DiscoRSE: an open educational resource for Research Software Engineers

Research software development is an interdisciplinary activity which requires skills related to research, coding, and the specific domain where the software will be used [1]. Research Software Engineers (RSEs) working in research software development will rarely start their careers with a skill set covering these three domains. To cover these three corners, and make it easier for both discipline-specific researchers and software engineers wanting to become an RSE, the RSE community actively works on the creation and publication of open educational resources (OER). However, such OERs are often found only on institutional websites, making it difficult for RSEs to find suitable OERs beyond their own institutions. DiscoRSE aims at covering this gap by providing a platform aggregating OERs for RSEs from multiple sources, enriching them with structured metadata, and thus making them more findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR). Aiming at a comprehensive overview, DiscoRSE will include FAIR metadata for the hosted training materials [2], as well as for datasets [3] and software [4] used during training. Current RSE-oriented learning platforms such as WirLernenOnline [5] and the Open Educational Resources Search Index (OERSI) [6], only offer a rough classification of facets, which reduces the overall user experience. However, there are platforms in other domains, e.g., TeSS [7] for the bioinformatics community, or cross-domain, e.g., DALIA [8] for the German public, which already support richer user experience as well as structured metadata. DiscoRSE will build on top of existing solutions, offering additional options tailored to RSEs. In particular, DiscoRSE will improve findability of RSErelated OERs on specific topics, identification of learning chains of OER that build on each other, visibility of authors, and findability of OERs according to accessibility requirements. The RSE-OER metadata schema will build on existing, general OER metadata schemas, making DiscoRSE compatible with other OER platforms, opening up the possibility to combine OER from different disciplines. Furthermore, the annotation with information on the accessibility of OER is intended to ensure that users can better find an OER suitable to their own needs. To facilitate adoption, DiscoRSE will also develop and deliver lectures and workshops together with communication channels aligned to those already in use by the RSE community, initially in Germany but later extended to international communities. We will introduce DiscoRSE to boost the discussion around RSE needs in the NFDI community and collect early requirements and suggestions, making it easier to integrate them from the beginning. We will also report on DiscoRSE activities around metadata for training materials, including an initial assessment of current metadata schemas (e.g., Dalia interchange format [9], Allgemeines Metadatenprofil für Bildungsressourcen –AMB [10], Bioschemas training profiles [11]), a joint activity with NFDI4DataScience and Quadriga Competence Center.