Understanding and Nurturing an Integrated Vision for Education in RSE and HPC (UNIVERSE-HPC)
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Edinburgh
Department Name: Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre
Abstract
Understanding and Nurturing an Integrated Vision for Education in RSE and HPC (UNIVERSE-HPC) will define a training curriculum framework - spanning undergraduate to continuing professional development - for Research Software Engineers (RSEs) specialising in high performance computing (HPC). It will develop the curriculum and necessary course materials to underpin a professional Masters programme in RSE and HPC, supported by cohort- and community-building activities, acting as a knowledge integration hub for those with a stake in education and training for RSEs, including those funded by this call and existing and future initiatives in this area.
This will provide clear routes to enable more people from a wide diversity of disciplines and backgrounds to obtain the skills and experience they require to have a successful RSE career: working within centres of excellence, RSE groups, and embedded in research groups. Together this will provide the skilled workforce required by the UK to harness large-scale computing as the UK prepares to exploit exascale.
This will provide clear routes to enable more people from a wide diversity of disciplines and backgrounds to obtain the skills and experience they require to have a successful RSE career: working within centres of excellence, RSE groups, and embedded in research groups. Together this will provide the skilled workforce required by the UK to harness large-scale computing as the UK prepares to exploit exascale.
Publications
Callaghan S
(2024)
Developing a Successful HPC Mentoring Program at the IHPCSS
Chue Hong N
(2024)
Developing pathways and structures to support HPC training
Goth F
(2024)
Foundational Competencies and Responsibilities of a Research Software Engineer
in F1000Research
Filinger W
(2024)
Building HPC Learning Pathways: Understanding our Community
Crouch S
(2024)
Training Pilot Operations Guide
Crouch S
(2024)
Training Pilot Operations Guide
Chue Hong N
(2024)
So what does an RSE degree look like, anyway?
Callaghan S
(2024)
IHPCSS: Building Community for Short Training Schools
Filinger W
(2024)
Developing HPC Learning Pathways: Challenges and Recommendations
| Title | Doing Science in the Digital Age: If everyone is parallel processing, what's the problem? |
| Description | The phone I have in my pocket is more powerful than the first supercomputer I used, and my phone is 4 years old! As we head towards exascale and beyond, what is the future of parallel computing and, more importantly, what challenges to its use still remain? When we think of massively parallel computers, we think of modelling and simulation in the physical sciences. But the same techniques can be applied to other disciplines, given the right tools and skills. So why isn't parallel programming ubiquitous in research? Do we need to change our definition of what using a high performance computing means? In this talk I will argue that parallel computing is not just about bigger and faster machines, but supporting more people to get the best performance from them. I will discuss work the Software Sustainability Institute has been doing to understand how researchers use computing resources, the role that software plays in modern research, and why Research Software Engineers are an important part of what comes next. I'll also cover how work funded by the UK's ExCALIBUR programme is looking to provide people with the skills and knowledge to exploit exascale as we prepare to meet the challenges that the next decade of research will bring. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| URL | https://figshare.com/articles/presentation/Doing_Science_in_the_Digital_Age_If_everyone_is_parallel_... |
| Title | Doing Science in the Digital Age:?If everyone is parallel processing, what's the problem? |
| Description | The phone I have in my pocket is more powerful than the first supercomputer I used, and my phone is 4 years old! As we head towards exascale and beyond, what is the future of parallel computing and, more importantly, what challenges to its use still remain? When we think of massively parallel computers, we think of modelling and simulation in the physical sciences. But the same techniques can be applied to other disciplines, given the right tools and skills. So why isn't parallel programming ubiquitous in research? Do we need to change our definition of what using a high performance computing means? In this talk I will argue that parallel computing is not just about bigger and faster machines, but supporting more people to get the best performance from them. I will discuss work the Software Sustainability Institute has been doing to understand how researchers use computing resources, the role that software plays in modern research, and why Research Software Engineers are an important part of what comes next. I'll also cover how work funded by the UK's ExCALIBUR programme is looking to provide people with the skills and knowledge to exploit exascale as we prepare to meet the challenges that the next decade of research will bring. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| URL | https://figshare.com/articles/presentation/Doing_Science_in_the_Digital_Age_If_everyone_is_parallel_... |
| Description | Learning pathways can help learners seeking training to advance their careers navigate the broad range and number of training resources available to them. This can also help training providers identify how to create resources that integrate better, and identify a core set of competencies that all learners should seek to have at a particular stage in their career. |
| Exploitation Route | Course materials produced have been published as open educational resources. The learning pathways work has been written up and published. The Gutenberg training delivery platform is openly licenses. |
| Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Education |
| URL | https://www.universe-hpc.ac.uk/ |
| Description | Connecting Hub for Advancing the RTP Talent Enabling DRI (CHARTED) |
| Amount | £1,599,998 (GBP) |
| Organisation | United Kingdom Research and Innovation |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2025 |
| End | 03/2029 |
| Description | DRI-focussed training for research facilitators and teams (DRIFT) |
| Amount | £381,867 (GBP) |
| Organisation | United Kingdom Research and Innovation |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2025 |
| End | 03/2027 |
| Description | Society of Research Software Engineering |
| Organisation | Society of Research Software Engineering |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Members of research team have been appointed as trustees of the organisation. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Assistance in running bi-annual international survey of Research Software Engineers. |
| Impact | In progress. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Title | Gutenberg |
| Description | Gutenberg is an open source research and teaching platform developed by the Oxford Research Software Engineering Group (OxRSE) at the University of Oxford as part of the UNIVERSE-HPC project. It provides an environment for hosting training materials in a structured, pathway-based style, offering a visual interface for browsing the various sections of training content and viewing them. A course management interface allows trainers to create a course syllabus based on materials set up within the system and then to make this available to students. Details of modules completed and results of exercises and challenges within the training material are collated and made available to course leaders to enable them to keep track of student progress. |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Open Source License? | Yes |
| Impact | Gutenberg has been used to deliver courses for third parties. |
| URL | https://blog.oxrse.uk/gutenberg/ |
| Description | ByteSizedRSE |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Monthly ByteSizedRSE podcasts covering different software engineering topics for research software engineers looking to improve their practice. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
| URL | https://codeforthought.buzzsprout.com/ |
| Description | RSECon22 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Booth at RSECon22 to promote project and get engagement with potential participants. A survey was run alongside the event looking at key skills. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | RSECon23 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Attendance with exhibition stand and keynote talk at RSECon23 in Newcastle, UK. Engaged with many attendees. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |