Workshop on software sustainability practices in natural and engineering sciences

Date and time: Mon, 9 December 2024, 9:30-17.00 h
Location:  in-person at Domstad, Koningsbergerstraat 9, 3531 AJ Utrecht
Register here

About the event

Research software plays an increasingly important role in academic research and is now not only an indispensable scientific instrument but also a key output of many research projects. This is particularly true for the Natural and Engineering Sciences. This project develops best practices for developing, managing and preserving software in a sustainable way, taking into account issues and needs specific for the NES domain. To facilitate widespread adoption, these best practices are actively promoted through training and community building activities, in the NES domain and beyond.

In this one day event we will cover following topics:

  • Software Management Plans and practical approach to creating one
    • explaining what a Software Management Plan (SMP) is and why it is useful
    • classifying software projects according to the (SMP) decision tree
    • creating an SMP using the SMP tool and references to more extensive resources
  • Software Templates
    • the concept of software templates and how these templates help developing research software in alignment with best practices for sustainable software
  • Software testing
    • different types of tests and techniques used in the development of research software
  • CI/CD
    • basic concepts of Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery
    • identifying freely available tools and services to implement these concepts in a research context

Target audience

The target audience of this workshop is research supporters. We aim to introduce the supporters to the resources collected and generated by the TDCC NES Best Practices for Sustainable Software Project that they can use when answering questions about software development as part of the research process.

Event Agenda

09:30 - 10:00 Hello, coffee, welcome
10:00 - 10:30 Introduction
10:30 - 12:00  SMP and practical approach to creating one
12:00 - 13:00 Lunch break
13:00 - 13:45 Software templates
13:45 - 14:45 Testing
14:45 - 15:00 Tea break
16:00 - 16:30 General Q&A
16:30 - 17:30 Borrel + networking