# Research Software Development & Management in Universities: Case Studies from Manchester's RSDS Group, Illinois' NCSA, and Notre Dame's CRC

## TL;DR

This paper compares three university research software development models from Manchester, Illinois, and Notre Dame, analyzing their organizational structures and impacts on software engineering practices to inform better management and production of research software.

## Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of three distinct university research software development models and their effects on staff organization and software quality.

## Key findings

- Different models influence staff roles and software practices.
- Organizational structure impacts software quality and sustainability.
- Insights assist universities in optimizing research software management.

## Abstract

Modern research in the sciences, engineering, humanities, and other fields depends on software, and specifically, research software. Much of this research software is developed in universities, by faculty, postdocs, students, and staff. In this paper, we focus on the role of university staff. We examine three different, independently-developed models under which these staff are organized and perform their work, and comparatively analyze these models and their consequences on the staff and on the software, considering how the different models support software engineering practices and processes. This information can be used by software engineering researchers to understand the practices of such organizations and by universities who want to set up similar organizations and to better produce and maintain research software.