Abstract
U.S. national research laboratories and agencies play an integral role in advancing science and technology for the public good. The authors of this article, as research software engineers (RSEs) and allies from eight unique national R&D organizations, came together to explore RSE needs from the perspective of national institutions. We identified three key areas of improvement for future RSEs to pursue science in the national interest: community establishment, hiring and retention, and recognition. To retain and cultivate this essential talent, U.S. national institutions must evolve to support appropriate career pathways for RSEs, and to recognize and reward RSEs’ work.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 6-13 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Computing in Science and Engineering |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2022 |
Funding
The authors thank Dan Gunter of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for his invaluable feedback into the creation and editing of this article. The authors would additionally like to thank the U.S. Research Software Engineering Association for creating a medium through which they could foster collaborative and beneficial community ties. The authors would also like to acknowledge the following sources of support for this work: Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, limited liability company (LLC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the DOE\u2019s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DENA0003525. This manuscript was authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the DOE. The U.S. government retains and, the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for U.S. government purposes. The DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan. This work was supported by the Director, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, of the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC02-05CH11231. This document was prepared as an account of work sponsored by the U.S. government. Although this document is believed to contain correct information, neither the U.S. government nor any agency thereof, nor the Regents of the University of California, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by its trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the U.S. government or any agency thereof, or the Regents of the University of California. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the U.S. government or any agency thereof or the Regents of the University of California.