RSE4PhD - How software engineering tools can improve your PhD journey

Abstract

Software development is central to many research projects to enable simulations, data analysis, or the execution of experiments. PhD students are actively involved in the practical execution of research, which is often closely linked to developing and using scientific software. Therefore, they are strongly affected by a lack of software quality in their projects. However, PhD students often lack the knowledge, workflows, and environment to implement proper research software engineering (RSE) tools. Here we share our insights how RSE tools can effectively be used in a PhD environment. We found that the use of issues and development milestones improves the estimation and communication of development efforts. Furthermore, software quality is strengthened by a cycle of implementation and refactoring. Giving and receiving code reviews enhances software quality and fosters collaboration. From our experiences we derive guidelines how PhD students can use RSE tools to improve their software development. We anticipate that these tools serve as a starting point to implement RSE principles at the level where they are needed most. They may be translated to paper writing, which can be seen as another form of arranging text in a highly structured form.