Shape Research Software

The Challenge

Software is not recognised as a first-class research output in the same way our journal papers and datasets are. Yet it deserves to be.

Making research software a first-class research output ensures Australia can maximise the value that software represents. New research software tools capturing cutting-edge research are often made hastily within a funding window. Creators need access to skills and support to build software that can be broadly and easily reused.

The Response

Our research software program began with an activity to define a community-validated national agenda for research software. Informed by priorities raised during community validation, we’re now applying that framework to subsequent activities designed to shape research software.

This project will encourage and help authors of new software (especially prototype tools) to:

• anticipate the broadest appropriate use
• employ best practices for quality software
• extend upon existing software rather than recreating it (where possible).

With our partners, we’re undertaking a range of activities to build areas of infrastructure, guidance, community and advocacy.

Who Will Benefit

Quality research software can more immediately translate into benefits not just for the creators and users of this software. Faster, more robust and actionable novel research methods have clear benefits for the economy, environment and society.

The people and institutions who support research software creators will benefit from the policy and processes we’re developing to drive and support this culture change in Australia’s research sector.

The Partners

Our current partner on this project is the Research Software Alliance. We are also working with the Software Sustainability Institute on techniques for identifying priorities for building better software. Other partners are mentioned below in the context of outputs to date.

We are open to additional partnerships. Contact us using the form below.

Target Outcomes

This project will result in the following outcomes:

Infrastructure

New software arising from research is treated as an asset.

Specific outputs and deliverables for this outcome will include a report estimating the scale of new software arising from research in Australia. We are currently seeking expressions of interest to conduct specialist evidence-gathering and reporting for this work. Find out more.

Guidance

Researchers can connect to guidance to build better research software from inception.

Specific outputs and deliverables for this outcome include events and guidance materials on building better software.

Communities

Researchers producing new software for peers are connected with each other and sharing good practices.

Specific outputs and deliverables for this outcome include the “Shaping Research Software” series, which profiles makers of research software including ‘researchers-who-code’ and research software engineers currently being scoped.

Advocacy

Scholarly societies, employers and peers recognise and reward the value of new research software as a contribution to research.

Specific outputs and deliverables for this outcome include:

• development and sponsorship of awards for researchers making new methods and models available as software for others to use
• support for efforts to develop policy to recognise software outputs for career progression, such as speaking with Professor Rob Hyndman in an episode of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers’ podcast on software as a first-class research output, which deals with a policy development to recognise software outputs at the Monash Business School for purposes of career progression.

Additional activities will be developed and deliver new outputs over the course of the project. If you have suggestions or would like to partner on a project in support of the above outcomes, please be in contact using the form below.