Foundational Competencies and Responsibilities of a Research Software Engineer

Publikation: Arbeitspapier/PreprintPreprint

Autoren

  • Florian Goth
  • Renato Alves
  • Matthias Braun
  • Leyla Jael Castro
  • Gerasimos Chourdakis
  • Simon Christ
  • Jeremy Cohen
  • Fredo Erxleben
  • Jean-Noël Grad
  • Magnus Hagdorn
  • Toby Hodges
  • Guido Juckeland
  • Dominic Kempf
  • Anna-Lena Lamprecht
  • Jan Linxweiler
  • Moritz Schwarzmeier
  • Heidi Seibold
  • Jan Philipp Thiele
  • Harald von Waldow
  • Samantha Wittke

Organisationseinheiten

Externe Organisationen

  • Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
  • European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)
  • Universität Stuttgart
  • Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Medizin (ZB MED)Leibniz-Informationszentrum Lebenswissenschaften
  • Technische Universität München (TUM)
  • Imperial College London
  • Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR)
  • Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
  • The Carpentries
  • Technische Universität Braunschweig
  • Technische Universität Darmstadt
  • Institute for Globally Distributed Open Research and Education (IGDORE)
  • Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik (WIAS) Leibniz-Institut im Forschungsverbund Berlin e. V.
  • Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut, Bundesforschungsinstitut für Ländliche Räume, Wald und Fischerei
  • CSC – IT Center for Science Ltd.
  • Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
  • Universität Potsdam
Forschungs-netzwerk anzeigen

Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
PublikationsstatusElektronisch veröffentlicht (E-Pub) - 19 Nov. 2023

Abstract

The term Research Software Engineer, or RSE, emerged a little over 10 years ago as a way to represent individuals working in the research community but focusing on software development. The term has been widely adopted and there are a number of high-level definitions of what an RSE is. However, the roles of RSEs vary depending on the institutional context they work in. At one end of the spectrum, RSE roles may look similar to a traditional research role. At the other extreme, they resemble that of a software engineer in industry. Most RSE roles inhabit the space between these two extremes. Therefore, providing a straightforward, comprehensive definition of what an RSE does and what experience, skills and competencies are required to become one is challenging. In this community paper we define the broad notion of what an RSE is, explore the different types of work they undertake, and define a list of fundamental competencies as well as values that define the general profile of an RSE. On this basis, we elaborate on the progression of these skills along different dimensions, looking at specific types of RSE roles, proposing recommendations for organisations, and giving examples of future specialisations. An appendix details how existing curricula fit into this framework.

Zitieren

Foundational Competencies and Responsibilities of a Research Software Engineer. / Goth, Florian; Alves, Renato; Braun, Matthias et al.
2023.

Publikation: Arbeitspapier/PreprintPreprint

Goth, F, Alves, R, Braun, M, Castro, LJ, Chourdakis, G, Christ, S, Cohen, J, Erxleben, F, Grad, J-N, Hagdorn, M, Hodges, T, Juckeland, G, Kempf, D, Lamprecht, A-L, Linxweiler, J, Schwarzmeier, M, Seibold, H, Thiele, JP, Waldow, HV & Wittke, S 2023 'Foundational Competencies and Responsibilities of a Research Software Engineer'. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2311.11457
Goth, F., Alves, R., Braun, M., Castro, L. J., Chourdakis, G., Christ, S., Cohen, J., Erxleben, F., Grad, J-N., Hagdorn, M., Hodges, T., Juckeland, G., Kempf, D., Lamprecht, A-L., Linxweiler, J., Schwarzmeier, M., Seibold, H., Thiele, J. P., Waldow, H. V., & Wittke, S. (2023). Foundational Competencies and Responsibilities of a Research Software Engineer. Vorabveröffentlichung online. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2311.11457
Goth F, Alves R, Braun M, Castro LJ, Chourdakis G, Christ S et al. Foundational Competencies and Responsibilities of a Research Software Engineer. 2023 Nov 19. Epub 2023 Nov 19. doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2311.11457
Goth, Florian ; Alves, Renato ; Braun, Matthias et al. / Foundational Competencies and Responsibilities of a Research Software Engineer. 2023.
Download
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AU - Alves, Renato

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AU - Castro, Leyla Jael

AU - Chourdakis, Gerasimos

AU - Christ, Simon

AU - Cohen, Jeremy

AU - Erxleben, Fredo

AU - Grad, Jean-Noël

AU - Hagdorn, Magnus

AU - Hodges, Toby

AU - Juckeland, Guido

AU - Kempf, Dominic

AU - Lamprecht, Anna-Lena

AU - Linxweiler, Jan

AU - Schwarzmeier, Moritz

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AU - Thiele, Jan Philipp

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