CW23 - Mini-workshops and demo sessions

Day 1: Tuesday, 2 May 2023

Session #1: 16:00-16:30 BST (15:00-15:30 UTC)

Day 2: Wednesday, 3 May 2023

Session #2: 10:00 - 11:00 BST (9:00-10:00 UTC)

Session #3: 15:10 - 16:10 BST (14:10 - 15:10 UTC)

1.1 WHPC@CW23: Lessons learned from the Women in HPC network on increasing diversity, equity and inclusion in research communities

Scheduled: CW23 Day 1: Tuesday, 2 May 2023 from 16:00 - 17:00 BST (15:00 - 16:00 UTC; 60 minutes)

Facilitator(s): Mozhgan Kabiri chimeh (NVIDIA), Boella, Elisabetta (Lancaster University), Marion Weinzierl (University of Durham) and Cristin Merritt (Alces Flight)

Abstract: This workshop aims to provide a platform for the community to discuss diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) issues. Building on the annual Women in HPC workshops at supercomputing conferences, we will discuss the methods and steps that can be taken to address the under-representation of women and other minorities from all backgrounds. We will hear from speakers about their ideas on addressing these issues and engage in open discussion with the participants about their experiences and questions.

Audience: This mini workshop is aimed at anyone interested in fostering a diverse and inclusive research community and working environment. While Women in HPC has “women” in its title, we welcome all genders and all who wish to be part of the discussion on how to increase the representation of underrepresented groups in the field of HPC, RSE, data science and beyond. Further, we welcome diversity allies and advocates from non-underrepresented groups to join us at the event.

1.2 Pathways to Sustainability for Research Projects and Outputs

Scheduled: CW23 Day 1: Tuesday, 2 May 2023 from 16:00 - 17:00 BST (15:00 - 16:00 UTC; 60 minutes)

Facilitator(s): Hari Sood and Anne Lee Steele (The Alan Turing Institute)

Abstract: Academic incentives encourage novel knowledge creation, while investment in maintenance, sustainability and reusability of research outputs is often deprioritised.

We created the role Research Application Manager, or RAM, within the Tools, Practices and Systems (TPS) programme at The Alan Turing Institute, to address this problem. As a team, we work closely with research teams to embed stakeholder needs and sustainability considerations into the research process. This involves identifying and co-creating research outputs with a diverse range of stakeholders, implementing critical pathways to impact across a range of domains, and centering open science values when considering sustainability options for projects to thrive beyond the timeline of specific funding windows.

As a relatively new team, we are in the process of researching and documenting the viability of different approaches to research sustainability. This workshop will be an interactive session with participants to explore what sustainability means to them when it comes to research outputs such as data, software, and standards. To bring this idea to life, we will split participants into breakout groups and present them with a case study of a research project currently running at the Turing Institute. Groups will have the chance to familiarise themselves with the project, before discussing what the core considerations are for this project to become sustainable, for instance:

• Who are the users for this project? Who are the contributors? Who else does it impact?
• What is the output of this research? Is it an open codebase, product, community space or something else?
• Does this project need financial support? Where could that come from if so, and what are the tradeoffs between different options?
• What else comes to mind when you think of sustainability?

This session will be an open discussion to explore what sustainability means to different members of the research software community, and how we can channel these diverse understandings into guidance for projects on this journey.

Audience: No prior knowledge is necessary for this session - anybody with views on sustainability of research is welcome to join!

