Welcome to HIFIS Software

We are very happy to announce the initial release of software.hifis.net: The central platform for distributing information, promoting events and offering tutorials and content concerning scientific software development within Helmholtz.

Who are we?

HIFIS or Helmholtz Federated IT Services is one of 5 platforms initiated by the Helmholtz Incubator besides

• HIDA - the Helmholtz Information & Data Science Academy,
• Helmholtz AI,
• HMC - the Helmholtz Metadata Collaboration Platform and
• HIP - the Helmholtz Imaging Platform.

HIFIS aims to install a secure and user-friendly collaborative environment offering information and communication technology services that are accessible from anywhere. The platform also supports the development of high-quality, secure, and sustainable research software.

These objectives are implemented through three competence clusters:

• The Cloud Services Cluster providing a federated platform for proven, first-class cloud services,
• A Backbone Services Cluster providing a powerful and reliable network infrastructure with uniform basic services and
• Us, the Software Services Cluster providing a platform, training, and support for high-quality, sustainable software development.

Our mission is to empower scientists of any domain to implement and to perpetuate modern scientific software development principles in order to make research software engineering more sustainable. Our core team is located in 5 different Helmholtz Centers:

• DLR - German Aerospace Center
• DKFZ - German Cancer Research Center
• GFZ - German Research Centre for Geosciences
• HZDR - Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf
• UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research

Have a look into our team page. You will find an interactive map to see how we are spread over Germany. Since we aim to provide services for the whole Helmholtz Association, we would be more than happy, if you would like to act as our contact person in your Helmholtz center. Help us spread the word to make research software development more sustainable.

What are we going to offer?

Please find that information on our services page.

Stay tuned! The first training events, services and materials will be announced there in early 2020.

How to get involved?

Distributing information about services offered, upcoming training events or building Helmholtz-wide communities requires us to have you as a motivated contact person in your research center or research group who is willing to help in communicating and spreading the word about sustainable software development and HIFIS.

By using a clearly defined version control workflow contributing is made easy for everyone. Therefore, you can contribute to this website. If your software project was improved by a HIFIS-provided training or advice, or want to share an interesting solution or use case, please feel free to write or re-blog a short post about it here. You can even add yourself to our team page as an associate. Our Contribution Guide explains how to contribute to hifis.net.

You are also welcome to tell us your interest and we will keep you up-to-date about upcoming trainings, events and services in 2020 and forward.