Research Software Engineering Fellow of the Software Sustainability - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Robert Haines University of Manchester

• Computer Science
• Software Engineering
• Research Software Engineering

– Fellow of the Software Sustainability Institute – EPSRC RSE Network Co-I – UKRSE executive

• I am not a researcher

– But I do research to inform my day job

• SE, sustainability, quality, &c

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Supporting Research Software

• Research Software Engineering Manager

– Team of Research Software Engineers – Work on research projects across whole University

• Pre-award and post-award funding model
• Different levels of engagement

– “Go away and build this for me” (common in e.g. Humanities) – “Let’s build this together” – “Give me a software engineer and leave me alone” (legacy)

– Software engineering consultancy

• Grants, interview panels, prototype exploration, &c

– Research Applications Support – Training

Challenges for Research Software

• Supporting all researchers

– “I just use my computer for email, but I want to do more” – “I’m part of a large computing infrastructure project”

• Estimating effort required to write software

– General SE problem – Exacerbated in academia due to:

• Engaged late in the project

– Days/hours before grant submission – Often after funding secured

• Fluid nature of research can make it difficult to

– Plan sufficiently far in advance – Retain focus of development

• Funding landscape

– Software linked to time limited research projects – Software Engineering time cut, rather than Research Associate time