Building the Research Software Support Network

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Research Software Support Network

Building the Research Software Support Network

Needs Analysis

The RSSN Needs Analysis was carried out in winter 2025/2026, and consisted primarily of two surveys: one targeted to full time research software engineers (RSEs) and one to researchers writing software, or RWSs. These surveys were distributed widely across campus.

Shareable Materials: Research Software Engineer Survey
Shareable Materials: Researchers Writing Software Survey

RSSN Service Provider Convening

Overview

The core purpose of the RSSN Service Provider Convening was to begin to build an engaged community to design, launch, and sustain a coordinated support network for research software at Hopkins. Over the course of a full-day workshop, the program team hoped to:

Establish buy in from service providers
Create the structure to begin working together
Develop a shared purpose
Ensure that all participants understand why the network needs to exist, and why their unit should participate

Pre-Work
Each provider asked to prepare a short presentation about their unit, answering the questions:
- What is the mission/purpose of your unit?
  
  What are your core goals around research software support?
  
  Who are your core users?
  
  What are the top types of requests for software support your unit is asked to solve, and for which you have a solution? For which you do not have a solution?
  
  What are a few concerns you have about software development in research – i.e., what isn’t being addressed?
  
  A template was provided for each unit.
Each provider was also asked to fill out a survey in order to establish a starting point for understanding how providers interact, how easily expertise can be located, and the extent to which stakeholders are interested in participating in a coordinated support network. Follow-up surveys administered later in the project will use many of the same measures to assess change over time.
Activities
The workshop agenda was built around four core activities:
- Problem Statements
  
  Providers generated problem statements about their work in relation to research software, working together to develop a common understanding of the distinct problems faced by research software support providers, identify overlapping pain points to help define core service offerings, and determine working groups needed to attack problem clusters.
- Value Propositions for Service Providers
  
  Providers used the Value Proposition Canvas to continue their work identifying shared pain points across providers units that the RSSN could plausibly address, articulated the specific benefits that providers could gain by participating in the RSSN, and produced a set of value proposition statements to support provider recruitment, governance design, and internal advocacy.
- This Won’t Work
  
  A risk analysis called “This Won’t Work” provides a space for providers to identify concerns about what could prevent the RSSN from succeeding, distinguish between risks that can be mitigated and constraints that need to be designed around, and to come up with a shared, prioritized set of risks and preliminary mitigation tactics for the most critical ones.
- Working Groups
  
  Participants split themselves up into core working groups to tackle the road to the RSSN launch. Once in their working groups, participants worked together to define their group’s purpose, MVP for launch, and high-level task list with responsibilities.