[ { "title" : "HIFIS All-Hands: from AI to infrastructure and back to people", "url" : "/news/2026/07/17/all-hands-teaser/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Event", "date" : "2026-07-17 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "AI is rapidly becoming part of everyday research.We in HIFIS are interested in the practical questions it raises. Wed like researchers not to have to assemble 20 tools themselves, wed like every institute not to have to solve the same integration problems independently.AI needs access to research data, it needs authentication and authorisation, it has to fit into existing pipelines whenever possible and workflows must remain reproducible and traceable. To start a discussion around these topics, the first day of this years HIFIS &amp; Friends All-Hands Meeting (9 September 2026) will comprise: a keynote by Keno Mrz (DKFZ), who will share how his group uses AI agents in surgery research and the challenges that come with them: e.g. data availability and scientific bias; where were heading with HIFIS, including on security; contributions on technical integration possibilities, e.g. from Galaxy and Blablador; a presentation of the HAIFlow project, a Helmholtz initiative led by CISPA and DKFZ on AI in administration (in the broad sense); and an interactive session, where wed like people to bring their workflow, their integration challenge or simply their questions, and have an opportunity to discuss them with tech experts, and vice versa.For our second day (10 September 2026), we close the loop back to the human brain with a focus on (human) learning, with: Titus Brinker (DKFZ) who will bridge the two days with a keynote on explainable AI in skin cancer diagnostics and how it also enables humans to learn; where were heading with Helmholtz Learn and how we consider its role in the overall training portfolio; and an interactive session, to discuss training needs and the possibilities offered by blended learning.What to do now? if not already done: register 1 ; add your ideas/questions for the interactive sessions to these shared notes; help us spread the word to researchers youre in contact with at nearby Helmholtz centers (DKFZ of course, but also GSI or CISPA).See you at the Communication Center of DKFZ, Heidelberg, Germany on September 9! Youre also welcome to join us spontaneously. Just stop by the registration desk in the foyer.&#8617; " } , { "title" : "Helmholtz Software Quality Indicator now in helmholtz.software", "url" : "/announcement/2026/07/07/indicator-in-rsd/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Community, Quality, Helmholtz RSD", "date" : "2026-07-07 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "We are excited to announce the latest update of helmholtz.software which adds the ability to evaluate research software based on the Helmholtz Software Quality Indicator.Helmholtz Software Quality IndicatorResearch software, and its importance in the scientific landscape, has received increasing attention over the past few years. With the upcoming PoF V (Program-Oriented Funding) period starting in 2028, Helmholtz acknowledges this development and plans to treat research software and research data as research outputs that are equally important as journal publications. This paradigm shift will allow researchers to receive acknowledgement for work that previously went unrecognised.But which software and which data should be counted as scientific output? This question had been addressed since 2022 by the Task Group Helmholtz Quality Indicators for Data and Software Products, coordinated by the Helmholtz Open Science Office. The research software sub group has been developing a mechanism to determine software eligibility using an approach based on the COBIT maturity model. The result is a criteria catalogue based on six dimensions: Findable Accessible Interoperable Reusable Scientific Basis Technical BasisFor each of these dimensions, specific criteria have been defined that are used to determine software quality. Research software has to gain a predefined minimum score in each dimension to be countable. More details about the methodology can be found on the official task group page (accessible for Helmholtz members). The indicator will be applied for the first time to research software published in 2026.For software maintainersStarting today, you can evaluate your software using the task groups criteria catalogue directly on helmholtz.software. You will now find a Reporting menu entry in your software edit view, which will guide you to the evaluation: When you start an evaluation for a specific year, you will be guided through the process: For further details, please refer to our user documentation, which provides a step-by-step guide to evaluating your code.For reporters and librarians in the research centresThe Helmholtz RSD will also provide functionality for reporters at individual research centres to collect evaluation results for PoF reporting. We are currently developing this feature and plan to release it later this year. Please contact us via support@hifis.net if you wish to learn more or if you are interested in establishing helmholtz.software as your official tool for evaluating research software.Login now possible for every Helmholtz associateWith the current update we have enabled login for all Helmholtz associates. Previously, access was restricted to employees at Helmholtz centres. Now, visiting scientists or PhD students are also permitted to create accounts on helmholtz.software.FeedbackDo you have questions or need assistance? Reach out to the HIFIS team at support@hifis.net." } , { "title" : "Boost Your Research Software: 2<sup>nd</sup> ScienceServe Call", "url" : "/announcement/2026/06/16/ScienceServe-second-call/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Call, HIFIS Software, Quality, Sustainability, Helmholtz", "date" : "2026-06-16 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " Second Helmholtz Call for Project Proposals Published: ScienceServe Boosting Research Software at HelmholtzFollowing the overwhelming success of the first call, Helmholtz has released a second call for proposals aimed at improving the quality, reusability, visibility and longterm availability of scientific software.The call encourages projects that implement bestpractice software engineering, strengthen exchange between developers and scientists, and promote the FAIR4RS principles.It is open to Helmholtz researchers, software engineers and teams at Helmholtz centers.We encourage all funded projects to get in touch with the Helmholtz Information &amp; Data Science plaforms,specifically HIFIS Consulting,and join the strong Helmholtz community of practice in research software development.An online information session will be held on25June2026.Applications must be submitted by14August2026.The funding must be fully utilized within 2027 and 2028. Projects may run for 18 to 21 months,starting from March 2027.Find detailed information about the call here.Interested in the topic?Read more on how Helmholtz is supporting the quality of Research Software.Get in touch with us at support@hifis.net!" } , { "title" : "Kadi4Mat: virtual research environment", "url" : "/news/2026/06/10/kadi4mat/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Cloud Services, Data Management", "date" : "2026-06-10 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "New Helmholtz Cloud Service: Kadi4Mat Can Manage Any Type of Research DataFrom Data Management to Reproducible Research WorkflowsTo efficiently manage the large volumes of new data generated every day remains an ongoing challenge for scientists. Workflows must be transparent and facilitate collaboration across institutions and disciplines. To meet these requirements, Kadi4Mat is now available as a new service in the Helmholtz Cloud, provided and supported by KIT.Originally developed for materials science, Kadi4Mat is a generic, open-source virtual research environment that can be used across a wide range of scientific disciplines and use cases. It combines two capabilities that are often separated in research infrastructures: structured research data management and the execution of documented, reproducible digital workflows.What makes Kadi4Mat particularly valuable for researchers is its focus on the entire research lifecycle. Instead of only serving as a repository for published results, the platform helps teams organize and exchange so-called warm data research data that is still being analyzed, discussed, and refined. At the same time, its electronic lab notebook functionality enables users to automate, document, and reproduce analysis and processing workflows through a flexible API-based framework.Advancing Reproducibility Across the Research LifecycleFor scientific project managers, Kadi4Mat offers a practical way to improve collaboration, transparency, and data governance within projects. Research teams can structure datasets, enrich them with metadata, share information securely, and maintain clear documentation of how results were generated. This not only supports good Research Data Management (RDM) practices but also contributes to reproducibility and compliance with FAIR principles.Because Kadi4Mat is highly customizable and not limited to a specific discipline, it can adapt to the diverse requirements found throughout the Helmholtz Association. Whether teams work with experimental data, simulations, measurements, or interdisciplinary research projects, the platform provides a flexible environment that grows with their workflows and collaboration needs.Kadi4Mat expands the digital service portfolio of the Helmholtz Cloud and strengthens the foundation for collaborative, transparent, and trustworthy resources.Try out Kadi4Mat - Explore Even More Services Curious how Kadi4Mat can support your research? Get started through the Helmholtz Cloud and explore its capabilities for data management, collaboration, and reproducible workflows. Have a look at the diverse range of services available in the Helmholtz Cloud. Vote for new services." } , { "title" : "TEACH 6 Conference: Call for contributions", "url" : "/news/2026/06/08/teach-6-call/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Education, Event", "date" : "2026-06-08 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The TEACH 6 Conference is coming up! Join the community and contribute your knowledge!The TEACH conference has become an established and well-received event within the Helmholtz education community and beyond. In its 6th edition, it will take place as an on-site event in Berlin at the HIDA office.All Helmholtz members and friends interested in education, teaching, and learning activities are warmly invited. This year, the conference will focus on how findings from the learning sciences can be applied to improve training and education. The major objective is to bridge the gap between theory and practice.The call for contributions starts on June 8th. You can submit a talk, a poster, or a workshop proposal.For more information, please see the official website. Wed love to see you there! Submit an abstract now!" } , { "title" : "Join us: HIFIS & Friends All-Hands Meeting at DKFZ", "url" : "/news/2026/06/08/invite-all-hands/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Event", "date" : "2026-06-08 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " Looking forward to the 2026 all-hands meeting of HIFIS &amp; Friends!We invite you to the next HIFIS all-hands meeting, hosted by Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ) in Heidelberg on September 9-10, 2026.More details are available on the event page.We welcome HIFIS participants as well as users, service providers, strategic partners, and colleagues from the other platforms to brainstorm and discuss our next developments.The topics will presumably revolve around: Embedded/Agentic AI Workflows and how we can support them (infra, know-how, interfaces, security considerations) Blended Learning/E-Learning Scientific Use Cases from Health DomainSo: Register now!Please contact us if you have proposals for topics and/or formats.We look forward to seeing you in Heidelberg!" } , { "title" : "Migration zu Matrix: Mattermost wird Mitte Juli 2026 abgeschaltet – sichern Sie Ihre Daten", "url" : "/de/news/2026/06/01/mattermost-archival/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, HIFIS Chat Services, Matrix", "date" : "2026-06-01 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Seit dem erfolgreichen Start von Helmholtz Matrix als moderne Kollaborationsplattformbefindet sich der Umstieg von Mattermost nun in der finalen Phase.Wie bereits angekndigt, wird Mattermost Mitte Juli 2026 in der Helmholtz Cloud abgeschaltet.Die Erstellung neuer Teams ist fr regulre Nutzerinnen und Nutzer bereits seit dem 24. April 2026 deaktiviert.Damit der Umstieg reibungslos und datenschutzkonform gelingt, steht ab sofort allen Helmholtz-Mattermost-Nutzendendas Mattermost Archiver Plugin zur Verfgung.Sichern Sie Ihren Chatverlauf mit dem Mattermost Archiver PluginMithilfe des Mattermost Archiver Plugins knnen Team- und Kanaladministrierende ihre Mattermost-Konversationen inklusive Nachrichtenverlauf und Anhnge bequem als ZIP-Archive herunterladen.Eine Schritt-fr-Schritt-Anleitung finden Sie in unserem Benutzerleitfaden. Wichtig: Die exportierten ZIP-Archive knnen sensible oder vertrauliche Daten enthalten etwa personenbezogene Informationen oder interne Diskussionen.Behandeln Sie diese Archive daher bitte mit der gleichen Sorgfalt wie Ihre ursprnglichen Chatdatenund speichern Sie sie sicher entsprechend den Datenschutzrichtlinien Ihres Zentrums.Wer kann das Plugin nutzen?Das Plugin steht folgenden Personen zur Verfgung: Teamadministrierende knnen das gesamte Team (inklusive aller Kanle) oder einzelne Teamkanle exportieren. Kanaladministrierende knnen ihre Kanle exportieren. Teilnehmende von Direkt- oder Gruppennachrichten knnen diese Konversationen exportieren.Falls Sie keine Administratorrechte haben, wenden Sie sich bitte an Ihre Mattermost-Teamadministrierenden. Sollte(n) diese Person(en) nicht mehr erreichbar sein, kontaktieren Sie uns untersupport@hifis.net.So gelingt die Migration Falls noch nicht geschehen: Erstellen Sie einen Matrix-Account, wie in unserer Einstiegsanleitung beschrieben, und speichern Sie Ihren Wiederherstellungsschlssel sofort. Erstellen Sie Ihre Teams und Kanle in Matrix neu. Weitere Details finden Sie in unserer Anleitung. Laden Sie Ihre Teammitglieder in die neuen Matrix-Spaces und -Rume ein. Weitere Details finden Sie in unserer Anleitung. Exportieren Sie in Mattermost Ihre Daten mit dem Archiver-Plugin. Sobald der Export abgeschlossen ist, setzen Sie die betroffenen Kanle auf schreibgeschtzt, damit keine neuen Nachrichten verloren gehen. Stellen Sie das Mattermost-Archiv fr die zuknftige Nutzung bereit. Laden Sie das Archiv in einen datenschutzkonformen und von Ihrer Organisation freigegebenen Dienst hoch, z. B. Sync&amp;Share. Fgen Sie einen Link zum Archiv in der Beschreibung des entsprechenden Matrix-Spaces oder im Thema des entsprechenden Raums hinzu. Bitte beachten Sie: Fr eine konsistente Nutzererfahrung sollten Sie in den Raumeinstellungen die Option Neue Mitglieder knnen den Verlauf sehen aktivieren. Andernfalls knnen spter beitretende Nutzerinnen und Nutzer zwar auf das Mattermost-Archiv zugreifen, jedoch nicht auf den bisherigen Verlauf der Matrix-Unterhaltung. Falls die langfristige Aufbewahrung des Chatverlaufs fr Ihr Team wichtig ist, beachten Sie bitte, dass Nachrichten und Dateien in Helmholtz Matrix nur fr 3 Jahre gespeichert werden. Erwgen Sie daher, wichtige Matrix-Unterhaltungen regelmig zu exportieren und gemeinsam mit dem Mattermost-Archiv an einem geeigneten Ort fr die langfristige Aufbewahrung zu speichern.Untersttzung und Hilfe Dokumentation: Matrix-Benutzerleitfden Community: Tauschen Sie sich in der Helmholtz-Matrix-Community aus Support: Schreiben Sie uns an support@hifis.net Open Hour: Besuchen Sie unsere wchentliche Matrix Open Hour jeden Freitag um 10:00 Uhr(Videokonferenz, Meeting-ID: 620 6808 2608, Code: 030485)" } , { "title" : "Sovereignty and HIFIS: a point of view", "url" : "/blog/2026/06/01/sovereignty-and-hifis/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Resilience, Sovereignty, Helmholtz Cloud, HIFIS Software", "date" : "2026-06-01 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "On 3 June, the European Commission is expected to present proposals as part of the EU Tech Sovereignty Package. In an open letter ahead of the announcement, Europes open source industry called this a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reclaim control over our digital foundations and advocated for an Open Source First principle in public procurement.Among the signatories of the open letter are Nextcloud, Collabora, Element and OpenProject, all of which are used for services offered in the Helmholtz Cloud.Open Source Services for Digital SovereigntyThe HIFIS-provided Helmholtz Cloud Services are based primarily on open-source software, are operated in the large data centers of the Helmholtz Association, and are offered free of charge to researchers in Germany and beyond. Currently, approximately 40% of HIFIS users are researchers who are not part of the Helmholtz Community!And furthermore, these services can be used with ones own identity that is digital sovereignty in practice! But that is not all. With the support of HIFIS Software Services, sustainable open-source software is being developed, and new sustainable cloud services for the scientific community are being introduced.Currently, about 30% of the more than 40 cloud services have been developed based on research by Helmholtz and its partners. This also includes AI-related services such as Blablador, a self-hosted AI/LLM environment. Currently about 500 research software packages are registered in the Helmholtz Software Directory, the best applications are awarded with the Helmholtz Software Prize annually.Open Source Alone is not EnoughAt the same time, our operational experience has shown that simply using software marketed as open does not automatically guarantee sovereignty.The evolution of our Helmholtz Chat Service provides a concrete example of this.The Helmholtz Chat Platform, so far based on Mattermost, has transformed communication across the Helmholtz Association and its partners. With over 7,000 active monthly users by beginning of 2026, the service formed the backbone of communication for numerous projects. But Mattermost announced fundamental changes to its licensing strategy in 2025, which effectively left the service unusable for us from mid-2026. This is why we have transitioned to Matrix in a joint effort of strong partners we remain sovereign!Sovereignty Requires ParticipationIn times of constrained public budgets, this also raises broader questions about how digital spending is allocated. Recurring licensing costs and dependencies on proprietary cloud ecosystems often transfer substantial public resources into infrastructures