A vision of Nordic Scientific Computing¶
I was asked what is my vision for Nordic collaboration in scientific computing support. This is something I have been thinking about for years, so I thought I would write it so that everyone can see. In short, there are close collaborations, but we need some down-to-earth events to bring it together at the hands-on user-support level.
What are we aiming for?¶
Research is important for society, and thus computing and research is important. Often times, academics get all the attention, but us backend people (who I broadly call “research engineers”) are quite important too. Research infrastructure support is important for research, but often doesn’t get that much attention. It is valuable skill that needs practice, and isn’t taught in “school”. User support is equally important, and even less taught in school. Both need practice and a community, just like academics need to do their job.
My particular interest is scientific computing - broadly defined to include data, HPC, coding, and so on. These lessons also apply to other research engineer type fields, and we can use the lessons there, too.
See also: Architects vs engineers (in computing)
My idea¶
I think that NeIC is a good model and about the right size. There is enough critical mass, and distances and cultures are close. NeIC has good collaboration for its projects, and the idea should go beyond the accepted projects.
Teaching collaboration¶
CodeRefinery has a great teaching collaboration going. I think this should continue and be enhanced. Some of the benefits are:
It is the level-1 RSE training. Most of the RSEs I have hired have attended CodeRefinery and for some of them it inspired their career choice.
Teaching is a concrete activity that we can do together. CodeRefinery team-teaching provides high amounts of interaction between instructors, so that they can learn from each other, too. Open materials suitable for reference later on are also a valuable output.
Team teaching (including helpers, notes Q&A, and local breakout rooms) for advanced topics provides a way to spread the knowledge and promote staff development.
Teaching actions
Expanded in-person breakout rooms for CodeRefinery courses.
This turns into more advanced (beyond CodeRefinery level) joint courses, which serve to save time teaching + share knowledge across countries. Teaching (even with a limited audience) serves as a way to connect.
Conferences and meet-ups¶
I want to get back the magic of my first NeIC conference (2017), which I felt was very much focus on hands-on mechanics of computing. Part of this is remembering the past more fondly than the present, but I think there was something there.
I want conferences and meet-ups that are not top-down (manager or funding focused) but bottom up (what are our actual problems? What isn’t known?). Also present things which are problems or in-progress, not nice-looking solutions.
I want a special focus on usability and users, not a race for the biggest or coolest systems.
Basically, I want more things like the Nordic Basic Scientific Computing meetup I helped organize. I can do this by helping NeIC conferences, or I can continue NoBSC myself.
The key points of NoBSC were: present problems and in-progress work, not just completed solutions.
Meet-up actions
I will continue to organize NoBSC in 2027. I plan for 2027 to still be focused on Finland and 2028 to focus on Nordic expansion, but if there is interest the expansion can already happen in 2028. (In all cases others are always invited, just not with an explicit advertising focus)
I would happy to drop that and instead focus on NeIC conferences and meetups to bring my ideas there, instead.
Joint SciComp support¶
It’s hard to build joint support structures, since it’s hard to do free work for other organizations. It’s hard to fully transfer a support case to someone else. However, it is possible to ask for and give advice freely.
The two points above (teaching and meetups) promote a network that lets us know who to refer to. This is like the NeIC model, but broader, not just those employed in a NeIC project.
Support actions
I would focus on the two points above. It makes a network, and after there is a network where we can ask each other for help.
As part of the teaching + meetups, I would have a focus on usability and user support. This will help with internal support. (I have to do user support training when we hire new people, and would be happy to share this.)
