BSSw.io: Community resources for improving scientific software productivity and sustainability

Abstract

Scientific software drives computational science, yet developing sustainable and reproducible code remains a major challenge for many research teams. Because many scientists lack formal software engineering training, research teams often struggle to adopt vital best practices. As a result, developers frequently create ad-hoc solutions to recurring infrastructure challenges and bottlenecks rather than relying on established, reusable approaches. The Better Scientific Software (BSSw) initiative was specifically created to address these challenges by bringing together an international group of researchers, research software engineers (RSEs), developers, educators, and other key stakeholders within the scientific community. At the core of this initiative is the BSSw.io web portal, a community-driven site that shares practical development resources and real-world experiences while promoting better software practices tailored to scientific computing. With focus on software productivity, quality, and sustainability, the BSSw.io website serves as a popular outreach channel for the BSSw community. By exploring the platform, community members can find domain-specific guidance across the software lifecycle, including project planning, design, documentation, testing, reproducibility, performance optimization, etc. Because the content is tailored to scientific computing, researchers can find immediate, actionable guidance rather than generic software advice. The BSSw.io portal also serves as a community hub, highlighting events and training opportunities, academic conferences, software-focused funding programs, career development pathways, and networks for research software engineers. The BSSw ecosystem welcomes contributions from across the community, including universities, national laboratories, industry, and open-source projects. Contributions may include project experiences, case studies, and other practical insights that can benefit the broader scientific software community. The BSSw.io editorial team reviews all submissions to ensure scientific rigor and scope of contribution. The goal of this poster is to familiarize the audience with the BSSw initiative, highlight its extensive library of resources, and demonstrate how attendees can actively navigate and contribute back to the platform to share insights and thus help to advance the sustainability of computational research. [1,2,3]