over which institutions have little influence. Redirecting at least part of this investment toward open source ecosystems, local expertise, and collaborative infrastructure could strengthen Europes long-term technological resilience while simultaneously supporting innovation and public-sector capability building.Research infrastructures have historically contributed to Europes scientific sovereignty. Increasingly, they also contribute to its digital sovereignty not by isolating themselves, but by building open and federated digital foundations like HIFIS.The current European debate around digital sovereignty therefore should not only focus on where software comes from. The more important question is whether institutions retain the practical ability to understand, operate, adapt, and sustain the digital systems on which they increasingly depend.Changelog 2026-06-02: fix Blablador case and update HIFIS-related services pic" } , { "title" : "Archive Mattermost and Migrate to Matrix by Mid-July 2026", "url" : "/news/2026/06/01/mattermost-archival/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, HIFIS Chat Services, Matrix", "date" : "2026-06-01 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "With Helmholtz Matrix successfully launched as our new, modern collaboration platform,the transition from Mattermost is entering its final phase.As previously announced, Mattermost will be retired from the Helmholtz Cloud in mid-July 2026,and team creation in Mattermost has already been disabled for regular users since April 24, 2026.To support a smooth and data-protection-compliant migration, we are pleased to announce that theMattermost Archiver Plugin is now available for all Helmholtz Mattermost users.Preserve Your Chat History: Use the Mattermost Archiver PluginThe Mattermost Archiver Plugin is a self-service tool that lets team and channel administratorsexport their Mattermost conversations, including message history and attachments, into downloadable ZIP archives.A user guide with step-by-step instructions is available. Important: Exported ZIP files often contain sensitive or confidential information (e.g., personal data, internal discussions).Please treat these archives with the same care as your original chat data andstore them securely according to your centers data protection guidelines.Who Can Use the Plugin? Team administrators can export their entire teams (including all channels) or individual team channels. Channel administrators can export their specific channels. Members of direct or group messages can export those conversations. Non-admins Contact your Mattermost team admin or support@hifis.net in case your admin is not available anymore.How to Migrate Successfully If you havent done already, get yourself a matrix account, as described in our getting-started guide and save your recovery key immediately. Recreate your teams and channels in Matrix. More details in our How-to guide. Invite your team members to the new Matrix spaces and rooms. More details in our How-to guide. In Mattermost, export your data using the Archiver Plugin. Once the export is complete, set the affected channels to read-only to prevent new messages from being lost. Publish the archived Mattermost data for future reference. Upload the archive to a data-protection-compliant service approved by your organisation, e.g. Sync&amp;Share. Add a link to the archive in the corresponding Matrix space description or room topic. Please note that, for consistency, you should enable the New members can see history option in the room settings. Otherwise, users joining the room later will be able to access the Mattermost archive but not the earlier Matrix conversation history. If long-term preservation of chat history is important to your team, please note that messages and files in Helmholtz Matrix are only retained for 3 years. Consider periodically exporting important Matrix conversations and storing them together with the Mattermost archive in a suitable long-term storage location.Where to Get Help Documentation: Matrix User Guides Community: Join the Helmholtz Matrix Community to ask questions and share experiences Support: Contact our team at support@hifis.netChangelog 2026-07-31: Removed link to open hour, which took place during the transition period, until end of July 2026." } , { "title" : "Vote for Service Ideas", "url" : "/news/2026/04/20/vote-for-service-ideas/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Cloud Services, GitLab, Codebase", "date" : "2026-04-20 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Vote for the services you want to see in Helmholtz Cloud! Our service idea board includes all Helmholtz Cloud service ideas that were yet reported to be required. Since the board was recently transferred from Mattermost Boards to Helmholtz Codebase, we gained a new powerful functionality we would like to inform you about: Now you can vote for your favorite future Helmholtz Cloud services!Each service idea is represented by an issue in the corresponding project in Helmholtz Codebase.You can scroll through all services ideas we have yet collected in the issue list or view them as a board. When having a look at the labels, each service idea has a priority label and a status label. The priority is defined by the number of requests we have yet received for the service idea. The status shows whether a service idea is requested, a service provider has already been found or whether we are still looking for potential service providers. You can also have a look at the service ideas that have already been developed to a Helmholtz Cloud service, thus having the status label done. Having a look at the details of each service idea you can see a table which displays the information collected about the service idea e.g. if a distinct software is desired, which features the service should offer and a reference to the request (if received via ticket system). At the bottom of the screenshot you can see the thumbs up/thumbs down symbols which we ask you to use to state how required the service is from your point of view!It is of course also possible to add comments to each issue and give your input on new service ideas - please use the Additional service ideas issue to add your ideas as a comment. The ideas will be reviewed by HIFIS Service Portfolio Management and added as individual service ideas, if not already existing.Please note that the voting functionality is only available for Helmholtz employees (with a Helmholtz mail address).Your Cloud, Your Choice Have a look at the diverse range of services available in the Helmholtz Cloud. Vote for your most-wanted Helmholtz Cloud service: Open issue of the selected service, scroll down, click thumbs up/thumps down. Tell us which services you enjoy most and which you miss at Additional Service Ideas.Changelog2026-04-21: Updated URL to sort issues according to popularity." } , { "title" : "First Helmholtz Learn course to acquire AI competence by HIDA", "url" : "/news/2026/04/15/first-open-edx-course-by-hida/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, E-Learning, Artificial Intelligence", "date" : "2026-04-15 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Two weeks after launching Helmholtz Learn as the new e-learningservice for Helmholtz offered by the HZDR for HIFIS, we are proud to annouce that the first course hasbeen published today.The Helmholtz Information and Data Science Academy (HIDA) developeda course to support you to acquire skills in AI.As a result of the EU AI Act, organisations like Helmholtz who operate AI tools are instructed to ensure a sufficient level of AI competence among their employees.With this course, HIDA takes an important step towards fulfilling these requirements for Helmholtz.You will learn, for example, how to handle data safely using AI, how to critically review AI results, and how to take relevant guidelines into account while using AI.Upon completion of the course, you will receive a certificate for your personal certificate portfolio.How to find the course?This course is offered both in German and in English: KI-Kompetenz Training AI Literacy TrainingGetting Help Our colleagues from HIDA are available for questions about the new course via our HIFIS helpdesk:support@hifis.net. If you are facing technical difficulties, please contact the system administrators in the same helpdesk:support@hifis.net.More courses will be publishedOf course, this is just the start of a new e-learning journey in Helmholtz.With time, more and more courses will be published.Stay tuned to seize the opportunities for your personal and professional development!How to become a course creator in Helmholtz Learn?In order to offer much more courses in Helmholtz Learn we are eagerly looking for course creators.Please let us know, if you would like to develop courses in Helmholtz Learn.Just write to our HIFIS helpdesk that you would like to do so:support@hifis.net.Thank you very much for your valuable contributions!It is much appreciated!" } , { "title" : "OpenProject: Task Management for Helmholtz", "url" : "/news/2026/04/02/open-project/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Cloud Services, OpenProject", "date" : "2026-04-02 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "OpenProject: From idea to outcome together, across all Helmholtz sitesThe Helmholtz Cloud, operated by HIFIS, has expanded its portfolio with a powerful new service: OpenProject provided by HZB. OpenProject integrates tailor-made project management methods directly into your daily research and administrative workflows. Whether youre coordinating distributed research teams or managing complex administrative processes, this service is designed to support you throughout the entire project lifecycle.From Community Demand to Cloud-Ready ServiceOpenProject has been one of the most requested services in the Helmholtz Cloud from the very beginning. Early on, HZB stepped in as a provider, building on their existing internal deployment. But to truly make the service cloud-ready, it took dedication and commitment. Key features such as seamless integration with the Helmholtz ID and strict separation of project groups for data protection were not yet in place. These requirements had to be clarified with the software provider, followed by a full cycle of procurement, development, testing, and release. As a result, these enhancements are now available as additional modules for all OpenProject instances, enabling secure and federated use across Helmholtz.One Project Management Service, Multiple ApproachesOpenProject allows you to work the way your project demands. From classic planning to agile or hybrid methodologies, the platform adapts to your needs rather than forcing you into a structure. You can plan tasks, assign responsibilities, and monitor progress in real time, while visual tools like boards and Gantt charts help you keep an overview of timelines and dependencies.Time tracking and cost management features provide transparency on resource usage, which is especially valuable for reporting and funding requirements. At the same time, integrated collaboration tools such as wikis, forums, and activity streams ensure that communication stays connected to your project context.Collaboration Beyond BoundariesOne of the key advantages for Helmholtz users is the ability to collaborate seamlessly across centers. OpenProject enables joint work not only within Helmholtz but also with invited external partners. Nubes files and folders can be linked to OpenProject tasks directly, creating a shared project space that reduces fragmentation and improves efficiency.Custom workflows allow you to tailor processes to your projects specific requirements, while integrations with tools like GitLab make it easy to connect development workflows.Easy Access, Immediate StartGetting started is straightforward. Simply access the OpenProject by HZB via the Helmholtz Cloud and log in using your Helmholtz ID. Your account will be created automatically. External collaborators can be included via building a group (Virtual Organization), ensuring flexible and secure access.Why It MattersOpenProject brings project teams together in an environment that can be tailored to the needs of Helmholtz researchers and project managers. This, combined with integrations with nubes (Nextcloud) and GitLab, helps you focus on what really matters: achieving impactful results.Try out your first OpenProject management - and Explore Even More Services Start your first project OpenProject. Have a look at the diverse range of services available in the Helmholtz Cloud. Tell us which services you enjoy most and which you miss at support@hifis.net." } , { "title" : "Helmholtz Learn: A New E-Learning Service for Helmholtz", "url" : "/news/2026/04/01/helmholtz-learn/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, E-Learning", "date" : "2026-04-01 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Continuous learning is an integral part of todays modern working environments.Today, HIFIS launched a new e-learning service called Helmholtz Learn.The new service is based on Open edX, an open-source platform that supports learning scenarios from self-paced to instructor-led courses.All employees of the Helmholtz Association are able to log in.Wanted: Content CreatorsNow the technical basis is set up, we invite you to explore the service and evaluate its possibility to locate your trainings and courses of interest!Course administrators can: Develop courses and learning materials Organize and run courses for participants Review assessments and provide feedback Communicate with learners Issue certificatesUsers with the intention to offer courses in Helmholtz Learn for the whole HelmholtzAssociation can apply for additional permissions via support@hifis.net and request the course administrator role to be able to develop courses.We are looking forward to interesting learning content!LearnersLearners can: Browse courses and programs offered by Helmholtz and partner organizations Enroll in courses and track their progress Work through learning materials (incl. videos), complete quizzes, attend scheduled instructor sessions if offered, and receive certificates forsuccessful completion of courses Connect with other learners and course instructorsThe learners role is assigned to users automatically, when logging into Helmholtz Learn for the first time.Transition of HIFIS Workshops to E-LearningCurrently, HIFIS offers online workshops for Helmholtz in a pure in-person setting led by workshop instructors.These workshops are advertised and run under the umbrella of the Helmholtz Information and Data Science Academy (HIDA).You can find them in the HIDA course catalogue.HIFIS will now transition their workshop offerings to this new e-learning environment and will explore new learning scenarios and all capabilities offered by Helmholtz Learn.Getting HelpGeneral questions about the new service, technical support for Open edX as well as feedback about Helmholtz Learn can be directed towards the HIFIS helpdesk via support@hifis.net.Introductory Courses into Using Open edXAs a starting point, two demo courses introducing the service to learners and course administrators are available: Introductory course for learners in Open edX Introductory course for course administrators in Open edXOpen edX Documentation Learners Documentation of Open edX Course Administrators Documentation of Open edX" } , { "title" : "42! HIFIS Guide to the Galaxy", "url" : "/news/2026/03/31/42-services/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Cloud Services", "date" : "2026-03-31 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "HIFIS Helmholtz Cloud and the Ultimate Answer Somewhere in a quiet corner of the research universe, not entirely unlike a moderately well-behaved spiral arm of the galaxy, scientists, engineers, and infrastructure experts have been building something rather remarkable. No, it is not quite a planet-sized computer like Deep Thought (budget constraints, mostly), but something perhaps just as useful for researchers: the Helmholtz Cloud.Over time, more and more services appeared in the Helmholtz Cloud galaxy. Blablador here, Matrix there. Tools for Open-Project-Chaos, Lets Meet! time warps, and Lime-Survey-Sours popping recipes up like improbability-induced whales and bowls of petunias.And then someone finally counted them.After a short moment of silence and significantly less than seven and a half million years of calculation the number appeared:[42.]Yes! The Helmholtz Cloud is officially offering 42 services.Which, as many interstellar travelers know, is the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.This raises several possibilities: The Helmholtz Cloud has unknowingly recreated the work of Deep Thought. We are getting closer to discovering the Ultimate Question. Or the number of services has reached the only scientifically acceptable value in the entire universe.So, as we reach 42 services, we invite you to explore the growing universe of Helmholtz Cloud offerings. Because somewhere between datasets, computing resources, and a few improbably useful tools, we may not have found the Ultimate Question yetbut we are fairly confident weve got a pretty good answer.And remember: Dont Panic.In loving tribute to Douglas Adams, who already knew the answer were just catching up." } , { "title" : "Helmholtz Matrix ist da", "url" : "/de/news/2026/03/30/helmholtz-matrix/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, HIFIS Chat Services, Matrix", "date" : "2026-03-30 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Rund 40 Tage nach der ersten Ankndigung freuen wir uns, den offiziellen Start von Helmholtz Matrix [m] bekannt zu geben. Mit der Integration von Matrix wchst die Helmholtz Cloud auf insgesamt 42 Cloud Services an. Und wie wir alle wissen, ist 42 nicht nur die Antwort auf die letzte aller Fragen, sondern ab heute auch die Antwort auf die Frage nach einer modernen Kollaborationsplattform fr unsere Zentren.Was ist Matrix?Matrix ist kein gewhnlicher Chat-Dienst. Es ist ein offenes, dezentrales Protokoll fr Echtzeitkommunikation. Fr alle Nutzenden beudetet das: Sicherheit: Standardmige Ende-zu-Ende-Verschlsselung (E2EE) fr ihre Nachrichten und Dateien. Souvernitt: Die Datenhoheit bleibt in Helmholtz und bei den Nutzenden. Interoperabilitt: Als dezentrales Protokoll erlaubt es Matrix mit Nutzenden von anderen Institutionen zu kommunizieren.Wer kann den Dienst nutzen?Der Zugang ist so einfach wie mglich gestaltet.Alle Beschftigten der Helmholtz-Zentren sowie der Helmholtz Geschftsstelle knnen teilnehmen: Angestellte des KIT oder CISPA: Bitte nutzen Sie die institutionellen Matrix-Server. Angestellte des DLR: Bitte warten Sie auf die Bereitstellung des DLR-Matrix-Servers (siehe internen Mattermost-Kanal fr weitere Informationen). Angestellte des HZB: Bitte warten Sie auf die interne HZB-Ankndigung; die IT richtet derzeit den HZB-Space ein. Siehe auch die neue HZB-Matrix-Seite. Angestellte des GFZ: Bitte warten Sie auf die Bereitstellung