1.3 Carpentries Superstars: How to Make the Best of Your Teaching Experience

Scheduled: CW23 Day 1: Tuesday, 2 May 2023 from 16:00 - 17:00 BST (15:00 - 16:00 UTC; 60 minutes)

Facilitator(s): Aleksandra Nenadic (University of Manchester), Mario Antonioletti (University of Edinburgh), Jannetta Steyn (Newcastle University), Andrew Walker (Oxford University), Lucia Michielin (University of Edinburgh), Colin Sauze (National Oceanography Centre), Olexandr Konovalov (University of St Andrews) and Jeremy Cohen (Imperial College London) 

Abstract: This workshop will help instructors who have not had many opportunities to gain teaching experience to build confidence, give/obtain feedback and understand how they might want to develop and expand their teaching skills. Embedded at the core of this workshop will be several short live demonstrations of (remote and in-person) teaching by experienced instructors using the Carpentries ‘live coding’ pedagogical approach, with an opportunity for less experienced instructors to observe and try teaching themselves (should they wish to do so) in a safe environment and to a friendly audience. The workshop will also demonstrate best practice on how we give/receive feedback in a constructive manner, and the audience will be invited to take part as if they are learners and to give feedback to the instructors taking part. The session will finish with a reflective discussion comparing online and in person teaching and learning experiences and teaching styles of different instructors.

Audience:

• Recently qualified or qualifying Carpentry instructors.
• People who qualified as Carpentry instructors but had no chance to teach yet.
• People who have taught Carpentries workshops before but want to expand their teaching skills.
• Experienced instructors that are keen to actively demonstrate their teaching style.
• Learners/instructors that are keen to see other instructors teach and provide constructive feedback.

Prerequisites:

• Laptops to access to a shared, online collaborative document (participants may also receive some installation instructions ahead of the workshop for tools such as command line shell or Jupyter Notebook).
• If you wish to participate by giving a short teaching demo (and not just by observing other teach), please get in touch with the workshop organisers.

1.4a Open Life Science: helping you care for yourself and your community

Scheduled: CW23 Day 1: Tuesday, 2 May 2023 from 16:00 - 16:30 BST (15:00 - 15:30 UTC; 30 minutes)

Facilitator(s): Patricia Herterich and Mayya Sundukova (Open Life Science)

Abstract: Open and collaborative research is becoming increasingly important. While open practices are now required more often, research culture has not yet adapted to accommodate and recognize new ways of working. This can lead to those researchers advocating for and engaging in open and inclusive practices to become run down and maybe even burn out. Open Life Science, a 16-week online mentorship and cohort-based training, teaches Open Leadership skills that allow participants to grow and sustain communities around their projects. This session introduces the importance of self care and wellbeing within the Open Life Science curriculum. For the most part of the session, participants will be able to engage with some of the curriculum content. This will provide them with an opportunity to reflect on their current care and well-being strategies, both for themselves and within their community or workplace. No previous experience or engagement with the programme or the topics are required.

Audience: No prior knowledge required, suitable for anyone interested in self care and community care.

1.4b Communities of practice and the pursuit for Open science on a global scale

Scheduled: CW23 Day 1: Tuesday, 2 May 2023 from 16:30 - 17:00 BST (15:30 - 16:00 UTC; 30 minutes)

Facilitator(s): Reina Camacho Toro (CNRS/CERN, LA-CoNGA physics), Camila Rangel (The Alan Turing Institute) and Nicolás Palopoli (National University of Quilmes, Metadocencia)

Abstract: Are the current concepts and practices around Open Science global and universal? This mini-workshop will offer a meeting point to discuss views and practical experiences from those who work in open science spaces to understand their impact in different regions.

Openness aims to support reproducibility, efficiency and better quality science, increased collaboration, and engagement between research and society that can lead to higher social and economic impacts of public research. But openness is highly situational, contingent and dependent on the privileges and local context of knowledge makers and gatekeepers.

Three communities of practices interested in the intersectionality of the concepts and practices currently used in open science get together to prepare this miniworkshop: LA-CoNGA physics, Metadocencia and The Turing Way. We would like to invite a diverse range of people (researchers, policy makers, and open science enthusiasts) working across various geographical regions to participate in an interactive survey pilot and facilitated discussion around the pursue for Open science on a global scale. The aim of the session will be to better understand the current barriers, successful practices and possible improvements needed for the implementation of Open Science outside of Europe and North America for, and how current policies may or may not align with various community best practices.

