Science is state of the art in seeking and gaining knowledge, and yet it lags far behind in general operational, organisational, and technological aspects when compared to industry settings. For instance, there are nearly no research software engineers within research groups or institutions, even though software is a foundational component to conducting research in the modern era.
Likewise, basic modern communication and project management tools are rarely, if ever, used within research environments, even though they are standard practice in many corporate settings. If these things are used by some groups, they are not shared nor advertised through traditional scientific publications, so if they exist, others can’t reuse and learn from each other to improve how we do research.
Science is also increasingly moving into more team-based, multi-centered enterprises, as well as having a greater requirement for openness and reproducibility. These require using modern practices designed for these conditions, rarely seen in academia but common within many industry settings.
Our aim with WP1 is to deliver “better, open, and reproducible research done in less time” by employing these practices, as well as providing upskilling opportunities to researchers for skills and knowledge in these practices.
We’ve structured and organised Work Package 1 (WP1) based on the increasing need for openness, transparency, and reproducibility in research. WP1 will deliver the day-to-day project and operations management of all the WPs, as well as facilitating the close collaboration and joint development of expertise across all seven Steno Centers.
To achieve effective and optimal coordination and management of a complex project like this, we will apply modern and innovative methods in project and operational management practices, as well as applying a software and data engineering structure and perspective both operational aspects as well as to scientific outputs. We will employ resources and tools developed and tested at SDCA in the past years (1–5) to offer a practical framework for sharing knowledge and technical skills across centres, which will deliver “better research done in less time” (6) while following reproducible and open scientific practices.
Visions
Better research done in less time
Researchers with modern technical engineering-based and project management skills embedded in more groups
Modern data engineering practices and research operational approaches established as a standard of practice when conducting research
Aims
Create management groups to manage and coordinate centers and WPs in completing their deliverables.
Develop and implement cross-Steno Research Operations and modern collaborative workflows and practices that support the successful completion of each work package as well as improving research practices across Steno centers.
Optimise and reduce the time and effort spent between designing the work package studies and the final disseminating high-quality research results.
Build up inter- and intra-Steno knowledge and skill capacity (“upskill”) in non-traditional technical skills and knowledge such as software development, data engineering, operational management (including “DataOps”), and iterative project management practices.