[Call for Reviews] Establishing central RSE units in German research institutions

[knarrff]

Position paper process

• deutsch
• English

Abstract

This position paper urges decision makers in Germany to establish central RSE units within their institutions.
Focus is not put primarily on the establishment of RSE services in general, as this has been done already elsewhere.
Instead, motivations for especially central RSE units are discussed, underpinned by working examples both in neighbouring fields as well as outside of Germany.
The heart of this paper is a vision of a central RSE unit, it's structure, and the definition of nine core support modules such a unit may provide.
An initial survey finds that there is considerable diversity within the module distribution, even within the few considered groups.
Initial observations on possible clusters are discussed, but need further studies.
Finally, realisation strategies are discussed.
While this paper focuses mostly on the German academic environment, some general strategies should also apply elsewhere.

Position paper links

• built PDF file
• public git repository

Where/how to comment

• either here (in this issue within the positions repo), or
• as issue or even pull request on the git repo of the paper.

[annalenalamprecht]

Thanks for this initiative, and for pushing this important topic to broader attention!

From a quick look at the text, I was wondering how this relates to the whole NFDI developments. Currently it is only mentioned in the RDM section, but from what I hear (I am not an active member of any NFDI consortium myself), its scope has become broader and also addresses research software aspects. I am sure that several key stakeholders from research policy / funding who are the target audience of this paper will also have questions about this, so I guess it's advisable to be very clear about this.

[axel-loewe]

Thanks for leading this!

In Figure 1: what does the relative size of the pieces of the pie indicate? Self-assessed number of hours spent on these activities?