September, 2024

Authors: Michelle Barker, Wilhelm Hasselbring

Directions for Research Software Engineering Research

RSE research is a new direction in the evolving field of Research Software Engineering (RSE). This concept was highlighted in a panel chaired by Wilhelm Hasselbring (Kiel University) at RSECon in September 2024. The panel brought together experts to discuss how research on RSE can improve outcomes for the research software community, and research in general. The emergence of a professional cadre of research software engineers and associated professional societies has taken place across the world in the last decade, all promoting the practice of RSE with national conferences and initiatives. RSE Research goes beyond simply improving software development to assist researchers, to considering broader sectoral issues. It builds on existing work, including:

• What do we (not) know about Research Software Engineering? By Anna-Lena Lamprecht et al., March 2022
• Toward Research Software Engineering Research by Michael Felderer et al., June 2023.
• International Research Software Engineering Research Community Meetup led by Wilhelm Hasselbring, January 2024.

The panel identified key questions in RSE research, and featured Michelle Barker (Research Software Alliance), Neil Chue Hong (University of Edinburgh), Simon Hettrick (University of Southampton), and Inga Ulusoy (University of Heidelberg). Additional inputs were also provided by Jeff Carver (University of Alabama) and Caroline Jay (University of Manchester). The questions under discussion can be classified into three main areas, as follows:

People:

• What are the characteristics of RSEs (or their research context) that make them more or less likely to embrace traditional software engineering practices (e.g. requirements, design, or testing)?
• Which are the essential skills for RSEs?
• How is recognition enabled for RSE work in recruitment and promotion?
• How are RSE groups funded?
• What are the key points during a research project at which an RSE should be involved to maximise the impact of their involvement?
• What are the most effective methods for sharing knowledge about different software projects across a group of RSEs?

Policy:

• What proportion of funding should be dedicated to the research software element of research?
• What is the economic impact of research software, and how might “return on investment” be defined in a sensible way?
• How is the critical research software defined that underpins research, and the impact if it was not available?

Engineering:

• Can research software be categorised based on software engineering analysis, and are there any significant differences from other types of software?
• What practical methods do RSEs use to determine the cost of requirements gathering?
• What are the stages in the life cycle of a research software, and what characteristics define these? (i.e. prototype, lab software, research infrastructure)
• What enables or hinders a transition from one stage to the other, and what type of support would be needed to facilitate a transition?
• What are the main technical aspects that are relevant in the transition?
• Which categories of research software require which software architectural structures/styles?

An online questionnaire was then used to subsequently identify which questions that respondents from the audience identified as most relevant:

• How do we enable recognition of RSE work in recruitment and promotion?
• What is the economic impact of research software, and how might we define return on investment in a sensible way?
• What are the most effective methods for sharing knowledge about different software projects across a group of RSEs?
• How are RSE groups funded?
• How do we define the critical research software that underpins research, and the impact if it was not available?

RSE research offers an exciting opportunity to enhance the way software is developed in research contexts. The outcomes from the panel discussion provide valuable insights for future research directions, inviting the community to contribute to a growing field that sits at the intersection of research and research software development. For updates and further details, visit International RSE Research (IRSER).