👩‍🔬 This split allows us to highlight both foundational work and practical applications.
Show threadEuroSciPyJul 22, 2025
6/97
Big news for 2025: We've introduced a peer-review process! This is a major step towards increasing the quality, fairness, and diversity of our program. The goal is to let the community's voice guide our selections. ✅
Show threadEuroSciPyJul 22, 2025
7/97
To support our #diversity goals, the peer review was anonymized. Reviewers couldn't see submitter names, gender, or other identifying info. This helps mitigate #UnconsciousBias and focuses the review purely on the proposal's content. 🧑‍🤝‍🧑
Show threadEuroSciPyJul 22, 2025
8/97
Let's talk #diversity #data. This has been a long journey for us. For years, we had an "underrepresented groups" checkbox in the #CfP, but it was rarely used, especially by women. This left us with a major blind spot. 🤔
Show threadEuroSciPyJul 22, 2025
9/97
A few years ago, we tried to improve by introducing speaker tickets. Our ticketing system always had an optional gender question, so this unlocked a way to get some diversity data on our accepted speakers for the first time. 🎟️
Show threadEuroSciPyJul 22, 2025
10/97
But this led to data gymnastics. We had diversity info in our tickets data set, but our proposal info was in a separate submissions data set. Trying to merge these two was a major headache. 🤸
Show threadEuroSciPyJul 22, 2025
11/97
Ultimately, this approach was still flawed. The data was incomplete, missing all rejected proposals and poster presenters. We still couldn't answer the crucial question: what is the diversity of our entire applicant pool? ❓
Show threadEuroSciPyJul 22, 2025
12/97
We then updated the "underrepresented" question to a dropdown with an explicit "my gender" option, but this change also fell short. The question was still largely skipped, leaving our data incomplete and preventing true accountability.
Show threadEuroSciPyJul 22, 2025
13/97
So this year, we added a direct, optional "gender" field to the #CfP submission form itself. For the first time, we can track the #diversity of ALL submissions, including rejections, withdrawals, and cancellations. This is a huge step forward for #transparency. ✨
Show threadEuroSciPyJul 22, 2025
14/97
All this process has resulted in a packed program for #EuroSciPy2025, featuring tutorials, talks, keynotes, a maintainer track, posters, and sprints! More on the specifics later, but first, a special part of our program: the Maintainers Track! 🛠️
Show threadEuroSciPyJul 22, 2025
15/97
Let's talk about a special part of our program: the Maintainers Track! 🛠️ It's a space for the folks working behind the scenes on the open-source tools we all rely on.
Show threadEuroSciPyJul 22, 2025
16/97
Who is it for? The maintainers of @numpy @scipy @matplotlib @pandas_dev etc. The developers who, alongside their research, invest time fixing bugs, adding features, and supporting the #Community
Show threadEuroSciPyJul 22, 2025
17/97
The Maintainers track is a platform to:
🤝 Share experiences & best practices
💡 Collaborate on common problems
📚 Learn about new tools & techniques
🌐 Network & build a strong community
Show threadEuroSciPyJul 22, 2025
18/97
The Maintainers track's program is diverse and practical, with open discussion rounds about current challenges and talks from maintainers sharing their successes and experiences.
Show threadEuroSciPyJul 22, 2025
19/97
A key focus is on sustainable software development and creating an inclusive community. How do we ensure these vital scientific tools continue to be developed and available for everyone in the future?
Show threadEuroSciPyJul 22, 2025
20/97
The track brings together Core Maintainers, regular contributors, Research Software Engineers (RSEs), and anyone who wants to learn more about the world of software maintenance.
Show threadEuroSciPyJul 22, 2025
21/97
Why is this so important? Scientific research today depends on this open-source software. The Maintainers Track recognizes this huge effort and provides the support needed to continue this vital work. #OpenSource
Show threadEuroSciPyJul 22, 2025
22/97
The Maintainer Track is mostly curated with invited maintainers, but we're open to submissions too! These are reviewed directly by the program committee (no peer review). Want to connect with fellow maintainers? Email us at [email protected].