Understanding the current barriers, successful practices and possible improvements needed for the implementation of Open Science on a global scale is fundamental to ensure the sustainable career development of the researchers from and/or working in regions non traditionally represented in the usual open science forums. The outcome of the session will be used as the basis for a survey project we want to do with open science actors in Latin America.

Audience: This session will be relevant for all people (researchers, policy makers, and open science enthusiasts) interested in the intersectionality of the open science concept and practices. In particular people coming from and/or working in the Global South are very welcome to join and share their experience.

2.1 How Agile are you? Good practice and challenges in project management for Research Software

Scheduled: CW23 Day 2: Wednesday, 3 May 2023 from 10:00 - 11:00 BST (09:00 - 10:00 UTC; 60 minutes)

Facilitator(s): Sarah Jaffa and Alessandro Felder (UCL Centre for Advanced Research Computing)

Abstract: Project management is one of the top skills that respondents of the 2022 RSE International survey wanted to improve their work, above any technical skill or coding language. Many RSEs come from backgrounds where formal project management training was not a priority, or the training offered was aimed at a specific type of project or domain so may not be relevant to their current working patterns. Some developers might adopt tools from commercial software development, such as the various types of Agile practices, but these may be difficult to implement in the uncertain and slow-moving world of academia.

These problems are magnified by the extremely varied nature of research software projects, from small projects run by one or a few people in a very specific domain to huge international collaborations that take years. Each project has different timescales, funding conditions and technology requirements, and each group of collaborators and users has different skills, needs and resources.

In this session we will ask participants to discuss the varied nature of research software projects and examine how the tools and techniques of project management can be tailored to the scale and nature of different projects.

Participants will be invited share examples of good or bad practice around project management in their own experience and we will collectively identify specific skill gaps where RSEs would benefit from either existing training or the development of new targeted training resources.

Audience: RSEs and others who work collaboratively on research software development. No experience of project management is necessary, a broad range of experience levels would be very helpful for the discussion. Any domain or specialism welcome. A laptop would be useful to access shared notes.

2.2 Research Infrastructure Roles: Perspectives, Paths, and Lived Experiences

Scheduled: CW23 Day 2: Wednesday, 3 May 2023 from 10:00 - 11:00 BST (09:00 - 10:00 UTC; 60 minutes)

Facilitator(s): Anne Steele and Emma Karoune (Alan Turing Institute)

Abstract: This session explores the career paths, opportunities, and lived experiences of people who are working in and around research infrastructure. People performing these types of roles come from varied backgrounds, but will often have some research experience, although not necessarily in the field they are now working in. At the Alan Turing Institute, the Tools, Practices, and Systems (TPS) programme is developing several of these roles including: Community Managers and Research Application Managers, alongside the more established Research Software Engineers, Data Stewards, and Research Project Managers.

These roles are called research infrastructure roles because the work they perform is primarily to support the work of researchers, although research can also be a significant proportion of these roles as well. Because these roles may exist in other forms and under other names, it can be challenging to identify best practices, build collaborative relationships, and capture the impact of these roles across different institutions and fields. The specifics of these roles will vary but can include handling administrative work, managing data storage, stakeholder engagement, community management, communications, software engineering, events coordination, and a lot more. As these roles have emerged, their career paths have increasingly been recognised as “alternative academic” or “Altac” roles.

Drawing from their experiences, participants in this session will discuss what the career landscape currently looks like from their perspectives in research infrastructure, why recognition for unconventional roles matters to them, and how we can work towards a culture that provides better opportunities for individuals who take the non-traditional academic route. We will also facilitate open discussions with attendees to learn about their perspectives on the topic.

Audience: No prior skills or knowledge is needed in order to participate. We aim to enable shared documentation during the event to learn about the perspectives of participants, and learn more about their own experiences and perspectives with respect to research infrastructure roles.

