the software sustainability institute
About the Software Sustainability Institute Better software better research The
Software Sustainability Institute motto. Cultivating research software to
support world-class research Software is fundamental to research: 7 out of 10
researchers report their work would be impossible without it. From short,
thrown-together temporary scripts to solving a specific problem, through an
abundance of complex spreadsheets analysing collected data, to the hundreds of
software engineers and millions of lines of code behind international efforts
such as the Large Hadron Collider and the Square Kilometre Array, there are few
areas of research where software does not have a fundamental role. Since 2010,
the Software Sustainability Institute has facilitated the advancement of
software in research by cultivating better, more sustainable, research software
to enable world-class research (“Better software, better research”). In 2018, we
were awarded funding from all seven research councils. Our mission is to become
the world-leading hub for research software practice. The Institute is based at
the Universities of Edinburgh, Manchester, Oxford and Southampton, and draws on
a team of experts with a breadth of experience in software development,
training, project and programme management, research facilitation, publicity and
community engagement. The importance of sustainability Sustainability means that
the software you use today will be available - and continue to be improved and
supported - in the future. Expert knowledge Securing a future for research
software requires more than just quality code, which is why, over the years, we
have striven to help researchers build and use better software through better
practices, and advocate for culture change within their communities and
institutions. Building on our experience and expert understanding of the state
of research software in the UK, our work focuses around four objectives:
nurturing the growth of communities of practice to foster the sharing of
expertise across the entire research community, conducting research to provide
insight into the use of software in research, continuing enabling widespread
adoption of research software practices, and offering training and guidance to
help build a capable researcher community and increase the recognition of
software in research.
