Building Better Research Software (pilot)

This course aims to provide researchers with the tools and knowledge to confidently write good quality and sustainable software.

This course teaches good practices and reproducible working methods that are agnostic of a programming language (although we will use Python code in our examples). It aims to provide researchers with the tools and knowledge to confidently write good quality and sustainable software to support their research. It covers both general good practices for software development as specific skills and tools specific to research software.

This course was originally developed by the UK’s Software Sustainability Institute and funded by the UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN). See CITATION.cff for the full list of authors.

The workshop is based on the teaching style of the Carpentries, and learners will follow along while the instructors write the code on screen. More information can be found on the workshop website (will be activated once registration is live).

Workshop schedule

The full workshop consists of four separate online sessions:

1. May 26th | 9:30-13:00hrs
2. June 2nd | 9:30-13:00hrs
3. June 9th | 9:30-13:00hrs
4. June 16th | 9:30-13:00hrs

Ticket Prices

Because this is a pilot workshop, tickets are free of charge. Please note that it is still required to register using the account from your affiliated Dutch institution (research and/or educational); personal email addresses are not allowed.

Prerequisites

Target audience are post-graduate students, early career researchers or junior Research Software Engineers (RSEs) who are starting their research or software projects, have foundational knowledge of Python, version control and using software tools from command line shell, and want to develop software to support their research using established best practices.

Foundational knowledge of the following is required to be able to understand code examples used in the course:

• Python used to write scientific code
• Version control with Git
• Working in a command line interface (shell)

Attending a Software Carpentry workshop or a similar course will help you gain the skills and experience needed.

Cancellation

If you won’t be able to attend, please cancel your registration (by following instructions here) so that we can offer your seat to someone on the waiting list.

Syllabus

• Software for open and reproducible research

• Better start with a software project

• Reproducible software environments

• Code readability

• Code structure

• Code correctness & testing

• Software documentation

• Software management & collaboration