Merge branch 'main' into 84-university-plusvs-research-center

Author: berndflemisch

paper.tex

@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ \subsubsection{Research data management}
 %\footnote{For arguments when research software is unlike data, see \autocite{Lamprecht2020}.}
 
 \subsubsection{Existing RSE efforts}
-The concept of central RSE teams is already put to practice.
+Some organisations already have central RSE teams.
 Examples \todo{FLO+PMS: Do we want to mention all? DLR has something similar. So far it’s only the authors’ group.} of organisational RSE teams in Germany are
  the Helmholtz HIFIS group\footnote{\url{https://events.hifis.net/category/4/}}\autocite{haupt_hifis_consulting_2021},
  the Scientific Software Center in Heidelberg\footnote{\url{https://www.ssc.uni-heidelberg.de/en}}\autocite{ulusoy_heidelberg_ssc_2024},
@@ -247,10 +247,10 @@ \subsection{External expectations}
 \section{Vision}%
 \label{sec:vision}
 
-In this section, we describe our vision of central RSE units at research institutions in Germany.
+In this section, we describe our vision for central RSE units at research institutions in Germany.
 Institutions is, for our purposes, a broad term including universities, other colleges, associations like Max-Planck, Helmholtz, Fraunhofer, or Leibniz, as well as other research performing organisations.
 They show a wide variety in organisational structure as well as internal scientific diversity.
-Thus, there can be no single optimal concept of such an RSE unit for all research institutions in Germany.
+Thus, there can be no single optimal blueprint for such an RSE unit for all research institutions in Germany.
 We instead describe modular components that can be mixed and matched based on the respective local environment.
 
 We have identified nine modules that can make up an RSE unit.
@@ -372,7 +372,8 @@ \subsection{Module 4: Teaching Services}%
 the tasks remaining for a central RSE unit are to adapt the material to local requirements as well as to organise and hold courses and workshops.
 
 For more complex software development projects, a central RSE unit can offer individual training.
-In both cases the expert RSEs from the central RSE unit can pass on their knowledge precisely adapted to the concrete needs of those that they support.\todo{magi: what about teaching on regular courses?}
+In both cases the expert RSEs from the central RSE unit can pass on their knowledge precisely adapted to the concrete needs of those that they support.
+Finally, in organisations that educate RSEs, members of a central RSE unit may contribute to the curriculum of the institutional study programmes and teach corresponding courses. 
 
 \subsection{Module 5: Create a Network of Institutional Partners}%
 \label{sec:partners}
@@ -400,11 +401,10 @@ \subsection{Module 5: Create a Network of Institutional Partners}%
 With the dedicated help of RSEs, research software can be enabled to be added to the organisational bibliography, facilitating internal reporting.
 At the same time, through collaboration with the library, the RSE group can address the first two letters of FAIR:\@ Findability and Accessibility.
 
-Topics of RSE and RDM do have noticeable similarities.
-While software often does require different solutions than data, collaboration between an RSE unit and an \textbf{RDM unit} will in practice be really close.
-The main reasons for that are that both provide services that are inherently research-oriented and that both deal with the digital side of research\todo{magi: isn't that due to the fact that research software produces (and to a lesser extend relevant here) consumes data}.
-Requests by researchers in that direction often touch both aspects, RSE and RDM\@.
-Thus, often a close collaboration between RSE and RDM groups helps everyone: both RSE and RDM groups by being able to offer a more comprehensive service than when working alone, as well as the researcher, who benefits from receiving this single coordinated service, instead of dealing with two independent entities.
+Both RSE and RDM units provide research-oriented services that are supporting digital research, covering different aspects of the research cycle.
+They need to collaborate directly because research software both consumes and produces research data.
+Requests for support on digital research therefore often touch both aspects, RSE and RDM\@.
+Thus, a close collaboration between RSE and RDM groups helps everyone: both RSE and RDM groups by being able to offer a more comprehensive service than when working alone, as well as the researcher, who benefits from receiving this single coordinated service, instead of dealing with two independent entities.
 The question whether RSE and RDM should be located in two separate groups or should be combined in one common group is intentionally left open, as the answer depends on local, pre-existing circumstances.
 
