The heterogeneity in the organization of software engineering (SE) research historically exists, i.e., funded research model and hands-on model, which makes software engineering become a thriving interdisciplinary field in the last 50 years. However, the funded research model is becoming dominant in SE research recently, indicating such heterogeneity has been seriously and systematically threatened. In this essay, we first explain why the heterogeneity is needed in the organization of SE research, then present the current trend of SE research nowadays, as well as the consequences and potential futures. The choice is at our hands, and we urge our community to seriously consider maintaining the heterogeneity in the organization of software engineering research.

@inproceedings{abs-2602-03093,
  title = {Maintaining the Heterogeneity in the Organization of Software Engineering Research},
  author = {Yang Yue and Zheng Jiang and Yi Wang},
  booktitle = {ICSE},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1145/3793657.3793904}
}