des GFZ-Matrix-Servers (siehe GFZ-interne Kommunikation).Alle anderen Helmholtz-Beschftigten: Melden Sie sich direkt mit ihrem gewohnten Account ber die Helmholtz ID unter https://matrix.helmholtz.cloud an.Wenn Sie ein externer Partner sind, knnen Sie wie folgt an der Kommunikation teilnehmen: Falls Sie bereits eine institutionelle Matrix-ID besitzen, verwenden Sie bitte diese (z.B. Academic Cloud der GWDG, TU Dresden, ) Falls Sie weder Helmholtz-Mitarbeitender sind noch eine externe Matrix-ID besitzen, knnen Sie einen ffentlichen Matrix-Anbieter nutzen, um teilzunehmen: Deutsche akademische Nutzende knnen Academic Cloud Chat in Betracht ziehen. Die Matrix.org Foundation bietet den matrix.org-Homeserver an. Andere ffentliche Homeserver existieren ebenfalls. Alternativ knnen Sie Ihren Helmholtz-Kontakt bitten, Sie in eine Gruppe (Virtual Organisation) einzuladen. Nach der ersten Anmeldung: Sichern Sie sofort Ihren Wiederherstellungsschlssel! Folgen Sie bitte den hier beschriebenen Schritten. Andernfalls besteht die Wahrscheinlichkeit den Zugriff auf verschlsselte Chats zu verlieren.Ihre neue Identitt im ChatUm Eindeutigkeit ber alle Zentren hinweg zu gewhrleisten, folgt Ihre Matrix ID (MXID) einem spezifischen Muster:@&lt;bevorzugter_nutzername&gt;-&lt;xxxxx&gt;:helmholtz.cloudDas Format setzt sich zusammen aus Ihrem in der Helmholtz ID definierten Nutzernamen, einem 5-Zeichen-Suffix zur Vermeidung von Namenskollisionen, sowie dem Anhang -guest fr externe Nutzende. Teilen Sie diese ID anderen Nutzenden mit, um eingeladen oder kontaktiert zu werden. Dazu knnen Sie https://to.matrix.helmholtz.cloud nutzen.Muss ich schon jetzt von Mattermost umziehen?Der Umzug kann in den nchsten beiden Monaten erfolgen und ist nicht zwingend zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt erforderlich. Mattermost steht ab Mitte Juli nicht mehr als Helmholtz Cloud Dienst zur Verfgung. Nach aktueller Planung wird ab Mitte Mai ein Exporttool zur Archivierung von Mattermost Kanlen und Teams zur Verfgung sstehen.Mehr darber, warum wir Mattermost verlassen mssen, lesen Sie hier: Helmholtz Mattermost Chat: Upcoming Changes und Helmholtz Chat: Upcoming Changes - Part IIUpdate (April 2026): Als erster Schritt im Hinblick auf die Einstellung von Mattermost wird die Erstellung von Teams in Mattermost ab dem 24. April 2026 deaktiviert. Wenn Sie nach diesem Datum ein neues Mattermost-Team bentigen, wenden Sie sich bitte an support@hifis.net.Wo finde ich Untersttzung und kann Feedback geben? Dokumentation ist hier verfgbar. Treten Sie der Helmholtz-Matrix-Community bei. Wir freuen uns ber strukturiertes Feedback in diesem GitLab-Projekt. Bitte teilen Sie dort keine personenbezogenen Daten. Fr technischen Support wenden Sie sich bitte an: support@hifis.net Besuchen Sie unsere Matrix Open Hour jeden Freitag um 10:00 Uhr (Videokonferenz, Meeting ID: 620 6808 2608, Code: 030485)Changelog 2026-04-20: Hinweis zur Deaktivierung der Mattermost-Team-Erstellung hinzugefgt. 2026-04-21: Informationen zu DLR, HZB, GFZ ergnzt. Hinweis zum Wiederherstellungsschlssel hinzugefgt. (Nachgetragen von englischer Version 2026-03-31)." } , { "title" : "Helmholtz Matrix is Here", "url" : "/news/2026/03/30/helmholtz-matrix/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, HIFIS Chat Services, Matrix", "date" : "2026-03-30 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Approximately 40 days after the first announcement, we are pleased to officially launch Helmholtz Matrix [m]. With the integration of Matrix, the Helmholtz Cloud now offers a total of 42 cloud services. And as we all know, 42 is not only the answer to the ultimate question of everything, but from today onwards, it is also the answer to the question of a modern collaboration platform for our centers.What is Matrix?Matrix is not an ordinary chat service. It is an open, decentralized protocol for real-time communication. This means for all users: Security: Default end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for your messages and files. Sovereignty: Data sovereignty remains with Helmholtz and the users. Interoperability: As a decentralized protocol, Matrix allows you to communicate with users from other institutions.Who Can Use the Service?Access is designed to be as simple as possible.All employees of the Helmholtz centers as well as the head office can participate: Employees of KIT or CISPA: Please use the institutional Matrix servers. Employees of DLR: Please wait for the implementation of the DLR Matrix Server (see internal channel for further information). Employees of HZB: Please wait for the internal HZB announcement; IT is currently setting up the HZB Space. Have a look at the new HZB Matrix page. Employees of GFZ: Please wait for the implementation of the GFZ Matrix Server (refer to internal communication).All others Helmholtz employees: Log in directly with the usual account via Helmholtz ID at https://matrix.helmholtz.cloud.If you are an external partner, you can participate in communication as follows: If you already have an institutional Matrix ID, please use it instead (e.g., Academic Cloud from GWDG, TU Dresden, ) If you are neither a Helmholtz employee nor do you have an external Matrix ID, you can use a public Matrix provider to participate: German academic users may consider Academic Cloud Chat. The Matrix.org Foundation offers the matrix.org homeserver. Other public homeservers also exist. Alternatively, you can ask your Helmholtz contact to invite you to a group (Virtual Organisation). After Fresh Login: Save Your Recovery Key at Once! Follow the steps described here. You will likely lose chats if you dont.Your New Identity in ChatTo ensure uniqueness across all centers, your Matrix ID (MXID) follows a specific pattern:@&lt;preferred_username&gt;-&lt;xxxxx&gt;:helmholtz.cloudThe format consists of your preferred username defined in Helmholtz ID, a 5-character suffix to avoid name collisions, and the suffix -guest for external users. Share this ID with other users so they can invite or contact you. You can use https://to.matrix.helmholtz.cloud for that.Do I Need to Migrate from Mattermost Now?Migration can be done in the coming months and is not mandatory at this point. Mattermost will no longer be available as a Helmholtz Cloud service starting mid-July. As of mid-May, an export tool will be available to archive Mattermost channels and teams.Read more about why we have to leave Mattermost here: Helmholtz Mattermost Chat: Upcoming Changes and Helmholtz Chat: Upcoming Changes - Part IIUpdate (April 2026): As a first step toward the Mattermost retirement, team creation in Mattermost will be disabled for regular users starting April 24, 2026. If you need a new Mattermost team after this date, please contact support@hifis.net.Where Can I Get Support and Provide Feedback? Documentation is available here.. Join the Helmholtz Matrix Community. We welcome structured feedback in this GitLab project. Please do not share any personal data there. For technical support, please contact: support@hifis.netChangelog 2026-03-31: Slight reformatting, added infos on DLR, HZB, GFZ. Added hint on recovery key. 2026-04-20: Added hint on deactivation of Mattermost team creation. 2026-07-31: Removed link to open hour, which took place during the transition period, until end of July 2026." } , { "title" : "How-to Setup Boards in GitLab", "url" : "/tips/2026/03/12/tip-boards/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Cloud Services, GitLab, Codebase", "date" : "2026-03-12 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "BackgroundThe Mattermost chat service will be replaced by Matrix (see blogpost) soon - but Mattermost was not only used for chatting but also provided a Boards functionality which was also used by HIFIS internally e.g. for Service Recruiting (Service Idea Board) and Service Integration (Sprint Planning). Since Matrix doesnt offer a Boards functionality it was time to think about where to transfer the existing Mattermost Boards.There are two Helmholtz Cloud services which have an integrated Boards functionality: Helmholtz Codebase (GitLab) provided by HZDR and OpenProject provided by HZB.Boards in Helmholtz Codebase The Boards functionality in Helmholtz Codebase works with Issues/ the Issue Board. You can create an issue for every Board entry and display them when navigating to Plan &gt; Issue boards in the menu on the left side.The issues are displayed in columns. The colums can be defined individually - e.g. by using labels for priority, status or anything you want to customize. Columns can be expanded or collapsed with one click to stay focused on the part of the issue board that is currently handled. When clicking on an issue, the details are displayed and you can edit, comment or add/remove labels. When clicking an issue, you can also drop it to another column, which will automatically update the labels/status accordingly.Lets have a look at how to get started with creating an Issue Board in Helmholtz Codebase in the next section.How to create an Issue Board in Helmholtz Codebase Create a new project. Work out an issue template - which information do you want do get whenever a new issue is created? Add the issue template to your repository: there needs to be a folder .gitlab/issue_templates in the repository. In the folder you add a file default.md and define the content of the issue template in this file. As soon as committed, every newly created issue will be created using the default issue template as defined in the default.md file. For every old Board entry in Mattermost, create an Issue in your new Codebase project. You can use labels to sort your Issue Board, e.g. Status labels like To Do, Doing or Priority Labels. You can also add individual labels to your project. Go to Plan &gt; Issue Boards to have a look at your Issue Board. You can customize the columns displayed (e.g. by adding columns for labels).Comparison of Service Idea Board in Mattermost Boards and Codebase Issue Boards To give you an idea of how transferred Boards look like in Helmholtz Codebase, you find screenshots of both the old Board in Mattermost (left side) and the new Board in Codebase (right side). The Board displayed is the Service Idea Board with each issue/card representing one service idea. The Board was sorted by priority in Mattermost, so corresponding labels were created in Codebase to enable the same structure in the new Board. There are less details displayed in the overview in Codebase than they were in Mattermost, but all details are included in the issue and can be read when clicking on a distinct issue. Having a look at the details of each service idea in Mattermost (left side) and Codebase (right side) shows that the structure can be displayed in a quite similar way. You can use a table in Codebase to display the information that was former part of individual fields in Mattermost. It is of course also possible to add comments to each issue and vote for them using the thumbs up/thumbs down functionality.By the way: feel free to visit the Service Idea Issue Board in Helmholtz Codebase and vote for the Service Ideas you require most!Boards in OpenProjectStay tuned - there is gonna be a second blogpost soon which reports about Boards in OpenProject and how the transfer from Mattermost Boards was done.Backup of Mattermost Boards To be sure that you do not lose any information formerly stored in Mattermost Board, you should back up your Mattermost Board. You can do that using the export functionality (to .csv or .board-archive). However, we suggest to check the Backups once exported to ensure that all information from the Board is actually included.Changelog 2026-03-12: Add link to new service idea board in Helmholtz Codebase" } , { "title" : "Overhauling the Technical Base Behind Helmholtz Cloud", "url" : "/news/2026/03/11/overhaul-service-management/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Cloud Services", "date" : "2026-03-11 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Rethinking How Services Are Managed in the Helmholtz CloudEvery service in the Helmholtz Cloud supports research in a different way. As the Service Portfolio continues to grow, so do the expectations around clarity, transparency, and quality. New service providers bring valuable diversity, but they also increase the need for consistent structures and meaningful comparisons.As the team operating and evolving the Helmholtz Cloud, HIFIS continuously works to improve how services are documented, discovered, and maintained. Over the past months, we have taken a close look at how service information is managed and decided it was time for a fundamental redesign. Why Change the Existing System?Until now, service providers have maintained their information in the HIFIS database Plony, built on a Plone framework and continuously extended over the years. While this system has served the community well, a technical review in June 2025 revealed that its architectural complexity significantly slowed down the development of new modules and features.At the same time, discussions within HIFIS and across the Helmholtz Association raised important questions: How can service quality be described in a measurable and transparent way? How can we better reflect differences between similar services, such as HAICORE? How can we reduce friction for service providers while improving clarity for users?After evaluating multiple alternatives, HIFIS decided to rebuild the Service Portfolio Management directly within the Helmholtz Cloud portal.The changeover requires many new features and views in the Cloud Portal. This is what our developer team is currently working on. Designing Before DevelopingBefore writing a single line of code, we invested significant time in concept and design. Detailed mockups were created for every view and workflow. We asked fundamental questions: Is the sequence of steps intuitive? Are field types and labels still appropriate? Where can we create logical connections between pieces of information? Which questions can be eliminated because the structure already provides clarity?These ideas were discussed with different stakeholder groups, including service providers and other members of the Helmholtz community. Their feedback directly shaped the final design concept.Improvements for Service ProvidersOne of the biggest improvements is the integrated preview of the service card. Because the new module is built directly into the Helmholtz Cloud portal, service providers no longer experience a system break between editing and publishing. Changes can be reviewed instantly.A step progress bar guides service providers through the Onboarding process and clearly indicates where they are within the workflow. This improves orientation, reduces uncertainty, and gives control over the multitude of service profile fields.By simplifying the structure and integrating the system more tightly into the Helmholtz Cloud, we aim to reduce administrative overhead while increasing consistency across the entire Service Portfolio.Stay Tuned - Explore Services If you have any important comments or requests, please write to us in the chat channel HIFIS Community/helmholtz.cloud. Have a look at the diverse range of services available in the Helmholtz Cloud. Tell us which services you enjoy most and which you miss at support@hifis.net." } , { "title" : "Umstieg auf Helmholtz Matrix Chat", "url" : "/de/news/2026/03/09/matrix-transition/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, HIFIS Chat Services, Matrix", "date" : "2026-03-09 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Nach der Ankndigung zur Mattermost-Abschaltung mchten wir euch heute konkret ber den bergang zu Matrix informieren. Wir haben fr Helmholtz eine Strategie entwickelt, die einen sauberen und datenschutzkonformen Neustart ermglicht.Der Plan fr den Umstieg Eigenverantwortlicher Umzug: Da Teamstrukturen und Nachrichtenverlufe nicht automatisiert bertragen drfen und knnen, organisieren die Teams ihren Umzug nach Matrix selbststndig. Dazu erarbeiten wir gerade Anleitungen, wie ein effizienter bergang erfolgen kann. Datensicherung / Archivierung bisheriger Chatverlufe: Wir untersttzen euch bei der Sicherung Eurer bisherigen Chatverlufe und stellen Archivdateien bereit. Wir arbeiten gerade daran die technischen Tools zur Verfgung zu stellen, damit dies im Self-Service erfolgen kann. Warum keine automatisierte Migration? Wir haben diese Option intensiv geprft. Aufgrund von Datenschutzvorgaben, hohem technischem Aufwand und dem Ziel, eine saubere neue Umgebung ohne Altlasten zu schaffen, haben wir uns fr einen klaren Schnitt entschieden. Open Hour: Ab dem 20.03.2026 bieten wir jeden Freitag 10:00-11:00 eine Open Hour (Video Conference, Meeting ID: 620 6808 2608, Code: 030485) an, in dem ihr das Team hinter Matrix treffen, Feedback geben und Fragen stellen knnt. Wir freuen uns auf euch . Weiterhin stehen wir jederzeit via support@hifis.net zur Verfgung.Wir wissen, dass dies fr euch einen Mehraufwand bedeutet. Da unser Team sehr klein ist, ist dieser Weg jedoch der einzige, den wir verlsslich und skalierbar untersttzen knnen.Vielen Dank fr euer Verstndnis und euren Beitrag, um unsere Kommunikation gemeinsam auf eine neue, zukunftssichere Basis zu stellen!Der Zeitplan Ende Mrz 2026: Matrix ist als neuer Helmholtz Cloud Service verfgbar. 24. April 2026: Die Erstellung von Teams in Mattermost wird deaktiviert, neue Teams werden in Matrix erstellt. Mitte Juli 2026: Mattermost ist in der Helmholtz Cloud nicht mehr verfgbar. Daten werden archiviert und direkter Zugriff geht verloren. Die Fristen fr die endgltige Lschung werden mit den Datenschtzern diskutiert.Changelog 2026-04-20: Konkretes Datum zur Deaktivierung der Mattermost-Team-Erstellung hinzugefgt." } , { "title" : "Transition to Helmholtz Matrix Chat", "url" : "/news/2026/03/09/matrix-transition/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, HIFIS Chat Services, Matrix", "date" : "2026-03-09 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Following the announcement regarding the shutdown of Mattermost, we would like to provide you with specific information today about the transition to Matrix. We have developed a strategy for Helmholtz that enables a clean and data-protection-compliant restart.The Transition Plan Independent Migration: Since team structures and message histories cannot and may not be transferred automatically, teams will organize their move to Matrix independently. We are currently developing guides on how to ensure an efficient transition. Data Backup / Archiving: We will support you in backing up your previous chat histories and providing archive files. We are currently working on providing the technical tools so that this can be done via self-service. Why no automated migration? We examined this option extensively. Due to data protection regulations, high technical effort, and the goal of creating a clean new environment, we decided on a fresh start. Open Hour: Starting March 20, 2026, we will offer an Open Hour every Friday from 10:0011:00 AM, where you can meet the team behind Matrix, give feedback, and ask questions. We look forward to seeing you there . Furthermore, we are available at any time via support@hifis.net.We understand that this represents extra work for you. However, since our team is very small, this is the only path we can support reliably and scalably.Thank you for your understanding and your contribution to placing our communication on a new, future-proof foundation together!The Timeline End of March 2026: Matrix becomes available as a new Helmholtz Cloud Service. April 24, 2026: The creation of teams in Mattermost will be deactivated; new teams will be created in Matrix. Mid-July 2026: Mattermost will no longer be available in the Helmholtz Cloud. Data Archiving: Data will be archived and direct access will be lost. Deadlines for final deletion are currently being discussed with data protection officers.Changelog 2026-04-20: Added specific date for the deactivation of Mattermost team creation. 