2.3 Attitudes to automation in Research Software Engineering

Scheduled: CW23 Day 2: Wednesday, 3 May 2023 from 10:00 - 11:00 BST (09:00 - 10:00 UTC; 60 minutes)

Facilitator(s): Leda Channer and Caroline Jay (University of Manchester)

Abstract: There are many kinds of automation used in research software engineering, from IDEs to continuous integration. The landscape is now shifting considerably, with tools such as ChatGPT automating code development at a much greater rate and granularity than was possible before.

The workshop will explore this issue from a Responsible Research and Innovation perspective, focusing in particular on how we ensure the right voices and perspectives are included in the conversation about how to develop this technology. The outcome of the workshop will be a position paper describing who the RSE community believes should be consulted and included in the conversation about the development of these new technologies, to ensure that we maximise the benefits and minimise the harms to the research community.

Supported by facilitators, workshop participants will collectively map engagement and inclusion in this emerging technology landscape, working through a set of questions and discussion points.

Audience: This workshop is open to anyone. All participants will need to be able to access Jamboard and Menti. This workshop is for a maximum of 20 participants.

2.4a Preparing users for the next generation of data intensive astronomy

Scheduled: CW23 Day 2: Wednesday, 3 May 2023 from 10:00 - 10:30 BST (09:00 - 09:30 UTC; 30 minutes)

Facilitator(s): Alex Clarke and Ugur Yilmaz (SKAO)

Abstract: The Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) is a global radio telescope that aims to transform our understanding of the Universe, and deliver benefits to society through global collaboration and innovation. Thousands of radio antennas and dishes will be spread across Australia and South Africa, allowing astronomers to observe the universe in unprecedented detail from 2028.

The SKAO is an Intergovernmental Organisation currently involving 16 countries with the headquarters based at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire. The distributed nature of this large project presents a challenge, with over 25 teams deploying hardware and software spread amongst 100 organisations around the world. We operate under a Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) approach, which promotes workflow patterns that enable a large number of teams to collaborate and deliver work towards a large common goal.

The SKAO will deliver data at an unprecedented volume and rate, where it will mostly not be feasible for users to download data to their personal or even institutional computing facilities. In anticipation of this we are working on tools that will enable scientists to explore and process data remotely at dedicated facilities no matter where they live around the world. A key driver for science output is ensuring that data products and software pipelines are easily discoverable, explorable, and understandable. Achieving this depends on us deploying user friendly, flexible and efficient services that allow scientists to maximise their output from the data, and so a key challenge for us is ensuring that our software and operations teams are working together effectively towards these goals.

In this talk we will discuss how our different teams work together, and how we are implementing software pipelines and data discovery tools that will maximise scientific output. The SKAO is committed to ensuring the long-term sustainability of our software, data and systems, and we will discuss how we are encouraging users to align with our values, making science inclusive and reproducible. We want these themes built directly into the data management systems, software pipelines, and compute resources so it is easier for users to take care of their workflows, and ultimately lead to being more confident and productive. As an observatory we have a responsibility to our users to make their lives as easy as possible, but understanding how our approach will influence users is not trivial. At the end of our talk we are keen to gather some ideas from you on how organisations can make users' lives easier and encourage healthy working behaviours.

Audience: People don't need any prior knowledge about astronomy, science or software. This talk will present how we are building the observatory, how users will be affected by a shift in scientific workflows, and how we can make it easier for them to work in a sustainable and reproducible way.

2.4b Maximizing the Impact of User Feedback: Effective Practices for Community Management

Scheduled: CW23 Day 2: Wednesday, 3 May 2023 from 10:30 - 11:00 BST (09:30 - 10:00 UTC; 30 minutes)

Facilitator(s): Meag Doherty and Noel Simpson (National Institutes of Health)

Abstract: User feedback is crucial to any community, as it helps shape the community’s direction and growth. However, managing and processing this feedback can be challenging, especially for large and active communities. This talk will discuss practices for community management teams to effectively handle user feedback and turn it into valuable insights. We will cover the following topics:

• Strategies for gathering and prioritizing user feedback, including surveys, polls, and short interviews.
• Techniques for analyzing and synthesizing user feedback, including data visualization and text analysis tools.
• Methods for communicating and following up on user feedback, including the use of transparent and consistent processes for decision-making.
• Best practices for engaging with users and fostering a sense of community ownership.

