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Institutional Software Templates for Aligning Best Practices in Research Software

Garcia Alvarez, Manuel; Momin, Angelina

Abstract

Presentation and report of the workshop on software templates and best practices for research software. During the workshop participants discovered how to use the Meta Template tool to design customized research software templates, ensuring standardized software development best practices. The Meta Template is an open-source tool designed to help research software professionals create custom software templates that embed best practices from the start. Developed under the national project ‘Best Practices for Sustainable Software’, with funding from the Thematic Digital Competence Center for Natural and Engineering Sciences, the Meta Template supports software teams in adopting and implementing software best practices with minimal effort. During the workshop, 20 participants discussed the role of software templates in adhering to best practices when developing research software, and the importance of coordinating the efforts to define what constitutes best practices for research software. Participants had a diverse range of roles: data stewards, researchers, software engineers/programmers, and library staff.

Full text

INSTITUTIONAL SOFTWARE TEMPLATES FOR ALIGNING BEST PRACTICES IN RESEARCH SOFTWARE Manuel Garcia Alvarez & Angelina Momin WELCOME TO THIS WORKSHOP! 30/10/2025 Manuel Garcia TU Delft Angelina Momin UTwente OBJECTIVE OF THIS WORKSHOP •Discuss the role of software templates in adhering to best practices when developing research software. •Discuss the importance of coordinating efforts to define best practices for research software. Findable Accessible Interoperable Reusable FAIR PRINCIPLES OBJECTIVE OF THIS WORKSHOP •Expectations from participants oHow important is the role of best practices in creating high quality software? oAnd how do we coordinate the efforts on best practices, so that research software has similar quality standards? WHAT IS YOUR JOB POSITION/ ROLE? HOW MUCH EXPERIENCE DO YOU HAVE IN WRITING (RESEARCH) SOFTWARE? *Software that was developed for research purposessupport, enable, or perform research. RESEARCH SOFTWARE TEMPLATES •Code and resource layout •Version control •License •Citation •Documentation •Code documentation •Packaging •Unit testing •Publishing •… Illustration by Storyset.com A research software template provides the structure and boilerplate code for a research software project* WHY USE A RESEARCH SOFTWARE TEMPLATE? oFacilitates the initiation of research software projects by reducing time and lowering entry barriers. oEncourages the use of best practicesaddition of licenses, version control, documentation oSupports adherence to FAIR principlesfindable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable. oPromotes standardized and consistent structures across projects oMakes it easier to adopt evolving software development best practices in a fast-changing field GROUP ACTIVITY 30/10/2025 9 meta-template Python Template R-Template License* Documentation* Citation* Packaging* …* …* Python Software License Documentation Citation Packaging … Testing … RSoftware License Documentation Citation Packaging … … Citation* Citation Citation meta-template License** Documentation** Citation** …** Python Template License* Documentation* Citation* Packaging* …* Testing* …* RTemplate License* Documentation* Citation* Packaging* …* …* Python Software License Documentation Citation Packaging … Testing … RSoftware License Documentation Citation Packaging … … Language specific components Components from meta template Citation** Citation** Citation** Citation** Citation** meta-template License** Documentation** Citation** …** Python Template License* Documentation* Citation* Packaging* …* Testing* …* RTemplate License* Documentation* Citation* Packaging* …* …* Python Software License Documentation Citation Packaging … Testing … RSoftware License Documentation Citation Packaging … … Language specific components Components from meta template Citation** Citation** Citation** Citation** Citation** META-TEMPLATE VIDEO DEMONSTRATION https://youtu.be/z-bmsxxQV6o?si=HTb2HXMHTjDO_KwO DISCUSSIONIS A TASK FORCE NEEDED FOR COORDINATION OF EFFORTS ON BEST PRACTICES? AT WHAT LEVEL SHOULD SUCH A TASK FORCE BE IMPLEMENTED? THANK YOU ! Please, take a card if you plan to check the tool after this event, or if you would like to suggest someone you know to try out the tool. Take one card for each case. 30/10/2025 22