2026-07-31: Removed link to open hour, which took place during the transition period, until end of July 2026." } , { "title" : "Update on Security Efforts and a Few Tips", "url" : "/news/2026/02/26/security-update/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Cybersecurity, HIFIS Backbone, Best Practice", "date" : "2026-02-26 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Disclaimer: the author of this post is not affiliated with any of the resources mentioned below.Security strategyCybersecurity is not an IT issue. It is an organizational issue of a high priority, and the ongoing collaboration on the Helmholtz Security Strategy aims to make it unambiguously clear. The need for joint effort and even more active knowledge sharing was articulated once again on the Helmholtz Cybersecurity working group meeting on Friday, Feb 20th. Further steps shall be discussed in the upcoming weeks. This discussion will include, among other things, identification and mitigation of immediate and high-priority cybersecurity risks.Security concerns are not limited to Helmholtz only - HighTech Agenda for Germany explicitly names security of research as one of the main levers for innovation and development. According to this agenda, protecting integrity of research is intertwined with protecting our democratic values. Securing research means building a system of mutual trust and integrity - towards data, systems, and people.(How many cyberattacks are attempted each second? Find out here)Meanwhile, what can we, the users, do to keep our research secure?Secret admirersWhat do you like about me?If you addressed this question to your friends and family, you would hopefully receive a multitude of flattering answers. Your wit. Your gorgeous smile. Your kindness. Your humor. Your generosity.Access. This is what some people - whom you dont know - like a lot about you.Your personal data. Your financial data. Your email. Systems you can access. Information you have. People you know. They like your usernames, passwords, session tokens, cookies, API keys They might even generously offer you free money - this is how much they like you! (Can you outsmart the scammers?)Security research confirms: valid access to organizational systems is one of the hottest goods on underground marketplaces. Not only that - security incidents involving stolen and compromised credentials typically take the longest time to uncover and resolve.A burglary involving a broken window is easy to notice; but how soon would you notice your silver spoons missing if a burglar opened your door with a key and turned off the alarm?How to deter the admirers?Keep track of your passwords and services you use. Use MFA. Do not reuse passwords across services. Preferably dont store your credentials in a browser. Instead, use a password manager as a more secure alternative.Sometimes unfortunate situations happen even when we do everything right. Emails and passwords get leaked via data breaches of the services we use. With Have I Been Pwned, a service created by a reputable security researcher, you can check whether your email has appeared in any known large data leaks, and a Notify Me function of the service can keep you informed of new leaks.Can you make an AI chatbot reveal a password?Secure software developmentYou developed an amazing piece of software and want to share it with your colleagues in Helmholtz, but a tiny doubt creeps into your mind. What issues should one consider? What should one test? Should one simply avoid sharing anything altogether?While every case is individual, there are several things you can do, particularly in case of web applications: Identify architectural components of your application that you are responsible for. If it is a web application, which framework/platform (and which version) does it use? If you are responsible for configuring the underlying web server - which server is it and which version? Do you have a database? Which (you guessed it) product and which version? Identify data flows in your application. Does it store or process any personal or other sensitive data? Where does data enter your application? Where does data exit your application? Does your system process any user input?Once you have a decent overview of your system Use a resource such as OWASP Top Ten to understand which security risks might be present in your application and where. Use a resource such as OWASP Application Security Verification Standard for a checklist of verifications and security measures that could be applied to your application. Using AI and LLMs? This one might be for you. Using containers? Here is a bonus tip for you.Do you want to learn more about web application vulnerabilities? Check out this free resource, and test your skills with OWASP Juice Shop (tutorials and walkthroughs available)!Would you be interested in workshops or shared materials dedicated to secure development practices and other security topics? Let us know!What do you tell a hacker after a bad breakup?There are plenty of phish in the sea." } , { "title" : "Open Office Hour and more - News from Helmholtz Software Consulting", "url" : "/news/2026/02/25/consulting-updates/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Research Software Engineering, Helmholtz Software Consulting, HIFIS Consulting", "date" : "2026-02-25 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " The consulting team at HIFIS has done quite some work under the hood in 2025 and can now present some changes that aim to make the service easier to recognise and interact with.Previously, a consultation request was opened by filling a LimeSurvey linked on our webpage, which would open a ticket in the HIFIS HelpDesk. Now this process is more user friendly and allows to interact with the consulting team right where many scientists write their software: On the Helmholtz Codebase.Simply open an issue in the Helmholtz Software Consulting project there and we can support you right where the actual work is happening! Alternatively, it is now possible to open a request by filling an improved and restructured form directly located on the HIFIS webpage. This will still open an issue on GitLab, but allows you to simply interact with our service via mail.At the same time, we have further refined our mission and our understanding of what constitutes a modern consulting service. Our goal is to support researchers even more effectively while also sharpening our own profile. As part of this process, we decided to clarify our services name: Previously known under multiple names (and often shortened to HIFIS Consulting) we will from now on use the name Helmholtz Software Consulting consistently everywhere. We have added the claim Your Advisors, Guides and Mentors to reflect our scope and mission more clearly. Another new element is our Open Office Hour. Every Tuesday from 11:00 to 12:00, researchers are welcome to join us in our virtual office. Whether for spontaneous questions, feedback, early-stage ideas, or simply an informal exchange we are happy to connect.Simply join our zoom call during that hour - no registration needed. Open Office Hour every Tuesday, 11:00-12:00 at our Open Office Hour zoom room We are also pleased to welcome our new colleague Dhia Haddad at HZDR to the team. With his broad programming experience and scientific and industrial expertise, he strengthens our consulting activities.On February 17, the team met in person in Dresden. In addition to reviewing these latest changes and ongoing activities, we also discussed priorities and perspectives for the year ahead. And while we cant give the details yet - more exciting updates lie ahead in 2026! With clear focus and renewed energy, we are looking forward to the upcoming year and to working together with you." } , { "title" : "Helmholtz Chat: Upcoming Changes - Part II", "url" : "/news/2026/02/20/mat-termost-rix/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, HIFIS Chat Services, Mattermost", "date" : "2026-02-20 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "After some time has passed, we are now pleased to finally be able to provide clarity on how to deal with Mattermost in the future. Negotiations with Mattermost Inc. were not successful. We are therefore announcing that the Mattermost Helmholtz Cloud service will be discontinued in mid-July 2026.As a replacement, we will offer a chat service based on Matrix from late March onwards. Work on this is already well advanced, thanks to extensive preparatory work in the community that we can build upon. We are delighted to become part of this ecosystem and look forward to contributing our own ideas in the future.We therefore see the switch to the Matrix ecosystem as a great opportunity. Extensive evaluation of other tools showed that Matrix comes closest to meeting our requirements. Thanks for your great feedback by the way! We see the possibility to federate with other Matrix instances as a very important feature. Especially in academia Matrix is already widespread: our colleagues from GWDG are offering one, as well as several Helmholtz Centers and universities. This federation concept is at the heart of HIFIS after all.In addition Matrix provides a whole lot of other beneficial characteristics: Its an open standard and communication protocol allowing for world-wide connectivity and preventing vendor lock-in. End-to-end encryption available, enabled by default but configurable per channel, allowing for the discussion of sensitive topics, e.g. for our colleagues dealing with security issues. Active community and further development. A multitude of clients for web, desktop and mobile.Unfortunately, this decision also means the discontinuation of Boards support. We understand that a lot of work went into implementing Boards. With GitLab, Nextcloud, and the future OpenProject service, there are several alternatives available. We are happy to assist you with the transition.We are currently actively planning the transition to the new platform. We will publish details shortly in early March.The timeline: By late March 2026: Matrix available as a new Helmholtz Cloud service. April 24, 2026: Team creation in Mattermost will be disabled, new teams will be redirected to Matrix. Mid-July 2026: Mattermost will be discontinued and no longer be available in the Helmholtz Cloud.Join our public team in HIFIS Community if you would like to be kept updated and discuss specific doubts or suggestions.Or contact us at support@hifis.net.Changelog 2026-04-20: Added specific date for the deactivation of Mattermost team creation." } , { "title" : "Let’s meet! Helmholtz Cloud's First Video Conference Service", "url" : "/news/2026/02/12/letsmeet/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Cloud Services, Video Conference, Sovereignty", "date" : "2026-02-12 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Try Out How Easy It Is to Start a Video Conference with Lets meet! The Helmholtz Cloud continues to expand its service portfolio of secure, open source and German hosted digital services. We are pleased to announce the availability of Lets meet!, a new web-based video conferencing service hosted by the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ).Lets meet! is built on eduMEET, an open-source platform specifically designed for research and education. It provides a sovereign, privacy-respecting, and transparent alternative to commercial video conferencing tools, aligning with Helmholtz values around digital sovereignty, openness, and data protection.The service runs entirely in a browser and requires no local software installation, lowering technical barriers and improving accessibility. It is well suited for small to medium-sized groups and supports a wide range of collaborative use casesfrom scientific meetings and teaching to interdisciplinary workshops and creative collaboration.Key FeaturesLets meet! offers a modern feature set that supports effective and inclusive online collaboration: High-quality video: Clear and detailed video conferencing with support for up to 4K resolution. Screen sharing: Share your entire desktop, a single application, or a specific window with one click. Chat messaging: Built-in text chat to complement spoken discussion. Interactive whiteboard: Collaborate visually using drawing tools, shapes, and sticky notes on a shared canvas. Virtual breakout rooms: Split participants into smaller groups for focused discussions and reconvene effortlessly. Room lock and waiting lobby: Hosts can control access via a lobby for locked rooms, ensuring privacy and moderation. and more.Starting a Meeting RoomMeeting rooms have to be registered in advance using theresource booking functionality in the Helmholtz Cloud Portal.This process links the room to your Helmholtz account and grants you ownership and customization options, including access control and room configuration.Once the host has created a meeting room, there are no prerequisites required before using Lets meet!.Detail Information about Lets Meet! User ManualComprehensive user documentation is available in theLets meet! User Manual.Part of the Helmholtz Cloud EcosystemLets meet! is provided as part of the Helmholtz Cloud service portfolio and coordinated through HIFIS. It complements the service portfolio by offering a trusted, community-oriented solution for video conferences that meets the specific needs of Helmholtz researchers and their external partners, IT security teams, and Data Protection officers.Try Lets Meet! - and Explore Even More Services Start your first Video Conference Lets Meet! Have a look at the diverse range of services available in the Helmholtz Cloud. Tell us which services you enjoy most and which you miss at support@hifis.net." } , { "title" : "ScienceServe: Discover the Funded Projects", "url" : "/announcement/2026/01/08/scienceserve-awardees/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Call, Research Software Engineering, Helmholtz, FAIR", "date" : "2026-01-08 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "ScienceServe: Boosting Research Software at HelmholtzThe ScienceServe call announced last year is now entering the project phase.17 projects have been selected, starting in 2026 with a duration of 12 months.Together, these projects address a wide range of scientific challenges from understanding climate and hydrological processes, to analysing biomedical data, simulating materials, or controlling large-scale research infrastructures. What they have in common is their reliance on research software that is already scientifically impactful, but now needs targeted investment to become more interoperable, maintainable, or ready for long-term use.In addition to funding, all projects will benefit from the support and network of the Helmholtz Information and Data Science Platforms and friends, and in particular from HIFIS, through hands-on support by our RSE team.Funded ProjectsODIS2ODVocean-data visualisationField: Earth &amp; EnvironmentCenter: AWIPI: Sebastian MieruchOcean scientists rely on ODV and webODV to analyse and visualise large volumes of marine observations collected over decades. This project strengthens ODV by connecting it directly to the Ocean Data and Information System (ODIS), enabling seamless discovery and use of curated ocean metadata and datasets.VM-FIREHPC, simulationField: MatterCenters: KIT, FZJPI: Rodrigo Corts MejaVM-FIRE evolves the VirtMat Tools, a computational simulation suite for materials research, into a general-purpose platform that supports reproducible and efficient simulations across scientific domains.ASPECT-NEXTgeodynamics, GPUField: Earth &amp; EnvironmentCenters: GEOMAR, GFZPI: Juliane DannbergASPECT is a widely used community code for simulating mantle convection, tectonics, and planetary evolution, underpinning hundreds of geodynamics studies. ASPECT-NEXT prepares the software for new scientific questions and modern hardware, including GPU-based architectures.mHMv6hydrology, climate-impact, modellingField: Earth &amp; EnvironmentCenter: UFZPI: Stephan ThoberThe mesoscale Hydrologic Model (mHM) is central to hydrological forecasting and drought monitoring, including the German Drought Monitor. mHMv6 develops the next generation of mHM by restructuring the code base into a modular, extensible architecture.BridgeSimurban-mobility, simulationFields: Information, TransportCenter: FZJPI: Jette DegenhardtBridgeSim enhances JuPedSim, a framework to investigate pedestrian dynamics, by redesigning its interface to the traffic simulator SUMO, enabling large-scale, integrated simulations of pedestrians and vehicles.MPSToolsgeostatistics, spatial-data, modellingField: Earth &amp; EnvironmentCenter: UFZPI: Lennart SchlerMultiple-point statistics are powerful methods for modelling complex spatial structures in environmental and geoscientific data, but accessible software has been lacking. MPSTools extends the established GSTools framework to make these methods broadly usable.FLUXIBLEmetabolism, systems-biology, isotope-labellingFields: Earth &amp; Environment, HealthCenters: FZJ, UFZPI: Katharina NhMetabolic flux analysis using isotope labelling is a key method for understanding cellular metabolism in biotechnology, ecology, and medicine.FLUXIBLE transforms the 13CFLUX ecosystem into an accessible platform that supports diverse experimental workflows.MATRIXdigital-twins, HPC, simulationFields: Information, MatterCenter: HereonPI: Sven BergerMaterials research increasingly relies on high-fidelity simulations to predict material behaviour under extreme conditions. MATRIX builds digital twins for materials science on top of the high-performance Trixi solver framework.RiboVerserna-biology, genomicsField: HealthCenters: MDC, Helmholtz MunichPI: Uwe OhlerTranslation regulation plays a crucial role in gene expression and RNA-based therapies. RiboVerse develops a modular software ecosystem for jointly analysing ribosome profiling (Ribo-Seq) and RNA-binding protein data (CLIP-Seq).Existing tools are integrated, extended, and made sustainable to enable predictive modelling and translational biomedical