By the end of this session, attendees will have a better understanding of how to effectively manage user feedback and use it to drive the growth and success of their projects.

Audience: This mini-workshop is suitable for community managers, moderators, and other professionals responsible for online communities. It is also relevant for anyone interested in understanding how to effectively process and use user feedback to shape the direction of their communities.

3.1 Evil Twin Teams: How not to collaborate on a research software project

Scheduled: CW23 Day 2: Wednesday, 3 May 2023 from 15:10 - 16:10 BST (14:10 - 15:10 UTC; 60 minutes)

Facilitator(s): Sorrel Harriet (Learning-as-a-Service) and Lucy Hunt (Lancaster University)

Abstract: In this fun and thought-provoking workshop, participants will form teams and compete to become the worst and most toxic collaborators. In the process, they'll be invited to consider the possible impact of their team's working practices on the software they create, while being introduced to research, theory and practices that may change how they think about collaborative software development.

Facilitating the workshop will be Sorrel Harriet, learning consultant, and Lucy Hunt, PhD Researcher at Lancaster University. The workshop is inspired by research carried out during Sorrel's SSI Fellowship which looked at research software project management and process, and Lucy's PhD research around values in software engineering.

Audience: There are no pre-requisites for this workshop. Participants from all backgrounds, roles and experience levels are welcomed. For the best experience, participants will ideally have access to a mobile device or laptop with internet connection. Maximum number of participants (including both in-person and online) is 40, minimum is 8 (in-person) and 4 (online).

3.2 Career development through champions programmes

Scheduled: CW23 Day 2: Wednesday, 3 May 2023 from 15:10 - 16:10 BST (14:10 - 15:10 UTC; 60 minutes)

Facilitator(s): Lieke de Boer (Netherlands eScience Center), Shoaib Ahmed Sufi (Software Sustainability Institute), Xenia Perez Sitja (ELIXIR) and Carlos Maritnez Ortiz (Netherlands eScience Center)

Abstract: Fellowship programmes and other community champions initiatives are one mechanism that can move a community’s mission forward. Within the landscape of research software and software sustainability, several such programs have emerged to support local initiatives and grow the community. For champions that take part, these programmes promise to result in more recognition for their work as community ambassadors. Other perks include a more widespread network, a boost to the champion’s professional development, their empowerment, and their chances of receiving funding for research software related projects in the future. This should in turn further improve the positions of research software advocates within the academic and policy landscape.

We can now see some examples of how existing community champions programs have such effects on the careers of those (previously) enrolled. During this session, we will present some stories of our own community champions and how their careers were affected due to their participation in such a programme. We will invite the audience to discuss what makes a champions programme effective, and what some of the challenges around running and being part of champion programmes are.

The speakers will be the coordinators of the Fellowship Programmes at the Software Sustainability Institute, ELIXIR, and the Netherlands eScience Center.

Audience: Anyone interested to learn more about champions programmes in general. Also, anyone specifically interested in hosting or becoming part of a champions programme, or currently enrolled in one is invited to join to learn more and provide input in the discussion.

3.3 Research Object Hub (RoHub) for FAIR research data management and Open Science in practice

Scheduled: CW23 Day 2: Wednesday, 3 May 2023 from 15:10 - 16:10 BST (14:10 - 15:10 UTC; 60 minutes)

Facilitator(s): Anne Fouilloux (Simula Research Laboratory), Alejandro Coca-Castro (The Alan Turing Institute) and Jean Iaquinta (The University of Oslo)

Abstract: RoHub is a Research Object (RO) management platform that enables researchers to collaboratively manage, share and preserve their research work. RoHub implements the full RO model and paradigm: resources associated to a particular research work are aggregated into a single FAIR digital object, and metadata relevant for understanding and interpreting the content is represented as semantic metadata that are user and machine readable.

