engaging the software in research community

Software Sustainability Institute

www.software.ac.uk

Engaging the software in research communityEGI Community Forum 2013, 8-12 April 2013, ManchesterShoaib Sufi, Community Manager, Software Sustainability Institute [email protected]

Partners:

Funders:


www.software.ac.uk

The Software Sustainability Institute

A national facility for promoting software in world-class research•Better software enables better research•Software reaches boundaries in its development cycle that prevent improvement, growth and adoption •Providing the expertise and services needed to negotiate to the next stage•Developing the policy and tools tosupport the community developing andusing research software•Capability building and promoting reproducible research

Funding courtesy of EPSRC EP/H043160/1


www.software.ac.uk

Why engage the Software in Research Community ?

• Serving effectively – guiding what we should do

• Running efficiently – using our resources for maximum benefit

• Growing awareness – today PhDs are tomorrows PIs “Culture Eats Strategy For Breakfast” – Peter

Drucker


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How we engage the community

• By consulting and involving … people who use, build, manage, need software to help

or support research• Openly engaging the wider research community …

Agents, Super Pals, (Champions), Fellows• Using cross institutional experience …

Edinburgh, Southampton, Manchester and Oxford Being embedded in projects, networks and research

groups


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Open engagement – the deal

• In exchange for £3000/person expenses, we gain: Intelligence reports from conferences A broad range of expertise against which we can

review ideas New contacts and dissemination routes Representation from “insiders” within the selected

research domains Running capacity building workshops (e.g. SWC) Taking part in policy forums Other – unanticipated activities


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Agents/Super Pals 2011/12

• Materials chemistry• Sports science• Metagenomics• Coastal Engineering• Clinical physics

• Semantic web• Software development practice• Environmental sustainability• Glaciology• Bioinformatics

• In 2011, we recruited 10 early-career to gather intelligence from their research domains and 2 mid career researchers

Agents

Super Pals

SelUCCR champions – SelUCCR partnership between UK NES and SSI


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Travel 2011/12


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Outcomes 2011/12• 2-3 Agent reports per month (32 reports in total)• A proposal submitted to NERC• An introduction to speak at Royal Statistical Society• An article in Ariadne• Many blog posts• Short-term contacts from Agent reports• Helpful feedback on ideas (CW, useful resources, where they publish software, do they

use cloud, feedback for Fellow programme, help they need for funding proposals, authored some guides, most popular blog post IPython)

• New visitors to the website (~1800 unique visitors)• Recruitment of one of the Agents as Staff member• Opportunity to talk at PyCon UK• Promotion of SSI at BGI • Aiding Agents recruitment • Identification of a key project where SSI could help (they would like a review of

architecture post release of v2 aka EpiCollect+)


www.software.ac.uk

2013/14 Fellows programme

• 123 applicants, 27 shortlisted Internal and external reviewers (including at least

one academic) Face to face and online selection meetings

• 15 Fellows announced in November 2012 Passion, time, interesting research, clarity,

understanding SSI were all factors


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Richard Abel, 3D imaging techniques

Caitlin Bentley,International development

Alex Chartier, ionosphere forecasting

Mike Croucher, Mathematical

software

Adam Crymble, Digital

humanities

James Hetherington, ‘Research software

engineer’

Cefn Hoile, http://shrimping.it

Kayla Iacovino, Volcanology

Stephan Lautenschlager, virtual paleontology

Nick Pearce, Sociology &

Anthropology

Allen Pope, Glaciology

Anna Powell-Smith, Freelance http://anna.ps.

Barry Rowlingson,spatial epidemiology

Melody Sandells, snow physics Robin Wilson, satellite imaging

Earlymid Early Early

Early Early Early Early

Early

mid

mid

mid mid mid

bit.ly/fellows13

mid


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Fellows Facts

• Areas covered (imperfect clustering) Medical: 3D imaging techniques, Epidemiology ICT: physical computing in education Environmental: volcanology, virtual paleontology, glaciology,

snow physics, space weather, satellite imaging Computational support: ‘research software developers’ x2 Information applications: international development, data

visualisation Humanities: textual classification, sociology & anthropology

• Career stage (8 early, 7 mid)• Gender (4F, 11M) • Reminder: Chosen on commitment and passion over

domain Although important domains and interesting domains were

factors


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What makes a good recruit

• Enough time for the win-win; activities beneficial to themselves and the objectives of the SSI-

