Mastodawn

Exciting news from deRSE26!

At the 6th Conference for Research Software Engineering in Germany (deRSE26) in Stuttgart, Volodymyr Kushnarenko and Michael Liebau presented two posters sharing insights from our work in catalysis-related research and project management:

👉 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18937806

👉 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18938507

We’re thrilled that both contributions were well received and sparked inspiring discussions on sustainable software development and collaboration in research.

#deRSE26

User Training in Catalysis-Related Sciences: Experience Report on the Example of Repo4Cat

Catalysis research requires a robust, FAIR-compliant infrastructure (infrastructure for Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable data) that enables the storage, sharing, and publication of data using persistent identifiers (PIDs) at scale. Repo4Cat is the central data repository developed within the NFDI4Cat consortium (National Research Data Infrastructure for Catalysis-Related Sciences) and focused on the management of data from the field of catalysis and catalysis-related sciences. It brings everything together in one place – a hub where research can be shared, discovered, and advanced collaboratively. It enables researchers to make their work visible, find relevant information and tools, and connect with others. From the starting point of the productive operation to the regular data uploads and publications it took time and additional effort by the NFDI4Cat team to achieve Repo4Cat community acceptance. One of the key roles in this process was training of the users. It is a key factor to enable the usage of a new service and incorporate it in existing workflows. Without training that especially highlights the advantages of the provided service, the use and acceptance of the service by the community can be reduced due to the barrier of entry. At the beginning of the repository operation some teaching materials were prepared – user guidelines for the first steps and self-learning exercises. It provided an easily usable point of entry to the use of Repo4Cat that can be accessed at any time. However, the necessity of dedicated training measures was quickly realized. Demonstrations of the service and workshops not only disseminate the necessary skills for users, but also increase the visibility and establish a direct communication with the community. In the case of Repo4Cat, especially interactive workshops have proven most beneficial for its promotion and training. Additionally to the steps mentioned above, a demo instance of the repository was provided – with similar configuration and functionality as Repo4Cat, but with a “fake” publication mechanism using test persistent identifiers (PIDs) during the publication instead of the real ones. This work represents the key aspects of the user training approach in the NFDI4Cat consortium for its central data repository Repo4Cat and also shares the main experiences and takeaways after one year of the repository operation and regular training activities.

Zenodo

NFDI4BIOIMAGE Mar 13

On March 2, Yi Sun (@nfdi4bioimage, @embl) presented his poster "Cloud-Based Virtual Desktops for Reproducible Research" at the first Stuttgart Research Software Day which took place prior to the 6th Conference for Research Software Engineering in Germany #deRSE26 in Stuttgart.

Find more info about the different types of cloud-based virtual desktops Yi Sun and his colleagues provide here:
👉 https://zenodo.org/records/17092303

FrederikeNBR Mar 11

Letzte Woche haben LKlappenbach, TWestphal + ich den Posteraward bei der #deRSE26 in Stuttgart gewonnen! Unser Feminist-Post-Punk-inspiriertes Poster „genderTagger: Ein spielerisches RSE-Tool zur Gender-Annotation in Digital-Humanities-Workflows” ist hier verfügbar: https://zenodo.org/records/18863389

Der genderTagger ist ein Tool zur Gender-Klassifikation in Personenregistern digitaler Editionen u setzt dabei auf ein kaskadierendes Verfahren aus Normdatenabgleich, statistischen Methoden und LLMs.

mhagdorn Mar 10

new blog entry of my impressions of the #deRSE26 conference in Stuttgart.

https://magi.marsupium.org/2026/03/derse26.html

#RSE #RSEng

deRSE26 - Conference for Research Software Engineering in Germany, Stu

1st Stuttgart Research Software Day I arrived early in Stuttgart to join the first Stuttgart Research Software Day. Research S

Felix Bartusch Mar 7

Are interested in computational reproducibility?

We ( @rupdecat , Raül Sirvent and me) wanted to know how researches address computational reproducibility. We conducted a community survey, spread via HPC and Cloud user mailing lists.

