A guidelines and policy template for the development of research software at German research institutions
A recommendation by GI, RSE working group and de-RSE
Research Software Engineering (abbreviated: RSE) is the application of software engineering practices to research software, i.e., software created for and primarily used in scientific research projects. RSE is not High-Performance Computing (HPC), Computational Science Engineering (CSE), Artificial Intelligence, or Data Science. It has different goals and a distinct professional profile for Research Software Engineers.
Due to the increased relevance and complexity of research software, efficient and high-quality software development for research software also requires a range of organizational, methodological, and legal measures. This results in consequences both for the leadership to provide organizational support and for the individuals involved in software development to adhere to certain methodological guidelines. These guidelines were created based on the distilled knowledge (as of 2024) about software development in general (Software Engineering) and research software in particular (Research Software Engineering). It is planned to regularly update these guidelines and incorporate new insights.
The authors propose these guidelines as a template to aid universities, colleges, and research institutions in the adaptation of fundamental policies and recommendations for research projects involving research software.
Purpose
This guidelines template proposes the establishment of specific guidelines within universities, colleges, and research institutions. It aims to provide concrete assistance for defining their own guidelines while allowing for flexibility to accommodate the different cultures in various disciplines and research institutions through explicit variability for refinement.
The guidelines template developed by the GI, the RSE working group, and de-RSE should therefore be used to create an independent document that can ideally be declared binding within one's own university, college, or research institution.
Contact
For comments and suggestions, please contact the coordination team of the 'Software Guidelines' working group of the RSE section, currently Sebastian Nielebock, Bernhard Rumpe, and Inga Ulusoy, at the email address rse-entwicklungs-leitlinien@gi.de. We would also appreciate feedback on which university, college, or research center the text is being used and in what form.
Institutions that have adopted the guidelines
RSE-Website template
A template for an institute's RSE website can be found here.
Glossary
A glossary (currently only available in German) to the terms used in the policy template can be found here.