applications.BoostFastSurferneuroimagingField: HealthCenter: DZNEPI: Martin ReuterFastSurfer is a widely used AI-based tool for fast, automated analysis of brain MRI data, producing quantitative markers for neuroscience and clinical research. BoostFastSurfer strengthens the softwares long-term reliability and usability.HeatHubHPC, data-analytics, parallel-computingField: InformationCenter: FZJPI: Claudia ComitoThe Helmholtz Analytics Toolkit (Heat) enables massively parallel data analytics on modern HPC systems using familiar Python workflows. HeatHub builds the surrounding ecosystem needed for long-term adoption and to lower the entry barrier for scientists and developers.TangoServesSciencecontrol-systems, cybersecurity, infrastructure, photon-scienceField: MatterCenters: DESY, Hereon, HZDR, HI Jena (GSI)PI: Yury MatveyevTango Controls is a core software platform for controlling large-scale scientific instruments in photon science and beyond. TangoServesScience strengthens Tango to meet modern security, maintainability, and usability requirements.BIOVERSEomics, single-cell, spatial-dataField: HealthCenters: MDC, DKFZPIs: Artr Manukyan, Luca MarconatoSingle-cell and spatial omics research relies on rich software ecosystems in both R with Bioconductor and Python with scverse. BIOVERSE improves interoperability between these ecosystems to enable cross-language analysis workflows.EYcalcPlusphotovoltaics, simulationField: EnergyCenters: KIT, HZBPI: Ulrich Wilhelm PaetzoldAccurate prediction of photovoltaic energy yield is essential for designing and evaluating solar energy systems. EYcalcPlus unifies Helmholtz software for energy yield calculations, EYcalc and pv_tandem, into a single, flexible tool.ESM-Tools+climate-modelling, HPCField: Earth &amp; EnvironmentCenter: AWIPI: Miguel Andres-MartinezEarth System Models are critical for climate research but technically complex to deploy and operate.ESM-Tools simplifies running these models on HPC systems and sharing experiment configurations.ESM-Tools+ supports new simulation catalogues, refactoring, and improved error handling to lower entry barriers and strengthen sustainability.NEPTOON-BOOSThydrology, sensor-dataField: Earth &amp; EnvironmentCenter: UFZPI: Martin SchrnCosmic-ray neutron sensors provide unique insights into soil moisture dynamics at landscape scale. NEPTOON processes raw sensor data into reliable hydrological products.NEPTOON-BOOST enables the transformation of NEPTOON into a sustainable, community-driven platform with standardized workflows, testing, and training.SusFitQMmolecular-modelling, QM-MM, drug-design, simulationFields: Health, MatterCenters: KIT, FZJPI: Frank BiedermannUnderstanding molecular recognition is essential for drug discovery and materials design. SusFitQM links experimental data fitting, through KITs machine-learning-based titration-analysis toolkit, with quantum-mechanical simulations, through FZJs MiMic framework, in a single workflow.Whats next?Over the coming months, we will share updates from the individual projects and link to further resources as the work progresses.Many of the funded software packages are already listed in the Helmholtz Research Software Directory ScienceServe will help strengthen their quality, sustainability, and scientific impact across the Association. Interested in Research Software Engineering? Learn how HIFIS supports research software Discover more Helmholtz software at helmholtz.software Get in touch with us at support@hifis.netChangelog 2026-01-19: Add PI names" } , { "title" : "NovaCrate: New Metadata Service in Helmholtz Cloud", "url" : "/news/2025/12/16/novacrate/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Cloud Services, FAIR, HMC", "date" : "2025-12-16 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "NovaCrate: A New Helmholtz Cloud Service for FAIR Research DataWith NovaCrate a new service is now available through the Helmholtz Cloud. NovaCrate brings a powerful, browser-based toolkit to the scientific community for creating, editing, and exploring Research Object Crates (RO-Crates) a modern approach to keeping research data FAIR, transparent, and reusable.Browser-Based Workspace for Creating and Exploring RO-CratesRO-Crates provide a standardized, self-describing way to package research data alongside rich metadata. They make scientific work Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable the FAIR principles that are essential for collaborating across research fields, infrastructures, and institutions. But FAIRness is only as strong as the tools that support it.Thats where NovaCrate comes in. Discover a web-based, fully-featured, interactive editor for creating, editing and visualizing research object crates. Built for inspecting, validating, and manipulating RO-Crates, it allows to get a deeper understanding of an RO-Crates content and structure easily.HMC, HIFIS and Data Science Platforms - A Strong AllianceWith NovaCrate, the Helmholtz Cloud ecosystem expands its portfolio of high-quality, community-driven research services, designed to support FAIR data practices. The service is developed within the Helmholtz Metadata Collaboration (HMC), currently carried out by FAIR Data Commons at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). HIFIS and HMC are strong partners united by the goal of providing scientists at Helmholtz with excellent services. Together with three sister platforms Helmholtz AI, Helmholtz Imaging, and HIDA, they offer a comprehensive range of services covering all aspects of data science.Try NovaCrate and Explore Even More Services Curious about how NovaCrate can support your workflows? Give it a try and share your feedback with your teams and communities. Have a look at the diverse range of services available in the Helmholtz Cloud. Tell us which services you enjoy most and which you miss at support@hifis.net." } , { "title" : "Security Efforts at Helmholtz", "url" : "/news/2025/11/21/cybersecurity-blog-post/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Cybersecurity, HIFIS Backbone", "date" : "2025-11-21 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Cybersecurity: the Why, the What, and the HowThe WhyIts probably hard to find someone who would deny, wholeheartedly, the need to have security measures in digital infrastructure. Cyber crime is on the rise, malware crawls through networks, and security incidents can paralyze operations for days, weeks, months. But what does security really mean?The WhatFirewalls, MFA, network segmentation Solving the low-hanging fruit of known issues works as the first effort, to mitigate the most obvious threats - and yes, MFA, love it or hate it, eliminates a significant range of attacks.The core What, however, is more than one what: Objectives: What does being secure mean in the context of our center / Helmholtz? Measurable results: What benchmarks need to be achieved to reach objectives? Assets: What are we protecting? Threats / Risks: What (who) are we protecting it from?When we answer these questions, we can start plotting theThe HowThe How is, compared to The What, simple and straightforward.How can we reach the objectives?This is where hands start itching for setting up firewalls, network access lists, and one more MFA on top.How can we reach the objectives with consideration to assets and risks? - which means that when implementing security measures, we need to know which measures make sense in our environment - and how can we make sure that they actually work.So?Helmholtz centers are unique, independent, specialized research institutions. While the research areas may vary, the need for adequate level of security is the same - and this is why, when it comes to cybersecurity, we should join forces on the strategic level. Security in the modern world is not a luxury - it is one of the pillars for ensuring continuity of the research, and its importance should be recognized on the appropriate level.Whats Going On Now A discussion has started with the Helmholtz Cyber Security working group, on topic of creating a unified cybersecurity strategy for Helmholtz centers. This strategy, among other things, would define the minimal security baseline to be implemented by all centers. This baseline is a high-level objective (aka The What), and its implementation (aka The How) would remain at the discretion of each Helmholtz center. Strengthening collaboration between the Helmholtz Cyber Security working group and HIFIS team. The discussion about implementing a knowledge base service for Helmholtz has started, with centers being eager to share their own resources to aid others. Engaging more participants from Helmholtz centers to collaborate on security-related initiatives. Both HIFIS and non-HIFIS folks are expressing interest in joining in - given lack of dedicated security people in some centers, their expertise can prove crucial in bringing everyones security level up to speed.Want To Stay Informed?Drop an email to our HIFIS Support if you want to stay tuned on the latest developments in security-related topics, or reach out on Mattermost.Just say I want to be added to the list and get access to the not-so-secret knowledge and a chance to chime in on the ongoing discussions.- How did the hacker escape from the police?- He ransomware.Changelog 2025-12-08: Fix formulation" } , { "title" : "Software Award #2: Here are the Winners!", "url" : "/announcement/2025/11/12/sw-award-nominees/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Community, HIFIS Software, Helmholtz RSD", "date" : "2025-11-12 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Second Helmholtz Software Award ResultsThe winners of the second Helmholtz Software Award have been selected and they just received the good news. This year, 35 proposals from 17 centres were submitted.All entries were evaluated by 14 international experts. On this basis, a committee with representatives from HIFIS, HIDA and the Helmholtz Open Science Office chose the prize winners across the three categories. There were many software solutions with excellent scientific ratings, so the final decision was not easy.And the winners are: Scientific Originality Prize (Main Award, 5,000 EUR):CP2K (Quantum Chemistry and Solid State Physics)https://helmholtz.software/software/cp2kRepresentative: Thomas Khne (HZDR) Sustainability Prize (3,000 EUR):FastSurfer (Human Brain MRI Analysis)https://helmholtz.software/software/fastsurferRepresentative: Martin Reuter (DZNE) Newcomer Prize (2,000 EUR):MemBrain v2 (Cryo-ET Membranes Analysis)https://helmholtz.software/software/membrain-v2Representative: Lorenz Lamm (Helmholtz Munich) Congratulations to all developers and software engineers involved, and thank you for these outstanding software contributions! The Award Ceremony will take place at the upcoming Incubator Workshop on 24 November.Register your software in the Research Software DirectoryRegister or update your software project in the Helmholtz Research Software Directory (RSD) today!The RSD allows you to increase visibility of your project and cross-links it with related projects, organisations, contributors and publications.Registration in the RSD is also a prerequisite to take part in the next round of the software award, which, by the way, will be announced in January.It also helps you ensure your software is counted as a research output in the next PoF cycle.Questions?Contact us at support@hifis.net!Looking for the winners of the first Software Award edition? You can find them here." } , { "title" : "1-Week Sustainable Scientific Software School in Annecy", "url" : "/event/2025/11/06/s3school/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Research Software Engineering, Education, Best Practice, Git", "date" : "2025-11-06 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "S School Sustainable Scientific Software School14-21 January, 2026 - LAPP @ Annecy, FranceAre you a researcher, a scientist, a Research Software Engineer (RSE) aiming to acquire new skills to build sustainable, open, and reproducible research software following recognised best practices?Register now for the S3 School - Sustainable Scientific Software School. Good coding practices to develop better software for your research, a one-week training programme designed to teach good and modern coding practices tailored for scientific software development.The event will take place from 14 to 21 January, 2026, at LAPP in Annecy, France. Browse the agenda Register here before November 14thNote: The fee includes accommodation, daily lunches, social events, all course sessions, online materials and Apicuron recognition, and is 588.50. The course is limited to 60 participants. A visit to CERN is planned for the Saturday.HIFIS contributes its expertise to OSCARS (via DESY) and EVERSE (via HZDR)." } , { "title" : "Helmholtz Mattermost Chat: Upcoming Changes", "url" : "/news/2025/10/30/hifis-chat-services/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, HIFIS Chat Services, Mattermost", "date" : "2025-10-30 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Bad News First Today, HIFIS and the HZDR as the service provider have to announce that HIFISs Mattermost service is unlikely to be kept in our service portfolio any longer and needs to be replaced during the first half of 2026.The company behind Mattermost decided to restrict their free offerings and also deprecated the technology with which we were able to enable the login via Helmholtz ID.These changes are pretty daunting, because Mattermost has become one of our most widely used services in Helmholtz during the last years.Many Helmholtz members integrated Mattermost into their daily routine and we are aware of the fact that we can not just switch off Mattermost.Of course, we are looking for alternatives. Good News NextAt the moment we are talking to service providers in Helmholtz, collect ideas, evaluate alternatives and migration paths, to finally be able to make a well thought-through decision.There are a couple of promissing alternatives and in order to make the best possible choice, we join forces in Helmholtz to achieve that.At the end of this process we will be able to offer another chat solution to you before we might turn off Mattermost entirely.While we try to make the switch as smooth as possible, we can not guarantee that all data will be transferred to the new chat service, but we make this a priority.We will keep you informed about our next steps and also provide a roadmap as soon as this plan is complete.In the end, together we will say: I love it when a plan comes together.Strengthen the Resilience of the HIFIS Service PortfolioOf course, this possibility and risk is not new to HIFIS.We are permanently facing business decisions made by companies who restrict access to free editions of open source software we are using.Due to these uncertainties, we are aware that we have to choose our offers wisely, in particular for mission-critical services.Recently, we started a pilot project to work on exit strategies for these critical services.Our pilot use case is GitLab.We are evaluating alternatives for our code hosting offers before business decisions are made by companies that might lead to a discontinuation of a service offer in HIFIS.Please refer to an associated talk held on the IT4Science Days 2025:Strengthen Research Associations Through Exit-Strategies for IT ServicesTeam HIFIS Community on MattermostPlease join our public team HIFIS Community if you would like to be kept updated about this topic:Please click this invite link, if you are interestedMattermost News No. 1 (2025-11-07)Summary of the changes to free offerings of MattermostThe company developing Mattermost changed their free offerings.In particular, they removed the feature to authenticate with the Helmholtz AAI responsible for the login to Mattermost.In consequence, we are forced to look for alternatives until the end of the first half of 2026.Discussed AlternativesPossible alternatives are the following: Purchase Mattermost Enterprise licences for Helmholtz Develop a fork that supports login to the Helmholtz AAI Evaluate other chat solutions (Matrix, Zulip, Nextcloud Talk, openDesk Chat, etc.)Working GroupIn discussions with other service providers inside and outside Helmholtz, a working group (current members of HZDR, GFZ, DESY, GSI, UFZ, FZJ, CISPA) has formed that will initially evaluate and test Matrix the most promising service in the selection as a federated service for Helmholtz.The goal can be to host few Matrix servers in Helmholtz that can interoperate.The other alternatives will also be evaluated as part of the next steps.Selection Criteria and Migration PathsDuring the evaluation we will look at various aspects such as reliability, maturity, feature set, security, and userfriendliness, and we will test migration paths so that, ideally, the group structures and chat histories in Mattermost can be largely preserved.Why Matrix as a first test pilot?Many research organisations and universities trust Matrix as a good chat solution and did the same migration in the past.We are among others in communication with GWDG which did such transition recently for their clients, including Max Planck Society.These are a couple of reasons to choose Matrix: Matrix is a modern protocol. It is decentralised with no single point of failure. This emphasises the robustness and resilience of such a solution. Its open-source nature and possibility to run it on-premise guarantees data sovereignty without any claims by companies. It has a high interoperability. Due to federation it is possible that different Matrix servers communicate with each other, thus, users can chat with users on other servers. Privacy and security is among other things taken into account by end-to-end encryption. The user benefits from versatile communication options like real-time messaging, voice, and video calls.User FeedbackWe would like to keep you in the loop and also involve interested people with useful ideas and suggestions.In case you would like to share your ideas and suggestions with us, please join our Mattermost channel:Please click this invite link, if you are interestedChangelog 2025-11-05: Updated chat link 2025-11-07: Added Mattermost News No. 1" } , { "title" : "Call for Papers on Computational Science", "url" : "/announcement/2025/10/29/iccs-cfp/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Conference, Call, DESY", "date" : "2025-10-29 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Hamburg, a 2-Week Hotspot for Computational Science in Summer 2026From 22 June to 3 July 2026, Hamburg will host three important consecutive conferences in the computational science domain: The series kicks off with ISC High Performance 2026 (2226 June), one of the worlds leading conferences in high-performance computing. Drawing over 3,500 attendees from industry, academia, and major computing centers worldwide, ISC HPC focuses this year on HPC, AI, Quantum: Powering Innovation and Sustainability. Later, from 13 July, the International Symposium on Parallel and Distributed Computing (ISPDC 