55th HiRSE Seminar
On Thursday, 9th July at 11:00 CEST, Aditi Punetha from RWTH Aachen University will join us at the HiRSE Seminar Series to talk about “Exploring the Lifecycle of Research Software: Insights from a Literature Review and Empirical Study”
Abstract:
Modern science relies on research software to enable data analysis, simulation, and experimentation across domains. Yet, research environments are dynamic and entail funding constraints, posing challenges for the stability and maintenance of research software.
This thesis explores the lifecycle of research software with the help of a semi-structured literature review and an empirical study.
The literature review examines traditional software development lifecycle models, such as the waterfall and spiral models. It offers a comparison with frameworks tailored specifically for research contexts, such as the research software maturity model and FAIR4RS principles. The literature review showcases that traditional software development lifecycles offer beneficial structural organisation and quality assurance principles, but their linear approach and inflexibility complicate their applicability to the research environment.
With the aim of gathering practical insights, an empirical survey was conducted among 66 participants actively engaged in research software development. The exploratory survey examined ubiquitous development practices, challenges, and the mindset of developers towards lifecycle management, the sustainability of research software, and the transferability of industrial practices to research contexts.
Results indicate that development processes in research contexts are often informal and heterogeneous, as documentation, long-term sustainability, and reproducibility emerge as major concerns. Participants, however, also appreciated the potential benefits of a hybrid approach that incorporated the rigid structure of traditional software development lifecycles with the flexibility required in research settings.
The study reveals that the diversity and complexity of research software development defy adequate representation by a single overarching model. Rather than rigid models, adaptive and context-sensitive frameworks integrating attributes of long-term maintenance, community engagement, and openness are of vital importance for ensuring quality, reproducibility, and longevity in research software engineering.
The announcement and connection details are posted here:
- HiRSE-internal HiRSE Mattermorst channel,
- HIFIS Mattermost channel,
- Helmholtz Open Science Mattermost channel,
- FZJ-internal #rse Rocket.Chat channel,
- de-RSE mailing list and de-RSE Mattermost channel,
- Helmholtz Open Science Pro Mailinglist,
- RSE mailing lists of the HiRSE partners (if any).
If you are unable to join via one of these channels please email hirse@fz-juelich.de.
Location: virtual