bwRSE4HPC – A blueprint for better research software in Baden-Württemberg

The use of software is no longer limited to technical research areas but is steadily increasing in all fields of science. At the same time, these tools are constantly evolving, revealing a multitude of new possibilities to researchers. However, the development of new codes, especially for HPC systems, requires additional skills in the field of research software engineering, which are not typically among the core competencies of many researchers. For them, the efficient and sustainable use of computer models represents a challenge that often cannot be overcome without expert support. The dawn of the exascale era has accelerated this development, which requires profound changes that cannot be implemented without in-depth HPC expertise. Initiatives such as de-RSE e.V.[1] or the DFG's guiding principles for the development of research software[2] attempt to raise awareness of the issue and present approaches to solutions. [3][4] The project bwRSE4HPC[5] aims to advance this endeavor by providing expert support to HPC users in Baden-Württemberg. In this talk we present the governance structure and services of bwRSE4HPC, how it integrates into existing initiatives and how it closes gaps in the support landscape. ... mehrWe hope that the presented insights on how to establish and run a multi-institutional RSE support infrastructure can serve as a blueprint for other initiatives that form e.g. in the DFG call for research software infrastructures.The goal of bwRSE4HPC is helping HPC-users to develop research software for their specific needs, accelerating science in the process. Applications can cover any area, from optimizing and porting HPC codes, to improving the usability or sustainability; or enabling HPC usage for a non-HPC code. In addition, new learning resources are developed based on the encountered best practices. Two tracks of software development services are offered: A short-term collaboration with a fixed workload of less than 6 FTE months, or a long-term collaboration with a wider scope. While a short-term collaboration is free of charge, a long-term collaboration requires external funding, either provided directly by the users or by a joint third-party funded project. Users can apply for a short-term collaboration at any time. Each request goes through a transparent evaluation process. Approved requests enter the consultation process, and a project plan, including the work items for the RSE’s as well as the user’s contributions such as necessary access to compute resources or data is established. All projects are collaborations on equal terms between the RSE consultants and the HPC-users, including the proper attribution which can be realized in the form of co-authorship on subsequent publications or software releases. bwRSE4HPC also benefits from the direct contact to HPC operators and existing networks such as bwHPC[6] and NHR[7]. The operators of bwUniCluster2.0 and HoreKa monitor jobs on their systems for efficiency and refer potential support cases. A close collaboration with the competence centers of bwHPC ensures the seamless transition between support levels. Moreover, bwRSE4HPC bridges the gap between Tier-3 and Tier-2 systems.

[1]https://de-rse.org/de/positions.html

[2]https://www.dfg.de/de/grundlagen-themen/grundlagen-und-prinzipien-der-foerderung/forschungssoftware/prinzipien

[3]https://zenodo.org/records/13919790

[4]https://f1000research.com/articles/9-295/v2

[5]bwrse4hpc.de

[6] bwhpc.de

[7] nhr-verein.de