2026) will bring together around 50 experts to explore advances in parallel and distributed systems, like e.g. the evolving computing continuum. This year, the ISPDC is hosted at DESY and chaired by HIFIS Coordinator and Speaker Philipp Neumann. And nestled between them, from 29 June to 1 July, is the International Conference on Computational Science (ICCS 2026) an academic forum for foundational and applied research in computational science. This years ICCS is also hosted at DESY under the motto At the Forefront of Science through Computation and Data.Read more below for a deeper look at ICCS 2026, including its scientific scope and the open Call for Papers.ICCS 2026: International Conference on Computational ScienceDESY, Hamburg, Germany, 29 June - 1 July 2026ICCS News and Quick Facts Submission deadline: 23 January 2026. Submit your paper now. ICCS 2026 format:We are happy to announce that ICCS 2026 in Germany, like the previous edition in Singapore, will be a fully in-person event.There will still be a registration option (incl. publishing) for authors of accepted contributions who are unable to join us in Hamburg. ICCS proceedings will be published in Springers LNCS and indexed by Scopus, EI Engineering Index, Thomson Reuters Conference Proceedings Citation Index (included in ISI Web of Science), and several other indices. The Call for Workshops is now open. ICCS is well known for its exciting keynote lectures.Confirmed so far are: Andrew Adamatzky, University of the West of England Bristol, UK George Karniadakis, Brown University, USA Amanda Randles, Duke University, USA Christian Schroer, DESY / University of Hamburg, Germany Call for papersThe 26th International Conference on Computational Science - ICCS 2026 - is now inviting submissions reporting original, unpublished research, and recent developments in Computational Sciences by 23 January 2026.All accepted papers will be included in the Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) series and indexed by Scopus, EI Engineering Index, Thomson Reuters Conference Proceedings Citation Index (included in ISI Web of Science), and several other indexing services. The papers will contain linked references, XML versions, and citable DOI numbers. After the conference, selected papers will be invited for a special issue of the Journal of Computational Science (Impact Factor:3.7).The ICCS conference is the primary annual event in computational science. This interdisciplinary conference on modeling and simulation of real-world phenomena will attract academic and industry leaders from all relevant fields. ICCS intends to provide a forum to disseminate world-leading research in the field of (scientific) Computational Science and in particular to highlight the role which modelling and simulation plays in future scientific discovery.ICCS 2026 invites original contributions on all topics related to Computational Science, including, but not limited to: Scientific Computing Problem Solving Environments Advanced Numerical Algorithms Mixed-precision Modelling Algorithms New Algorithmic Approaches to Computational Kernels and Applications Web- and Grid-based Simulation and Computing Parallel and Distributed Computing Advanced Computing Architectures and New Programming Models Extreme-Scale Data Management and I/O in Computational Science Applications Complex Systems: Modeling and Simulation Complex Networks Models and High Performance simulations System Dynamics Models Artificial Intelligence in Scientific Computing Modelling Approaches using Unconventional Computing Massive Agent Based models Uncertainty Quantification Approaches for Automated Simulation Development Hybrid Computational Methods Applications of Computation as a Scientific Paradigm Visualization and Virtual Reality as Applied to Computational Science Computational Physics Large Scale Scientific Instruments Quantum Computing Medical and Biomedical Computational Science Computational Humanities Computational Sociology Computational Models of Cognition and Behavior Strategic Behavior Modeling and Market Design Education in Computational ScienceAs the conference theme this year is At the Forefront of Science through Computation and Data, papers highlighting the role of Computational Science in assisting multidisciplinary research are particularly welcome.Paper Types and PublicationsICCS is co-organised with the Workshops on Computational Science (WCS), a set of thematic satellite events that focus on particular aspects of computational science. You can submit your paper to either the Main Conference or any of the Workshops via the same EasyChair link. You can also choose to submit a Full/Short Paper or an Abstract. For all the details on the differences between each submission type, please check the call for papers.Do also note that: ICCS and WCS papers will be published in separate proceedings, that is, there will be a LNCS publication for the Main Conference, and a different LNCS publication for the Workshops. But both ICCS and WCS will be published by LNCS, and indexed in the same way. The only difference between Full and Short Papers is the number of accepted pages. They are otherwise published and indexed in the exact same way.This year students can also enter their papers for the Student Competition.Papers of up to 15 pages, written in English and complying with the Springer LNCS format, should be submitted electronically through the EasyChair submission system.Templates are available for download from EasyChair (see the Submission Templates link on the top right of the submission details webpage).Submission implies the willingness of at least one of the authors to register and present the paper.The articles must be based on original unpublished work and must be submitted to ICCS only.Important Dates Paper submission deadline: 23 January 2026 Notification to authors: 23 March 2026 Camera-ready papers and registration: 10 April 2026Keynote SpeakersICCS is well-known for its exciting keynote lectures.Confirmed so far are: Andrew Adamatzky, University of the West of England Bristol, UK George Karniadakis, Brown University, USA Amanda Randles, Duke University, USA Christian Schroer, DESY / University of Hamburg, GermanyWorkshopsICCS regularly features 20+ Workshops encompassing the many facets of Computational Science.We are now welcoming proposals for Workshops.Conference OrganizersMain Conference - Program Committee Role Member General Chair Derek Groen, Brunel University London, UK Local Chair at DESY Philipp Neumann, DESY / University of Hamburg, Germany Chair Emeritus Peter M.A. Sloot, University of Amsterdam, The NetherlandsJack Dongarra, University of Tennessee, USA Main Track Committee Chair: Michael Lees, University of Amsterdam, The NetherlandsChair: Michael J. Puma, Columbia University, USADerek Groen, Brunel University London, UK Sponsorship Chair Alan Serrano, Brunel University London, UK Early Career Engagement Chair Valeria Krzhizhanovskaya, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Workshops on Computational Science - Program Committee Role Member Chair Maciej Paszynski. AGH University of Krakow. Poland. Members Amanda S. Barnard. Australian National University. Australia.Yongjie Jessica Zhang. Carnegie Mellon University. USA. Conference management by Intellegibilis." } , { "title" : "New Helmholtz Cloud Status Page", "url" : "/news/2025/10/10/status/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud", "date" : "2025-10-10 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "When picking a new cloud service for your workflow, its availability is one of the most important points to consider. You do not want say your LaTeX editor to stop working 10 minutes before the submission of your proposal_final final (3).pdf in time for the deadline. Or, sometimes a service may not be working for you and youre wondering whether its just your local WiFi again or if everyone else is having issues.Until recently for Helmholtz Cloud this information was either unavailable or spread over separate providers status pages. In order to provide you with a unified transparent foundation for your decisions weve launched a new status page at helmholtz.cloud/status. Here, you can see the current availability of each service and 90 day availability history at a glance. Additionally, as we collect more and more data, were going to provide 365 day availability metrics on the services profile pages.We hope this helps you to pick the right service for your use case." } , { "title" : "Helmholtz Cloud in Numbers: First Survey Insights", "url" : "/news/2025/10/08/cloud-it-leads-survey/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Cloud Services, Survey", "date" : "2025-10-08 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Helmholtz Cloud in Numbers: First Survey InsightsHow do Helmholtz IT departments actually use the Helmholtz Cloud? To find out, we recently asked the IT leads of all 18 Helmholtz Centers and the Head Office two simple questions for each of the 32 services currently available: Is this service used at your center? Does the HIFIS solution replace your own local service?The results provide a first quantitative picture of Helmholtz-wide service adoption.Usage in Numbers All 32 services are in use across Helmholtz. Each service is used by at least two centers. In total, we counted 211 service usages across 19 Helmholtz Centers including the head office. So far, 71 services have been replaced, discontinued, or not implemented thanks to the Helmholtz Cloud. 11 services are used by at least half of the centers, including favorites like Mattermost, LimeSurvey, Collabtex, Blablador, Codebase, Notes, HIFIS Events, Helmholtz RSD, SciFlow, and Zammad. 3 services are close to being universally adopted (1718 centers): Mattermost, LimeSurvey, and Nextcloud. First InsightsThe survey highlights a few trends: Helmholtz Cloud services are preferred whenever there is no local solution available, or if the local one lacks collaboration features. Some Helmholtz Cloud services fill very specific niches their relevance depends strongly on scientific use cases. For now, central IT can only estimate how widely services are actually used. Setting up a technical infrastructure that measures user numbers per center will provide deeper insights. Thus will allow strategic decisions.Whats Next?The results confirm that the Helmholtz Cloud, managed by HIFIS, has become a valuable part of the digital research landscape at Helmholtz. Still, the composition of the portfolio and how it matches researchers needs remains a dynamic process.And this is where you come in: Tell us which services you enjoy most and which you miss at support@hifis.net. Have a look at whats already available in the Helmholtz Cloud. Find out what the users think: Results of the Helmholtz Cloud Survey.Changelog 2025-10-27: add link to users survey and reformulate service usage." } , { "title" : "Data Science Unlocked: Helmholtz Platforms Roadshow", "url" : "/event/2025/10/07/platforms-roadshow/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Data Science, HIDA, HIFIS, HMC, Helmholtz AI, Helmholtz Imaging", "date" : "2025-10-07 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Data Science Unlocked: Helmholtz Platforms Roadshow 2025The Helmholtz Information and Data Science platforms HIFIS, Helmholtz AI, Helmholtz Imaging, HMC and HIDA are taking to the virtual road again, to present ourselves to researchers and staff from all Helmholtz centres. Help us spread the word so that many people can know and benefit from our offers. When? 12 November, 11:0012:30 Where? OnlineWe look forward to seeing you and your colleagues there! Register here" } , { "title" : "Heads Up: Login Changes Ahead for Students & Guests", "url" : "/news/2025/10/01/helmholtz-member-login/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz ID, Helmholtz Cloud", "date" : "2025-10-01 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Intensified Verification for Helmholtz MembershipAccess to our Helmholtz Cloud Services is fundamentally restricted to users employed at a center belonging to the Helmholtz Association or the Head Office,as well as external collaboration partners invited by these employees into collaboration groups, e.g., so-called Virtual Organizations.All services are subject to the Terms of Use.As of November 3, 2025, login access to our services will be adapted to reflect these rules.Services will no longer be accessible to individuals who are not directly employed at a Helmholtz Center or the Head Office, and are also no member of any collaboration group (e.g., VO).This is expected to primarily affect students and guests at Helmholtz Centers.We are contractually and legally obligated to implement this change.Note that you as a full Helmholtz member can still share your projects and resources to externals for collaboration, as before.Does this apply to me?Nothing will change for you, if: You are normally employed at a Helmholtz Center or the Helmholtz Head Office, You have been invited to a collaboration group by a Helmholtz employee.If you are, for example, a guest or student at a Helmholtz Center,there is a high likelihood that you will lose access unless you take further action. Can I check my status in advance?If you have any doubts,you can already verify your status by logging in to https://login.helmholtz.de/home/,scrolling to the bottom,and checking the entry under Affiliation at home organisation.You should see staff or employee listed there, combined with the domain of your Helmholtz center.For example: staff@desy.de. In this case you are not effected by the change. If these values are not listed,but others like student or only member, you are effected by the change.Further, you can check if you are member of a collaboration group (VO) by scrolling up and look for entitlements created by Helmholtz ID.If you see any urn:geant:helmholtz.de:group:GROUPNAME#login.helmholtz.de entries,you are member of at least one such group,granting you access to services as well.What should I do if I expect to lose access?Access will still be possible if you join a collaboration group (e.g., VO).Please inform your point of contact at your center to request the creation of such a groupand invite you to it.Once added, your access will continue uninterrupted.So, please: If you are a Helmholtz-based project owner, make sure that any Helmholtz-based students or other persons at Helmholtz without employee status are invited to your projects (e.g. VO, gitlab projects, mattermost channels, etc) exactly the same way you invite non-Helmholtz external collaborators If you are a student or guest at a Helmholtz Center, and want to continue using Helmholtz Cloud Services, please ask your supervisor or project lead to invite you to a collaboration group (VO, gitlab projects, mattermost channels, etc). Being part of such a group will ensure your access continues after the change.ContactShould you have any questions or comments, dont hesitate to contact the HIFIS team at support@hifis.net.Changelog 2025-10-01: updated some wording on VOs and resource sharing. 2025-10-14: updated two bullet points on what to do for each role." } , { "title" : "Helmholtz RSD: Spotlights, API and Software Heritage", "url" : "/announcement/2025/09/17/rsd-update/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Community, Cloud Services, Helmholtz RSD, Spotlights", "date" : "2025-09-17 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The Helmholtz RSD continues to evolve, introducing new features designated to enhance the visibility, preservation and management of research software:Showcase your software by becoming a Software SpotlightThe HIFIS Software Spotlights represent an opportunity to gain recognition and increase the visibility of your research software within the Helmholtz community, and beyond. Apply now to to become a Software Spotlight!How to get featuredIf you want to get featured, ensure your software entry on the Helmholtz RSD is complete and meets the minimum requirements, such as a the logo or a detailed description. Get more info about the requirements by following the Become a Spotlight button on our Spotlights page: Once your entry is ready, reach out to the Helmholtz RSD team via support@hifis.net to start the application process. We will come back to you with further details.Software Heritage IntegrationSoftware Heritage is the largest archive of software source code, ensuring that your code is preserved for future reference and reuse. If you added your research software to Software Heritage, you can now reference it in helmholtz.software as well.If you host your code on Helmholtz Codebase, your code is already preserved in Software Heritage (see this Blog post from 18. Oct. 2023). To reference it in the Helmholtz RSD, have a look at Step 3 of the Software Heritage documentation How to archive and reference your code.API Access Token: automate and streamline your workflowThe new API access token feature allows you to automate interactions with the Helmholtz RSD. Integrating the management of your software or project entries into an automated workflow, e.g. CI/CD pipelines, is becoming possible now.Generate your API token in the user settings and use it to authenticate requests to the /api/v2 endpoint. Check out the REST API documentation for examples.FeedbackDo you have questions or need assistance? Reach out to the HIFIS team at support@hifis.net." } , { "title" : "Registration of User Groups (VO) now via Plony", "url" : "/news/2025/09/08/VO-registration-in-Plony/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Helmholtz ID", "date" : "2025-09-08 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The New Online Application Form for VOs Simplifies the ProcessVirtual Organisations comes into play when a group of users wants to use Helmholtz Cloud Services. They enable to manage multiple users, hierarchical groups, or non-Helmholtz partners.Virtual Organisations (VOs) can now be registered via the HIFIS service data management system Plony. Plony provides the VO Application Form for this purpose. This replaces the previous method of submitting VO requests via ticket.Anyone who is a Helmholtz employee can log in via Helmholtz ID and create a new VO Application. Here, all information required for registering a VO is requested in a structured and bundled way.Once all the necessary information has been entered and validation has been successful, the VO Application can be sent to HIFIS. Plony then sends an email with all the details to the VO Manager and the HIFIS ticket system. There, the Helmholtz ID experts checks the application and creates the new VO either directly or after clarification of any queries.With the VO Application Form implemented in Plony, VOs can now be registered in a convenient and structured process. Providing a form and implementing validation has significantly sped up the registration of VOs because both ensures that the VO Application is complete when it is reviewed by HIFIS, unlike an application sent by email. User requests can be processed