Abstract
Research is increasingly dependent upon research computing and data (RCD) infrastructure, services, and most importantly, skilled professionals who can help facilitate researchers’ use of technical resources. RCD professionals regularly co-learn research problems and co-create technical solutions alongside researchers, which is essential in domains new to compute/data-intensive methods. However, the roles of RCD professionals are poorly understood (e.g., relative to traditional/enterprise IT), and recruitment and retention of RCD professionals is challenging, in part due to a lack of clear career paths. Organizations such as the Campus Research Computing Consortium and Campus Champions (among others) have recognized these needs, and are creating products and services that are addressing these challenges. We describe the challenges, some of the progress made to date, and initiatives underway to support the development of a professional RCD workforce and to advance the state of RCD support.
Highlights
Research is increasingly dependent upon research computing and data (RCD) infrastructure, services, and most importantly, skilled professionals who can help facilitate researchers’ use of technical resources
In a series of National Science Foundation (NSF)funded Research Coordination Network (RCN) meetings in 2016–2017,2 over 30 leaders in RCD met with organizational scientists who regularly study the progression from a community of practice to a profession, and deliberated the future course of the people supporting RCD
A CaRCC working group on RCD Professionalization developed the RCD Job Family Matrix and Guide,[7] the first national effort to provide a template that RCD Hiring Managers can use in discussion with their respective administrative and HUMAN RESOURCES (HR) Leadership
Summary
› Constantly evolving computing and data tools, from HPC models to new modalities such as virtualization and cloud computing, and new hardware (e.g., FPGAs, quantum computing). The challenges of performance portability add an additional layer of complexity, requiring specific technical skills and experience that span traditional HPC architectures, as well as emerging accelerators, cloud computing, etc. Developing and maintaining this RCD expertise takes valuable time from research and is often beyond the capacity of researchers. RCD professional roles require a different mindset, training, professional development, and human resources (HR) support as compared to traditional IT roles Lacking this support and because the roles are often poorly understood, institutions report considerable challenges recruiting and retaining RCD personnel. Research process, the professional roles require a host of additional skills and disciplines that are specific and distinct from those of researchers
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