Scientific software is becoming increasingly important to ensure the success of research and generate new knowledge. However, the impact of code for science has not yet been recognized at the national level. Moreover, existing evaluation measures for research do not yet support sustainable work on scientific software. The situation is further complicated by the fact that conventional, industrial software engineering methods cannot be transferred one to one to scientific software. Therefore, Research Software Engineering (RSE) is forming as a new subject of investigation in Europe, Germany, and the Helmholtz Association.

In this context, the concept behind the Helmholtz Platform for Research Software Engineering (HiRSE) sees the establishment of central activities in RSE and the targeted, sustainable funding of strategically important software by Community Software Infrastructure (CSI) groups as mutually supportive aspects of a single entity.

In a first preparatory study, HiRSE_PS will evaluate the core elements of the HiRSE concept and how they interact in practice over the funding period of two years. One work package deals with the operation of CSI groups, in particular for young code, and a second with consulting and networking. The study is led by Forschungszentrum Jülich (Markus Diesmann) and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Achim Streit), which are joined by HZB and Hereon. JSC will play a key role in consulting and networking activities and will help code developers to make use of modern continuous integration, testing, and delivery techniques, especially in the context of high-performance computing.

The goal of the preparatory study is the further refinement of the concept, which can then be rolled out to the entire Research Field Helmholtz Information, or, if desired, to the entire Helmholtz Association with high prospects of success and high efficiency.