immediatly.The implementation of the VO Application Form is the first step toward bringing the processes surrounding the Helmholtz ID online. It is also the starting point for exploiting the potential for automated processing.To Go Further Further details on registering VOs via Plony and a step-by-step instruction can also be found in the HIFIS documentation. Helmholtz Cloud to find the next service for your VO." } , { "title" : "Single Sign On for Helmholtz ID", "url" : "/tips/2025/08/15/tip-sso/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz ID", "date" : "2025-08-15 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Maybe you are thinking twice before shutting down your computer because you know what awaits you when you will turn it on again. Many precious minutes spent logging in to Codebase, Blablador, the RSD, Mattermost, Indico, etc. And with 2FA of course, otherwise itd be too easy.Well, there is something that may lighten this burden a little, and it is called Single Sign On or SSO for short:Log in once via login.helmholtz.de thats the main trick. If its anywhere else it may not work as well, depending on your browser configuration. Just log in and let your browser transfer the cookie from one tab to the other and do this until you close the browser or clear your stored cookies.Just refresh your pages or click on log in on each website to trigger the browser to make use of the cookie from Helmholtz ID.This way you may save a few extra logins for everything happening in the browser at least.By the way, if you need to safely log out from a page using Helmholtz ID, e.g. when using a shared computer, optimally use a browser in incognito mode, it will erase all cookies at the end of your session, also the one authenticating you in Helmholtz ID.You may also choose to log out of specific services, but be aware that this mostly only applies for the very page you actually clicked on logout.This means that open login sessions may remain on login.helmholtz.de and other intermediate SSO pages, until you explicitly log out there, too.Hope it helps." } , { "title" : "Helmholtz Head Office Switched to HIFIS Mattermost", "url" : "/news/2025/07/24/uc-headoffice-switching-to-mattermost/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz, Mattermost, Strategy, Sovereignty", "date" : "2025-07-24 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Last April, at the Helmholtz Head Office, we decided to switch from Slack to the HIFIS Mattermost for our internal chat.With this switch we want to promote open-source solutions and of course, Helmholtz Cloud services. Mattermost is self-hosted by HZDR in Dresden, GDPR-compliant and also widely used by the Helmholtz Information and Data Science platforms.We were used to Slack, so we needed time to adjust to Mattermost, especially since its interface is not so user-friendly at first.Slack is also still used by our external partners and contacts, we cant avoid it entirely. Interoperability is very much a challenge, and we are hoping for future developments going in the right direction.All in all, it may be a small step for the Head Office but it is a big step for sovereignty.With this move we are illustrating the strategy behind HIFIS: enabling Helmholtz employees to benefit from self-hosted, open source and free services for their daily work.To Go Further Helmholtz Cloud to find the next service to switch to? European Alternatives for digital products for a wider picture." } , { "title" : "Self-Declared AI Usage on HIFIS.net", "url" : "/news/2025/07/17/self-declared-ai-assistance/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Artificial Intelligence, Best Practice, Blablador", "date" : "2025-07-17 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "If you read our tip on BLABLADOR, you may, like us in the HIFIS editorial team, be using Large Language Models to improve your writing. But do you always openly declare it? Would you even know how?We didnt, until now.Declaring AI UsageAlthough it is quite easy for a reader to detect AI-generated content these texts with a low perplexity that tend to all sound a bit similar (and too enthusiastic) it is hard to detect AI assistance when the human is still the main creator. Automatic detection is also tricky, as it is often limited to a specific model, does not perform so well on mixed usage and is not as lightweight as wed like.As we believe readers deserve to know, we decided to add a self-declared AI usage when writing a page on hifis.net. This transparency is also recommended by the Helmholtz Guidelines on the Use of AI (german version).From now on, you will see a badge popping up at the bottom-right of hifis.net pages, like here , stating how much AI was involved in creating what you are reading.The ScaleThe 4-level scale is defined as follows: Badge Description Declaration No AI tools used in writing or editing. ai-assistance: none AI used for grammar and spelling only, using tools like DeepL Write. ai-assistance: light AI used for rewriting, summarising or suggesting changes, using tools like BLABLADOR for brainstorming on specific parts of the human input. ai-assistance: moderate The text and structure were primarily written by an AI tool like BLABLADOR, based on human-provided content, then reviewed and lightly edited by a human. ai-assistance: heavy What Youd Need to DoWhenever you are contributing to hifis.net, please fill in this new ai-assistance variable in the front-matter to declare how much AI helped you in the process. Here is an example with the front matter extracted from this particular blog post:12345678910---...tags: - Artifical Intelligence - Best Practice - Blabladorai-assistance: lightexcerpt: &gt; From now on and following current best practices, you can declare how much AI (if any) you used to write a contribution to hifis.net.---Thank you for being transparent!Something Else?If you find there is a missing level in our scale, or if you are aware of standards for declaring AI usage that we should follow, or find anything else we could do better, please reach out: writing to support@hifis.net, or starting a discussion in our HIFIS Community channel in Mattermost.Changelog 2025-10-20: Replace AI-generated with AI-formulated 2025-12-05: Update to new look and position" } , { "title" : "Smarter Forms and Processes: Plony Gets a Major Update", "url" : "/news/2025/07/15/plony-update/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Cloud Services, Service Review Process, Service Onboarding Process", "date" : "2025-07-15 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "As part of our annual review, we have significantly streamlined the data structure in Plony, the service and process database behind the Helmholtz Cloud.Based on the results of the latest Service Portfolio Review, we have completely overhauled the core forms in Plony the central tool for supporting the lifecycle of the Helmholtz Cloud services. Over 30 unused fields have been removed, and the remaining ones have been revised and reorganized to better reflect operational reality. This means: clearer structure, fewer manual steps, faster onboarding, and a smoother experience for all Service Providers. What Changed?Our database Plony, which supports service onboarding and lifecycle management, has been streamlined: ~30 unused fields have been removed from the Service Application and Service Canvas forms. These included fields like IPv6, Expected User Groups, and Planned SLA, which currently have no practical relevance. All remaining fields were revised to ensure clarity, necessity, and alignment with operational processes. Fields that are no longer used for selection or reporting (such as weighting or informational criteria) were dropped, enabling leaner form structures.Structural ImprovementsThe Application Form and Service Canvas have been completely restructured and are now clearly segmented into logical, clustered sections. The first step which is the application of a new service now focusses strictly on exclusion criteria plus basic service information. This ensures minimum effort for the decision wether a service is able to become part of the Helmholtz Cloud.The transition from Application to Canvas is now fully automated, removing the need for manual checks by the Service Portfolio Management team. So, Service Providers can continue enter information whenever they like. Many fields now benefit from pre-filled data or conditional logic, minimizing redundancy and human error.All of these improvements reduces ambiguity and effort: service providers no longer need to provide details that arent used in downstream processes.Whats in It For You? Clearer, shorter, and more intuitive forms, Faster onboarding of new services, Simplified annual reviews, Better alignment with Helmholtz Cloud requirements, Less administrative burden for you as a Service Provider.You can explore the new forms directly in Plony. They are already live and ready for use.Stay TunedAn upcoming article will introduce the new Plony feature to create a Helmholtz ID User Group (VO Registration).Feedback and SupportAs always, we welcome your feedback! support@hifis.net" } , { "title" : "OMERO for Helmholtz", "url" : "/news/2025/06/27/omero/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Cloud Services, Helmholtz Imaging", "date" : "2025-06-27 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "New! Helmholtz Imaging and HIFIS are pleased to announce a new Helmholtz Cloud service: OMERO!Alf Wachsmann (HIFIS/HMGU) introduced the Helmholtz OMERO Instance during the Helmholtz Imaging Conference in Potsdam. Today, we are excited to enter the pilot phase of this new platform.OMERO is an open-source client-server platform for storing, visualizing, and analyzing complex scientific image data. It helps researchers manage image metadata, collaborate across virtual organizations (VOs), and integrate analysis tools in a centralized and scalable environment.We invite you to upload your images, analyze them online together with colleagues from your VOs, develop and contribute plugins, and accelerate your workflows using this powerful new resource.To help you get started, Christian Schmidt (DKFZ), Riccardo Massei (UFZ), and Michele Bortolomeazzi (DKFZ) will host the first online workshop on July 17 (limited to 25 participants). Find the program and register here.OMERO for Helmholtz can be found at https://omero.helmholtz-munich.de/. For questions or support with the Helmholtz OMERO Instance, feel free to contact us at support@helmholtz-imaging.de." } , { "title" : "Helmholtz ID Simplifies Secure Login for Services", "url" : "/news/2025/06/26/helmholtz-id-mfa-on-demand/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz ID, MFA", "date" : "2025-06-26 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Multi-factor authentication (MFA) has been a part of Helmholtz ID for several years:At the beginning of 2023, Helmholtz ID started offering MFA on demand for users.By mid 2023, MFA became mandatory for system administrators and VO managers.Early in 2025, MFA was simplified for users by honoring MFA performed by their home organization,eliminating the need for a second factor if the home organization provides information about completed MFA.As the Helmholtz Cloud offers an increasing number of services,some of which handle sensitive data,it has become increasingly important for services to require users to perform MFA before granting access.To address this, Helmholtz ID now supports MFA requests during the login process for services using the OAuth2 protocol.To prevent duplicate MFA requests for users,Helmholtz ID forwards these requests to the home organization.Afterward, Helmholtz ID signals the use of MFA to connected services (clients) via the ACR claim.Services interested in MFA usage but not enforcing it can request information about MFA usage by requesting the acr scope,which will only provide information if MFA was performed.ContactShould you have any questions or comments, dont hesitate to contact the HIFIS team at support@hifis.net." } , { "title" : "Backing Up Critical US Databases", "url" : "/use-case/2025/06/25/uc-us-databases/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Codebase, Earth & Environment, Sustainability, dCache", "date" : "2025-06-25 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "HIFIS Helps the UFZ Backup US DatabasesIn this blog post, we outline how the team of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) is supporting researchers in the Earth and Environment domain to back up critical US databases. This initiative is an effort of the Research Data Management (RDM) team at UFZ, in collaboration with HIFIS, to ensure the continuity of research in light of the uncertainty surrounding the sustainability of key databases.UFZ and the HIFIS team collaborated closely on this effort. The HIFIS team provided the necessary infrastructure and guidance to facilitate the backup process, along with finding the best solutions to make the data accessible. Collaborating has been crucial in ensuring that the data is preserved and can be accessed by researchers in the long term.With increasing uncertainty about the long-term availability and sustainability of these resources, it is essential to proactively safeguard access to critical data. Researchers are encouraged to regularly review and inventory the databases they rely on, prioritizing those with unique datasets, high usage, and limited alternative sources.Critical DatasetsFour datasets are already in our backup - and more are being added currently. These datasets are largely hosted by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Relying on the EPA has become a liability, particularly regarding the targeted attacks at its science division. The following databases are currently backed up: EPA Ecotox Knowledgebase: A comprehensive database of ecotoxicological data, including information on the effects of chemicals on aquatic and terrestrial organisms. EPA Toxicity Reference Database (ToxRefDB): A database that provides toxicity data for chemicals, including information on their effects on human health and the environment. EPA ToxValDB: A database that contains toxicity values for chemicals, including information on their effects on human health and the environment. EPA invitrodb: EPAs ToxCast dataset, which allows the ToxCast program to predict the toxicity of chemicals based on their chemical structure and biological activity.How HIFIS Supports These EffortsHIFIS is able to not only provide large-scale infrastructure, but also has dedicated staff to respond quickly to these urgent matters. Both, Codebase and dCache are resilient, sustainable, and large-scale services that can accomodate the tasks that are required in these rescue operations.You Can Help: Assessing Your Data NeedsYou might imagine that your data set is likely to be safe from deletion or otherwise removal of accessibility. However, the reality is that many researchers are unaware of the potential risks associated with relying on external databases, especially those hosted in the US. The recent developments have highlighted the need for researchers to take proactive steps to ensure the continuity of their research data. Furthermore: not only researchers at UFZ are reliant on US hosted databases. Resources like the EPA databases are widely used across the Helmholtz Association and beyond. Therefore, it is crucial for all researchers to assess their data needs and identify which databases are critical for their work. This is a proactive step that any researcher can take to ensure the continuity of their research, not only within the environmental and earth sciences, but also in other domains.Once you identify the databases that are critical for your work, estimate the total data volume and the effort required for backup. There are some preliminary things that you can check before engaging with the UFZ RDM team, particularly regarding the data volume, format, metadata, access method, and any specific requirements for the backup. This will help the RDM team to provide you with the best possible support.If you have questions on the process, feel free to contact us!Using Codebase for Small DataFor smaller datasets especially those distributed as code repositories, scripts, or small data packages codebase.helmholtz.cloud is the recommended solution. The workflow is simple Download the data set to your local machine and. Create a new project in Codebase in the group Backup-US-Science-Data https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud/ufz/backup-us-science-data. Push the repository or upload files to Codebase, preserving commit history and metadata.This approach is also ideal for many text-based data sets, such as tabular data, as the text can be browsed in the browser without downloading the data set. If you have any questions regarding licensing terms, and how they would impact the backup, please reach out to HIFIS support.Using dCache for Large DatasetsFor larger datasets (typically above 400MB per project), dCache in the Helmholtz Cloud provides scalable and robust storage. The workflow is as follows: Request access to dCache by contacting the UFZ RDM team via rdm-support@ufz.de or via the HIFIS Support portal https://support.hifis.net. Upload data: dCache supports both browser-based uploads and command-line tools. Preliminary tests indicate that, while there were no issues with the browser-based upload, the command-line tool provides more control over the process. Organize datasets with clear folder structures and metadata files to facilitate future access and sharing.dCache is well-suited for large datasets and supports collaboration across Helmholtz centers.Rescued Data ListThe list with backed-up data can be accessed here: https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud/ufz/backup-us-science-data/backup-us-science-data. The currently backed-up data sets are listed here, along with the storage location and more information. Particularly the license and access information is important moving forward. While we aim to make all data sets publicly available, this is not always possible.Conclusion: Proactive Data StewardshipAs the sustainability of key US databases remains uncertain, taking proactive steps to back up critical data is essential for the continuity of research in the Earth and Environment domain. By leveraging Helmholtz Cloud services like Codebase and dCache, researchers can ensure that their valuable datasets are preserved and accessible for future use. Regularly reviewing and updating your data inventory will help maintain resilience against potential disruptions in data availability." } , { "title" : "Paving the Path to Modern E-Learning with Open edX", "url" : "/announcement/2025/06/24/openedx/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Education, Services, In Development", "date" : "2025-06-24 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "We are happy to announce that the HIFIS Software team is starting the implementationof a project which will enhance our