• enthusiastic, motivated and wanting to make an impact in their area• active and engaged in their own area, with a track record of generating

ideas• a good communicator, able to talk about their work and understand

others work• a willing advocate of research software best practice• able to act as a conduit and information source into their community• Demonstrate some common ground between their works and interest

and those of the Institute • Important or interesting research domain


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Representative set

• We don’t• Go for important/interesting science• And people with energy• …. It is a target rich environment – lots of good

people to help and then inspire others


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What does a Fellow do

• Attend conferences What software used in a domain, important software enabled

research in their domains, giving us data on any surveys they have done, promoting the SSI and it’s message – esp. the themes (e.g. reproducible research), giving us the specific names of contacts we can help, blogging about the conference, tweeting

• Running capability building workshop Software Carpentry at their sites Running training courses in their own software for use in their

domains preparing with SSI best practice (e.g. SES - http://www.software.ac.uk/online-sustainability-evaluation )

• Policy work Attending policy relevant workshops

http://www.software.ac.uk/online-sustainability-evaluation

http://www.software.ac.uk/online-sustainability-evaluation


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Serendipity

• Attending our advisory board Making EPSRC happy

• Attending a Train the Trainers workshop for a new EU wide programme Influence for them, expertise for us

• Being able to make existing money go further A trip to Oz

• Discussions on feedback useful (catalogue of visualisation tools for researchers, blogging about how people integrate such tools into their science) Even though they cancelled going

• 8 showed a strong interest in authoring a ‘Software in your domain’ to aid insiders and to give outsiders a view in Likely focus of Fellows 6-monthly meeting

• Asking for material to promote SSI at events they normally attend and not funded by us

• Joining funds together to be able to run a bigger workshop where there is some domain overlap


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How we ok funds

• Request (a month before at the latest)• Review by Fellows Management team• Either approve, ask for clarification, deny• Once event completed, report received and

then claim processed.


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Challenges

• I am out of the country | I have a lecture to train people going on a field trip; Iwon’t be able to make the meeting which is part of my terms and conditions.

• Just getting on the plane … will you pay for my trip ?• Can you pay for my friend to give a few hours of

training to my team ?• Can you buy some software for me to help me with

my research ?• I have to move abroad can I still be a Fellow ?


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Benefits

• For the Institute: Sanity check – are we doing the right thing Highlight opportunities; casting the net wider Credibility Identification of project most likely to benefit with help Behavioral change; real benefit others likely to take heed.

For the Fellows: Money to attend events Arrange events Higher profile More contacts Ideas from their peer group


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Outputs and Outcomes


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Forever Fellows

• For successful Fellows• Something for the CV• Discount/Free attendance at SSI Events e.g. CW• Still do work in the name of SSI (with prior checking)• Still have their voice heard• Allow us to pass ideas/leads by them• 1 or 2 Fellows worth of cash for them to bid into• Maintain contact in case we would like them to go to

an event


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Recommendations

• Clear about type of person you want• Be rigorous but fair at selection• Magnanimous after that (but polite and firm if needed)• Clear guidelines and suggestions• Good rapport• Chasing expenses for them• Quick turn around on requests (e.g. we are working on the decisions)• Get them together early to bond as a group and let them know that ideas are

welcome and give them a forum to discuss (e.g. mailing group)• Help them with your network• Ask them to help you with their network• Don’t be afraid to ask them to do stuff you think they might be interested in• Manage them as individuals• Help create a group feeling


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Future Challenges

• Running the Fellows programme adaptively • Recruiting new Fellows• Making best use of Fellows – win-win and not taking up too

much time• Cross network challenges• Integrating Fellows Forever• Maximising outputs from event reports• Setup takes some effort; running it actively is where the

benefits are realised. If they see their contributions helping they will be more

motivated to contribute


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Questions

• ?

engaging the software in research community

Technology

software funders

research software allen

community manager

helpor support research

ssi enthusiastic

fellows programme

agent reports

intelligence reports