An RSE Group Model: Operational and Organizational Approaches From Princeton University's Central Research Software Engineering Group

TL;DR

This paper describes Princeton University's central Research Software Engineering group, focusing on its operational model, partnership approach, funding, project selection, and best practices for successful collaborations with researchers.

Contribution

It introduces a formal operational and organizational model for a university-based RSE group, emphasizing partnership strategies and operational procedures.

Findings

Effective partnership model with researchers

Clear operational procedures improve research software quality

Guidelines for funding and project selection

Abstract

The Princeton Research Software Engineering Group has grown rapidly since its inception in late 2016. The group, housed in the central Research Computing Department, comprised of professional Research Software Engineers (RSEs), works directly with researchers to create high quality research software to enable new scientific advances. As the group has matured so has the need for formalizing operational details and procedures. The RSE group uses an RSE partnership model, where Research Software Engineers work long-term with a designated academic department, institute, center, consortium, or individual principal investigator (PI). This article describes the operation of the central Princeton RSE group including funding, partner & project selection, and best practices for defining expectations for a successful partnership with researchers.