As we reported back in March 2018, researchers from the SimTech Cluster of Excellence put forward project ideas in response to a DFG call for proposals on research software sustainability and four of the proposals were accepted. The projects are described in more detail (in German) here.
In early November this year, Professor Miriam Mehl, Professor Bernd Flemisch, Dr. Guido Reina, Rudolf Weeber, Sibylle Hermann and the rest of the 20 successful applicants attended a DFG round table meeting at the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin.
Explaining the purpose of the meeting, Professor Bernd Flemisch said, “Development, maintenance and use of research software are aspects that pervade all areas of SimTech researchers’ day-to-day work. Financing, staffing and structures need to be improved for us to be able to fully utilise the opportunities and manage the challenges that entails.”
At the event, a white paper was drawn up, detailing the requirements and challenges with respect to sustainable research data management (RDM). The aim of the paper is to describe the current situation, unresolved problems and challenges plus possible solutions and to underline what is still needed in this area.
Sibylle Hermann reiterated the relevance of the insights provided in Berlin for the Cluster of Excellence, saying, “SimTech’s RDM team will take on board the ideas developed during the white paper discussion and make sustainable research software a priority action issue for the cluster."