The Princeton University Research Software Engineering Group Model: Operational and Organizational Approaches

The Princeton Research Software Engineering Group has grown rapidly since its inception in late 2016. The group is housed in the central Research Computing Department, comprises professional research software engineers (RSEs), and works directly with researchers to create high-quality research software. As the group has matured, so has the need for formalizing operational details and procedures. The Research Software Engineering Group uses an RSE partnership model, where RSEs work long term with a designated academic department, institute, center, consortium, or individual principal investigator. This article describes the operation of the central Princeton Research Software Engineering Group, including funding, partner and project selection, and best practices for defining expectations for a successful partnership with researchers.