Building expertise at the Netherlands eScience Center
Abstract
The role of the Netherlands eScience Center (NLeSC) is to advance and accelerate research by using technologies from computer science, data science and infrastructure. Scientific breakthroughs are only possible if state-of-the-art technology is made accessible for scientists. The research software engineers (RSEs) are the ones who make this possible. They are the main asset of NLeSC and collectively they have knowledge in a wide range of technology areas. To cope with quick technological progress and be a valuable addition to research teams, we actively manage the RSEs' expertise at NLeSC. Due to the large number and diversity of projects and subjects, we first select which technological expertise has broad potential, has a large impact on research, it is mature enough to be applied in research, and when possible, it should be infra-structure agnostic. For the selected technology areas, we invest 10% of our total budget into development and software research. We also pursue collaborations through alliances and consultancy projects in these technology areas. RSEs personal development and training is achieved via conference visits, collaborations with R&D departments and special interest groups (SIGs). SIGs are the mechanism for knowledge dissemination at our center. Through workshops, hackathons and tutorials our Research Software Engineers are kept up to date with the latest developments in the computer and data science. Furthermore, the SIGs are a consultancy hub for internal and external projects.
- Publication:
-
EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- April 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019EGUGA..2119203G