Call for Letters of Intent: Research Software Engineers

Do you wish you could clone CDH Lead Developer Rebecca Koeser and our whole Development and Design team? Do you have software project that could use the help of a Research Software Engineer?

If you are a Princeton faculty member, please send a letter of intent in response to the call below (which we are excited to share!). Not sure what to include? The CDH is happy to help you think about it!

The deadline is February 1.

Since 2016, the Princeton Institute for Computational Science & Engineering (PICSciE) and OIT have partnered with multiple academic departments to assemble a team of Research Software Engineers (RSEs) who provide dedicated software development expertise and services to
Princeton-led research projects. For more information about the current RSE program structure and organization, please refer to the RSE Partnership Guide.

The Offices of the Provost and the Dean for Research are providing substantial new resources to the existing program. To identify areas where these positions are most needed, we are using a two-step application process:

1. A letter of intent, (due Feb 1) followed by
2. A 3-page proposal (due April 1).

We invite tenured and tenure-track faculty members from any division to send a letter of intent to rcinfo@princeton.edu no later than Tuesday, February 1, 2022. The 1-page letter should explain how your team would benefit from increased expertise in research software engineering. Following an initial screening process, Curt Hillegas and Ian Cosden will contact applicants to arrange a meeting to discuss the next step, namely, the preparation of a full proposal, which will be due on Friday, April 1, 2022.

Full proposals, no more than 3 pages in length, should describe the following:

• The research area
• How a professional RSE can enhance the research
• The expertise that would be expected of such a person
• The requested appointment level
• The expected amount of resource needed (e.g., 50% of an RSE for 3 years)
• Information about any matching funding that may be provided (e.g., 50% co-funding)

Note: Unlike previous partnerships, co-funding is not required but is encouraged where possible.

Proposals will be evaluated by the RSE Program Steering Committee.

For additional information, please contact Ian Cosden at icosden@princeton.edu.