First results were presented at #deRSE26 you can find the poster on Zenodo:
https://zenodo.org/records/18860612

#ResearchReproducibility #Reproducibility #Survey #hpc

Reproducibility Practices in Scientific Computing: A Community Survey

Reproducibility is a cornerstone of scientific practice, enabling researchers to verify findings and adapt methods for their own investigations. The importance of reproducibility has prompted several surveys within the scientific community to assess its current state. Notably, a widely recognized study conducted by Nature revealed that more than half of responding researchers acknowledged the existence of a significant reproducibility crisis [1].Recently, systematic replication studies — particularly in cancer biology — have identified and quantified specific factors rendering published experimental results not reproducible [2]. While these studies have illuminated reproducibility challenges mainly in traditional experimental sciences, we hypothesize lack of computational reproducibility and hence transparency also poses significant problems in computational sciences, including bioinformatics, astrophysics, computational chemistry, and many more computation-reliant fields, due to the interdisciplinary nature of computing.To assess community needs and identify gaps that must be addressed to improve current practices, we conducted an online survey (N = 422) among users of national and institutional HPC and cloud resources. The questionnaire explored:- computational reproducibility awareness and implemented measures,- interest in Workflow Management Systems (WMS) to formalize and automate complex analyses,- current adoption patterns and preferred tools (e.g., Snakemake, Nextflow), and - perceived barriers to reproducible, transparent data and software management. The survey design allowed us to capture perspectives across different computational disciplines, providing insights into how reproducibility awareness and practices vary among research communities. Preliminary findings indicate strong interest in WMS, though only a fraction of respondents report regular use. Additionally, concerns about data provenance, version control, and long‑term archiving emerged as recurring themes. This poster will present the survey design, key statistics, and an early discussion of how HPC centers and software developers might help reduce these obstacles, fostering more reproducible scientific workflows. Results are preliminary and will be refined for a forthcoming peer‑reviewed publication. [1] Baker, M. 1,500 scientists lift the lid on reproducibility. Nature 533, 452–454 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/533452a[2] Errington, T. M., Mathur, M., Soderberg, C. K., Denis, A., Perfito, N., Iorns, E., & Nosek, B. A. Investigating the replicability of preclinical cancer biology. eLife 10, e71601 (2021). https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.71601

Zenodo

The Carpentries Mar 6

It's been a busy week away from the office for our Director of Curriculum Toby Hodges who attended the #deRSE26 conference at the University of Stuttgart!

He presented a talk on the developments around the AI Carpentry project, and also co-led two HPC Carpentry-related sessions.

Toby's talk, "Training to Protect Research Integrity in the Age of AI-assisted Coding," explored some of the open questions surrounding the use of LLMs for coding in research, including: what role should RSEs take in an environment where it has never been easier for researchers to produce code? https://events.hifis.net/event/2945/contributions/21155/

The talk was very well attended and received lots of really positive feedback afterwards about the direction the AI Carpentry project is headed, giving us confidence that we are on the right track. Thanks everyone for your contributions to the project so far!

And thank you, Toby, for all that you do for The Carpentries and our curricula! 🙏💙

Sandra | zaesa Mar 6

Today's Friday croissant+coffee features the newly acquired cup from #deRSE26

Thx for a 🥳 conference, incl networking opportunities with research software infrastructure projects funded by DFG, the national and international RSE community and of course discussions around research software and RSE within #NFDIrocks
I would also like to highlight the keynotes, on www.dealii.org and @swheritage which made clear that community and users are key to the success of such infrastructures #openscience

find.software Mar 5

#deRSE26 For those dealing with delays on your trip back home, there is https://bahn.bet to humorously kill some of your 'extra' time :)

Bahn.Bet — Bet on German Train Delays

Prediction markets on Deutsche Bahn departure delays

Bahn.Bet

Software Heritage Mar 5

Morane Gruenpeter shared her #deRSE26 keynote slides on #DigitalSovereignty and the mission of Software Heritage to preserve this vital intellectual heritage. https://zenodo.org/records/18848442

Raniere Silva Mar 4

Thanks for the organiser of the bird of fear "Developing the role and career pathways of RSEs in Germany: Current perspectives and future aims" during #deRSE26. The fish bowl 🐟🥣 structure was fabulous for the discussion.