 Some research institutions might host a dedicated \textbf{HPC group}, maybe even independent of the computing centre.
@@ -538,7 +538,7 @@ \subsection{Funding Possibilities}%
       development and are setting up correspondingly designated funding programmes.
       The DFG has already organised three calls for proposals in 2016\footnote{\href{https://www.dfg.de/resource/blob/172674/1bcb181a6451fdac9d94421776b52798/161026-dfg-ausschreibung-forschungssoftware-de-data.pdf}{Nachhaltigkeit von Forschungssoftware}}, 2019\footnote{\href{https://www.dfg.de/de/aktuelles/neuigkeiten-themen/info-wissenschaft/2019/info-wissenschaft-19-44}{Qualitätssicherung von Forschungssoftware durch ihre nachhaltige Nutzbarmachung}}, and 2022\footnote{\href{https://www.dfg.de/en/news/news-topics/announcements-proposals/2022/info-wissenschaft-22-85}{Research Software – Quality Assured and Re-usable}}\autocite{katerbow_dfg_rse_funding_2018}.
       It is to be expected that even more programs will be launched in the future.
-      An already established RSE concept at an institution increases the chances of being successful in such calls.
+      An already established RSE unit at an institution increases the chances of being successful in such calls.
 \end{enumerate}
 
 In addition to these funding options, we encourage funding agencies to provide seed funding for the establishment of RSE structures.
@@ -559,7 +559,8 @@ \subsection{Funding Possibilities}%
 \subsection{Transition Pathway}
 
 We present a possible transition pathway from RSEs distributed over an institution and associated purely with research working groups and corresponding projects towards an institutional RSE unit.
-After starting with initial measures not necessarily requiring dedicated funding, we discuss the conceptualisation phase, followed by the RSE unit's foundation, and concluded by measures for promoting its growth.
+After starting with initial measures not necessarily requiring dedicated funding, we discuss developing a business plan and how the RSE unit can be established.
+We conclude with measures for promoting its growth.
 
 \subsubsection{Initial Measures}
 The following measures initialise the two modules presented in \autoref{sec:network} and \autoref{sec:teaching}.
@@ -580,37 +581,37 @@ \subsubsection{Initial Measures}
 This step can be facilitated and formalised by offering introductory courses with a recognised curriculum as provided by The Carpentries\footnote{Examples \url{https://software-carpentry.org/lessons/}}
 or CodeRefinery\footnote{Examples \url{https://coderefinery.org/lessons/}}.
 
-\subsubsection{Conceptualisation}
-Decision processes at institutions usually require a concept on which to base the decision on whether to establish an RSE unit.
-Such a concept should specify the idea of the RSE unit, its responsibilities and offerings as a subset of the nine modules presented in \autoref{sec:vision}, the funding, and the resulting benefits for the institution and its researchers.
+\subsubsection{Developing a Business Plan}
+Decision processes at institutions usually require a business plan on which to base the decision on whether to establish an RSE unit.
+The business plan should include an outline of the RSE unit, its responsibilities and offerings as a subset of the nine modules presented in \autoref{sec:vision}, the funding, and the resulting benefits for the institution and its researchers.
 
 A rather difficult and crucial question can be the positioning of the RSE unit within the organisational structure of the institution.
-A canonical place would be a new subunit of an institutional body close to software,
+A canonical place would be a new subunit of an existing unit close to software,
 training services and computing such as the institution's IT department, the computing centre or the library.
 Since most institutions already have an RDM unit, it seems natural to add the RSE unit as a parallel structure.
-Another choice for the superordinate body, particularly at universities, is the faculty for computer science.
+Another choice for the parent unit, particularly at universities, is the faculty for computer science.
 Determining the best place may involve discussions with several stakeholders at the institution and can already be beneficial for creating a
 network of institutional partners, see the module described in \autoref{sec:partners}.
 
-The concept should also address funding for the RSE unit's initial staff.
+The business plan also needs to address funding for the RSE unit's initial staff.
 We consider it necessary that there is a certain amount of base funding provided by the institution that covers a basic RSE unit because much RSE work is not project based.
 While options can be drawn from the discussion above, specific ideas should be discussed beforehand with the decision makers.
-For facilitating the expansion of the RSE unit in the long term, an institutional policy for requesting person-months in externally funded projects dedicated to RSE should be established.
+In order to facilitate long term growth of the RSE unit, an institutional policy for requesting person-months in externally funded projects dedicated to RSE should be established.
 