In this mini-workshop, you will learn how to use RoHub to search, create and reuse different types of ROs: Bibliography-centric, data-centric, executable, software-centric, workflow-centric ROs. A new RO can either be created from scratch (empty Live RO) or from another existing RO (fork RO) and aggregate new objects (or modify existing objects) through its whole life cycle. This means, RO is filled incrementally by aggregating relevant resources such as software, workflows, datasets, documents according to its typology that are being created, reused or repurposed. These resources can be modified at any point in time. We can copy and keep ROs in time through snapshots which reflect their status at a given point in time. Snapshots can have their own identifiers (DOIs) which facilitates tracking the evolution of a research. At some point in time, a RO can be published and archived (so called Archived RO) with a permanent identifier (DOI). New Live ROs can be derived based on an existing Archived RO, for instance by forking it.

In this mini-workshop, we will fork an existing executable RO containing a Jupyter Notebook as a main resource. Then we will check its reproducibility (through a Binder service such as MyBinder and/or EGI Binder) and modify the Jupyter Notebook. Finally, the updated Jupyter Notebook will be saved in the forked RO to update it. We will also discuss the reusability of Jupyter Notebook by introducing the need for defining and adopting Best practices. As an example, we will use the Environmental Data Science Book (EDS) where the EDS community has defined clear guidelines for submission and reviewing, templates for creating and scheduling notebooks using GitHub Actions CI/CD tools, FAIR practices through RoHub and Binder to facilitate fully documented, shareable and reproducible notebooks.

Audience: Researchers with basic knowledge of Jupyter Notebooks and programming (Python, R, Julia).

3.4a Streamlining Open Source ML Model Contributions via Git Actions

Scheduled: CW23 Day 2: Wednesday, 3 May 2023 from 15:10 - 15:40 BST (14:10 - 14:40 UTC; 30 minutes)

Facilitator(s): Gemma Turon (Ersilia Open Source Initiative)

Abstract: In this demo session, we will focus on how to facilitate open source contributions to a piece of research software. We will use as an example the contributor workflow designed for the Ersilia Model Hub, an open source ML platform for infectious disease research. The demo will showcase how a combination of automated tests (CI/CD and GitHub Actions), documentation tips and recruitment of OS contributors via volunteer platforms and internship programs can greatly help research software engineers improve their software and gain new contributors which might not necessarily be domain-experts, but have extensive programming and coding background to support RSE.

Audience: There is no requirement to attend the session, knowledge of how open source contributions via GitHub works can be helpful to better understand the session.

3.4b TUG-RSE: Pulling Students into Research Software Engineering

Scheduled: CW23 Day 2: Wednesday, 3 May 2023 from 15:40 - 16:10 BST (14:40 - 15:10 UTC; 30 minutes)

Facilitator(s): Aman Goel (The University of Manchester)

Abstract: More often than not, Research Software Engineering has had a high entry barrier for people who want to pursue it as a career. Even though there has been a push in the community for better outreach and to open up more entry-level positions, a lot of the people, especially students, still lack the exact skill set or are sometimes even unaware of the field.

The primary aim of this session is to discuss the potential solutions for this issue in an interactive manner and get a better idea of how the RSE community can progress while being more open to students and newcomers. It would also introduce ‘The Undergraduate's Guide To Research Software Engineering’ (TUG-RSE) to the community, which is a collection of resources for newcomers interested in research software engineering to navigate their way through the jargon.

The session would be suitable for RSEs in any phase of their career or for people who are just interested in research software, so everybody is welcome! The goal is to foster an open-ended discussion, while seeking audience feedback and suggestions for a more inclusive and accessible RSE community moving forward.

Audience: The session is open to everyone. There is no prior knowledge required for the session, apart from an interest in research software!