News

Over the past few months, we have taken a closer look at 19 research and infrastructure institutions from Germany, Europe and North America: their history, governance models, funding sources, strengths, potential blind spots and opportunities. These institutions vary widely: some have existed for decades, whilst others are still finding their footing; some enjoy secure, long-term funding, whilst others move from one project phase to the next. In this six-part series, we examine the findings from this analysis most relevant to the establishment of a German Research Software Institution.

Research software is not bound by national borders: its standards are developed globally, it is used globally, and its community has been transnational from the very beginning.

Over the past few months, we have taken a closer look at 19 research and infrastructure institutions from Germany, Europe and North America: their history, governance models, funding sources, strengths, potential blind spots and opportunities. These institutions vary widely: some have existed for decades, whilst others are still finding their footing; some enjoy secure, long-term funding, whilst others move from one project phase to the next. In this six-part series, we examine the findings from this analysis most relevant to the establishment of a German Research Software Institution.

When setting up a new digital research infrastructure, there is a strong temptation to want to do everything in-house: your own website, your own identity management, your own repositories, your own training platforms. This approach is understandable, as having complete control seems like the most direct route to quality. In practice, however,

Over the past few months, we have taken a closer look at 19 research and infrastructure institutions from Germany, Europe and North America: their history, governance models, funding sources, strengths, potential blind spots and opportunities. These institutions vary widely: some have existed for decades, whilst others are still finding their footing; some enjoy secure, long-term funding, whilst others move from one project phase to the next. In this six-part series, we examine the findings from this analysis most relevant to the establishment of a German Research Software Institution.

Within the German academic system, research software engineers write software that is cited in hundreds of publications without their names being mentioned.