-Another part of the concept should be the governance structure of the RSE unit.
+Another part of the business plan should be the governance structure of the RSE unit.
 One of the decisions to be made is if the unit head is supposed to be part of the unit itself or if the unit will be headed by somebody outside of it.
-Additionally, installing an advisory board can be proposed in the concept, recruiting from the prospective institutional partners.
+Additionally, installing an advisory board can be proposed in the plan, recruiting from the prospective institutional partners.
 
 \subsubsection{Establishing the Department}
-Once the concept has been approved by the institution, the RSE unit can be established accordingly.
+Once the business plan has been approved by the institution, the RSE unit can be established accordingly.
 The initial staffing depends crucially on the local institutional conditions.
 One promising possibility is to start with two positions.
-The first one would be an RSE coordinator.
-They will be the contact person for all institutional RSEs, organising meetings, developing training programs, reporting to superordinate bodies, etc.
-The second position would be a central RSE, responsible for providing selected services and infrastructure.
-These central positions will be complemented by the existing RSEs organised in the network to form a pool of institutional RSEs associated with the central unit.
+The first position is an RSE coordinator who is the contact person for all embedded RSEs.
+Among other things, they are also responsible for organising meetings, developing training programs and reporting to stakeholders.
+The second position is a central RSE, responsible for providing selected services and infrastructure.
+These central positions complement the network of RSEs as described in~\autoref{sec:network}.
 
-Drawing from the concept and considering the actual initial staff situation, a first task of the centrally funded structure is to define a basic service portfolio according to the modules described in \autoref{sec:vision}.
+Drawing from the business plan and considering the actual initial staff situation, a first task of the centrally funded structure is to define a basic service portfolio according to the modules described in \autoref{sec:vision}.
 In addition to the already mentioned networking and teaching, see~\autoref{sec:network} and \autoref{sec:teaching}, it seems natural to start with consultation, see~\autoref{sec:consultation},
 as this allows to evaluate the potential necessities for other services such as development, infrastructure provisioning and maintenance.
 An extension of the initial service portfolio for a larger target audience requires the acquisition of funding for further positions, see below.
@@ -630,16 +631,18 @@ \subsubsection{Growth of the Department}
 
 \subsection{Outsourcing}
 
-Another possibility for the realisation of local RSE Service providers is by forming a spin-off and pooling the RSE Skills into an external company, which has benefits but also drawbacks. [\#SuccessStory Outsourcing]
+Another possibility for the realisation of local RSE Service providers is by forming a spin-off and pooling the RSE Skills into an external company, which has benefits but also drawbacks.
+This is an idea, that so far lacks examples but for completeness we list some of the advantages and disadvantages.
 Among the most obvious benefits is that this enables the creation of contracts outside of the WissZeitVG.\@
 This also widens the customer base of the RSE unit since the newly founded company may obtain contracts from industry.
-If this company is backed/branded by the institution, this enables another possibility for an institution to interact with the local society.
+If this company is backed/branded by the institution, this enables another possibility for an institution to interact with local companies.
+This might open opportunities for employees to more freely move between industries and academia.
 But there are drawbacks.
 Since the company is now an entity external to the institution, the Vergabe-Richtlinien have to be fulfilled, which could \eg{} mean to publicly invite tenders in order to have a competitive procedure.
-This also points to the fact that an external company has to be a mostly profitable entity (partly this can be softened by founding a not-for-profit entity).
+A company has to be profitable entity but this could be partly softened by founding a not-for-profit entity.
 Moreover, during the outsourcing contract, there has to be a coordinator at both sides and the flow of information from the academic institution to the contracted company has to be established.
-These are some examples of additional administrative overhead due to the interaction with external partners.
-Certain domains will have issues with ensuring data privacy when working with this external company.
+These are some examples of additional administrative overhead due to the interaction with external partners, and
+certain domains will have issues with ensuring data privacy in this collaboration.
 Some of these issues might be legally alleviated by forming framework agreements between an institution and the company.
 It is of particular importance to agree on requirements and handover criteria, including quality assurance and license specifications.
 On top of these drawbacks, there are soft factors, like whether an external company is accepted by scientists.