training capabilities and expand access to learning resources.Throughout this year, we will be developing and providing a new E-Learning platform built on therobust and proven foundation of Open edX.Why Open edX?Open edX is a powerful, open-source platform used by leading universities and institutions worldwide.It offers a flexible and scalable environment allowing trainers to deliver a high-quality online learningexperience.For our courses portfolio this means we can offer more interactive courses,better tracking of progress while providing a more engaging learning journey for everyone.The platform will be made widely available and will serve more than the purpose of HIFIS.Other platforms, likeHIDA,HMC,Helmholtz Imaging orHelmholtz AI, and trainers all over Helmholtzwill be able to use the platform for their purpose.This will be another great opportunity to demonstrate the power of open access and collaboration.Early Access - Be Part of the ProcessWe are planning to release an initial version of the platform early for testing purposes.This is where you come in.We would be more than happy to welcome enthusiastic testers to provide feedback and help us refinethe platform before its full launch.Stay tuned for more updatesWe are very excited about this project and the opportunities it will unlock.We will be sharing regular updates on our progress throughout the year." } , { "title" : "Do You Need to Create a Survey?", "url" : "/tips/2025/06/16/tip-survey/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Services, Survey", "date" : "2025-06-16 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Do You Need to do a Survey? Here are 3 Options for You to ConsiderLevel 1: Simple Survey using MatrixMatrix offers a simple way to create a survey using the poll feature.Example with a question on HIFIS (how it looks when the poll ended)When writing a message, click on Poll in the options on the right to create one. You can choose either an open or closed poll. The difference is when the answers will be revealed: in an open poll, votes are revealed as soon as they are cast; in a closed poll, votes are revealed only when the poll ends.While no votes have been cast, you can still edit your poll.Convenient if you spot a quick typo.Poll answers are always anonymous and, for now, single-choice only.Note that respondents can change their vote until the poll ends. Theres even a level 0 with Matrix, which is using emoji voting. You let others react on a message with emojis. This is a quick and easy way to get feedback on a single question with simple answers. You can react to your own message with the expected emojis, so people dont need to look for them themselves.Level 2: Doodle-like Survey with DFN-TerminplanerThe DFN TerminPlaner is a tool that allows you to create a simple survey, in particular to schedule meetings. Its a great option if youd rather use e-mails.Its of course not a Helmholtz Cloud service but DFN are friends.Level 3: LimeSurveyThe more comprehensive option is using LimeSurvey. Its a powerful online survey tool that allows you to create complex surveys with multiple question types, logic, and branching. With LimeSurvey, you can also generate reports and graphs to help you analyze your results. To get started, the best way is to check the manual.Find Matrix, LimeSurvey and many other services available to you and your team in the helmholtz.cloud.Changelog 2026-04-29: Replace Mattermost with Matrix" } , { "title" : "Helmholtz Codebase v18.0 Breaking Changes", "url" : "/news/2025/06/12/gitlab-release-v-18-0/", "category" : "", "tags" : "HIFIS, Helmholtz Codebase, GitLab", "date" : "2025-06-12 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " We are thrilled to announce that we upgraded Helmholtz Codebase to GitLab v18.0 on June 5th, 2025.Please read about the latest new features and also relevant removals in thechangelog.As you can see there, one of the new beta-features in GitLab aregranular permissions for job tokens.Thesefine-grained permissions for CI/CD job tokensprecisely control access to specific resources in a project via these job tokens.Major Version Releases also come with Deprecations and RemovalsTLDR: The breaking changes of GitLab v18 have impact on the CI/CD Job Token permissions.Previously, it was possible that projects can access other non-public projects without grantingpermissions explicitly. This is no longer possible, and now each project has an allowlist to control access from other projects.Please read more about these removals on the following pages: CI/CD job token - Authorized groups and projects allowlist enforcement CI/CD job token - Limit access from your project setting removalWhy is this important?You might need to grant access to a project to use resources like non-public projects via Git submodules,non-public container images from the Codebase container registry, or other access-controlled resourcesin a GitLab CI/CD pipeline.Job tokens are used in CI/CD pipelines to authenticate as an eligible user and with these job tokensusers are usually only permitted to access one particular GitLab project for which the CI/CD pipelineis defined.In order to grant job tokens the right permissions to be able to access other non-public projectsthere are CI/CD job token allowlists in those other projects.That means, we add a project A to the CI/CD job token allowlist of project B to allow project Ato access project B.How to add a group or project to the CI/CD job token allowlist?These CI/CD job token allowlists can be found in the project settings:Settings &gt; CI/CD &gt; Job token permissions &gt; CI/CD job token allowlistTo grant access to another group (including its subgroups and projects) or another project,add it to the CI/CD job token allowlist using the Add button as shown in the screenshot. SummaryGitLab comes with a CI/CD job token allowlist in the project settings.In version 18 this CI/CD job token allowlist needs to be used if you would like to allow other projectsto be able to access the non-public project from CI/CD pipelines in other projects." } , { "title" : "Base4NFDI und HIFIS: Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede", "url" : "/de/news/2025/05/27/base4nfdi/", "category" : "", "tags" : "NFDI, Helmholtz Cloud, Strategy, Partners", "date" : "2025-05-27 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " Aus dem letzten HIFIS-Monthly: Base4NFDI-PrsentationIm vergangenen HIFIS-Monthly Meeting stellte Andr Giesler die NFDI (Nationale Forschungsdaten Infrastruktur) Initiative Base4NFDI vor. Er ist sowohl in HIFIS als Service Integration Manager als auch in Base4NFDI als Service Steward beteiligt.In seinem Vortrag ging er auf das Base4NFDI Framework und die einzelnen angebotenen Basic Services ein, sowie auf die Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede zu HIFIS und insbesondere zur Helmholtz Cloud. Letztere tritt wie auch Base4NFDI als Vermittler zwischen Service Providern und Anwendern auf und bauen dazu ein umfassendes Service Portfolio auf. Ein etwas anderer AnsatzWhrend in der Helmholtz Cloud grundstzlich ready-to-use Services angeboten werden, liegt der Fokus von Base4NFDI auf der Entwicklung von Service Konzepten, die in verschiedenen Phase begleitet werden bis sie reif genug sind um produktiv genutzt zu werden. Diese Service Ideen, hier Basic Services genannt, werden in der Regel von den in der NFDI eingebundenen Partner-Instituten eingereicht, in einem Antragsprozess innerhalb der NFDI genehmigt und anschlieend in ihren Entwicklungsphasen von bis 5 Jahren durch Base4NFDI untersttzt.Am Ende einer erfolgreichen Entwicklung sollte ein Basic Service idealerweise in mglichst vielen der 26 NFDI Fach-Konsortien integriert sein und Anwender finden. Base4NFDI fokusiert sich im Vergleich zu HIFIS mehr auf die Vernetzungsaufgabe und integriert die Services in eine noch heterogenere wissenschaftliche Landschaft. Gemeinsame Strategien und TechnologienAlle Helmholtz-Zentren sind ebenfalls Partner-Institutionen der NFDI.Auerdem bestehen zwischen Base4NFDI und HIFIS viele gemeinsame Strategien und Technologien, sowie ein intensiver, regelmider Austausch. So ist die Helmholtz ID, die das Authentifizierungs- und Autorisierungsmanagement in HIFIS umsetzt, gleichzeitig Teil des Basic Services IAM4NFDI, der dieselbe Aufgabe in der NFDI verfolgt. Die Konzepte und Lsungen zu diesem Thema bereichern gleichzeitig beide Services und werden eng miteinander abgestimmt.Mit dem Basic Service nfdi.software entsteht eine Anwendung, die - neben weiteren Quellen - auf dem bestehenden Helmholtz Research Software Directory RSD beruht und gegebenenfalls auch die Features des RSD erweitert knnte. Auch der Basic Service Jupyter4NFDI beruht auf dem gleichlautenden HIFIS Service Jupyter-JSC. Ziel ist hier eine Vernetzung von vorhandenen JupyterHubs der NFDI zu diesem einen Jupyter4NFDI Service. Zusammen mit weiteren Entwicklungen wie einer Anbindung an Binder-basierte Repo2Docker Implementierung, Storage Management und weiteren Zielen, knnte Jupyter4NFDI die HIFIS Variante strken.Und schlielich die KomplementarittBeim Service Portfolio Management und bei dem angebotenen Service Katalog, der Helmholtz Cloud hat HIFIS bereits eine groe Reife erlangt. Hier hat Base4NFDI fr die zu entwickelnden Basic Services noch kein vergleichbares Produkt. Es besteht jedoch ein enger Austausch mit dem HIFIS Portfolio Management, so dass die Synergieeffekte beide Seiten inspirieren. Auch das bestehende HIFIS KPI Management kann ein vergleichbarer Lsungsansatz fr Base werden.Auf der anderen Seite kann das Bottom-up Service Recruiting in den sogenannten NFDI Sektionen, die die Querschnittsthemen innerhalb der NFDI diskutieren und daraus Ideen fr Basic Services konzipieren, eine Vorgehensweise fr Helmholtz sein. Die von Base4NFDI untersttzte Abstimmung mit NFDI Fach-Konsortien und -Communities, auch in Form von Outreach Aktivitten, stellt einen wichtigen Baustein fr die Verankerung der Basic Services in den wissenschaftlichen Communities dar. Allgemeinen gesagt ist ein Konsens innerhalb der NFDI immer die Voraussetzung, um neue Basic Services zu frdern.Aktuell sind acht Services Teil des BASe4NFDI Service Portfolios. Die Laufzeit von Base4NFDI ist aktuell bis 2028 geplant. Wir freuen uns auf den weiteren Austausch zwischen HIFIS und Base4NFDI in diesem Zeitraum." } , { "title" : "Base4NFDI and HIFIS: Similarities and Differences", "url" : "/news/2025/05/27/base4nfdi/", "category" : "", "tags" : "NFDI, Helmholtz Cloud, Strategy, Partners", "date" : "2025-05-27 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " From the Last HIFIS Monthly: Base4NFDI PresentationIn the last HIFIS monthly meeting, Andr Giesler presented the NFDI (National Research Data Infrastructure) initiative Base4NFDI. He is involved in HIFIS as Service Integration Manager as well as in Base4NFDI as a Service Steward.In his presentation, he discussed the Base4NFDI framework and the individual basic services offered as well as similarities and differences to HIFIS and the Helmholtz Cloud in particular. The latter and Base4NFDI act as facilitators between service providers and users and are building up a comprehensive service portfolio for this purpose. A Slightly Different ApproachWhile ready-to-use services have been integrated and offered in the Helmholtz Cloud to date, Base4NFDI focuses on the development of service concepts that are supported in various phases until they are mature enough to be used productively. These service ideas, here called Basic Services, are usually submitted by partner institutes connected to the NFDI, approved in an application process within the NFDI and then supported by Base4NFDI in their development phases of up to 5 years.At the end of a successful development, a basic service should ideally be integrated into as many of the 26 NFDI consortia with very different scientific disciplines as possible and find users. Base4NFDIs support focuses on this networking task. And compared to HIFIS, the services must be integrated into an even more heterogeneous scientific landscape. Common Strategies and TechnologiesIn principle, Helmholtz Centers are also partner institutions of the NFDI. There are many common strategies and technologies between Base4NFDI and HIFIS, complemented by a constructive, regular exchange. For example, Helmholtz ID, which implements access and identity management in HIFIS, is also part of the complementary basic service IAM4NFDI, which performs the same task in the NFDI. Concepts and solutions from this area cross-fertilize the application and are generally coordinated.With the basic service nfdi.software, there is an intended solution that is based on the existing Helmholtz Research Software Directory, among others, and whose features can be expanded if necessary. The basic service Jupyter4NFDI is also based on the Helmholtz Cloud service Jupyter-JSC. The aim is to network existing JupyterHubs of the NFDI into this Jupyter4NFDI service. Together with further developments such as a binder-based Repo2Docker implementation, storage management and other features, Jupyter4NFDI can also strengthen the HIFIS variant.And Finally the ComplementarityHIFIS is very mature when it comes to service portfolio management and the service catalogue offered, the Helmholtz Cloud. Base4NFDI does not yet have a comparable product for the basic services to be developed. However, there is a close exchange with HIFIS Portfolio Management, so that synergy effects inspire both sides. The existing HIFIS KPI Management can also offer a comparable solution for Base.On the other hand, bottom-up service recruiting in the so-called NFDI sections, which discuss cross-cutting topics within the NFDI and conceptualize them in the form of basic service ideas, can also offer an approach for the Helmholtz Cloud. The coordination with NFDI specialist consortia and communities supported by Base4NFDI, also in the form of outreach activities, represents an important building block for anchoring Basic Services in the scientific communities. In general, a consensus within the NFDI is always a prerequisite for promoting new Basic Services.Eight services are currently part of the BASE4NFDI service portfolio. The term of Base4NFDI is currently planned until 2028. We are looking forward to the continued exchange between HIFIS and Base4NFDI during this period." } , { "title" : "Contribute to IT4Science-Days 2025!", "url" : "/news/2025/05/14/announce-it4science/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Event", "date" : "2025-05-14 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Can you Stay an Extra Day in Bremen?The event page for IT4Science-Days 2025 is now live and open for abstract submissions!It takes place in Bremen from the 22nd to the 25th of September, 2025.As you may recall from previous editions, IT4Science is an excellent opportunity to connect and exchange ideas with IT experts from the Max Planck Society (the organizer), Helmholtz, Leibniz and Fraunhofer.We anticipate that digital sovereignty in research will be a central theme at this years event, alongside Large Language Models, Foundation Models and Data Hubs. For sure, there will be interesting challenges to discuss, and we do hope to see several contributions from the Helmholtz Platforms.If you are attending the co-located HIFIS All-Hands meeting, rest assured that the organizers are aware and will not schedule your talk during our core meeting time, but rather from Wednesday 24 (noon) to Thursday 25 (noon).The deadline to submit your abstract is set to June, 30. You can use Federated Login to access MPGs Indico (thank you federated ID).Contact Contact us on HIFIS specific requests: support@hifis.net Contact the organizers: dv-treffen@mpg.de" } , { "title" : "Do you Need to Enhance your Research Software?", "url" : "/announcement/2025/05/13/ScienceServe/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Call, HIFIS Software, Quality, Sustainability, Helmholtz", "date" : "2025-05-13 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Helmholtz Call for Project Proposals Published: ScienceServe Boosting Research Software at Helmholtz Helmholtz has launched a new call for proposals to promote the development of research software. Building on important existing initiatives and activities, this call supports projects that drive innovation, promote exchange between developers and scientists, and foster good practices in the field of research software.The call is open to Helmholtz researchers, software engineers, and teams affiliated with Helmholtz centers. Funded projects will be connected to strong networks within the Helmholtz Association. The aim of this call is to support projects that significantly improve the quality, sustainability, reusability, and visibility of research software at Helmholtz.The call has been published on April 28, 2025, with funding available for projects in 2026. Deadline for submissions will be June 30.Detailed information about the call is available here.Interested in the topic?You can read more on: how Helmholtz is supporting quality of Research Software, how HIFIS can support you with your software skills.And get in touch with us at support@hifis.net." } , { "title" : "Results of Helmholtz Cloud Survey", "url" : "/announcement/2025/05/12/Results-of-Service-Recruiting-Survey/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Services", "date" : "2025-05-12 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Have a Look at the Helmholtz Cloud Survey Results!The results of the Helmholtz Cloud survey, conducted from December 2nd, 2024, to February 7th, 2025, are now available on Gitlab. A total of 1,648 individuals from across Helmholtz participated in the survey. We have chosen to keep the report concise while encouraging you to explore the findings in more detail. In addition to overall charts, we have prepared center-wise charts for your review.Project Management Tool &amp; Visual Collaboration / Mindmapping Tool Are the Most Requested Services The Project Management Tool and Visual Collaboration / Mindmapping Tool have been confirmed to be of great interest to users. In contrast, other service ideas have received more balanced responses, with some users expressing interest and others not (Wiki, Video Conferencing Tool, Overleaf PRO). Surprisingly, the Statistics / Analytics / Reporting Tool, Federated Messenger, and Electronic Laboratory Notebook, which we expected to be in high demand, have not generated as much interest.AI Tools Are Also in High DemandThe free-text answers regarding additional service ideas have revealed that many services already offered in Helmholtz Cloud are indeed needed, albeit with slightly different twists or extended functionalities. For instance, there is a strong interest in GDPR-compliant Large Language Model (LLM) tools, such as writing assistance, co-programmers, and image generators. Blablador, an LLM tool, is already available in Helmholtz Cloud. Additionally, an online document sharing/editing tool with Microsoft functionalities (like Nextcloud) and a short online survey tool (like LimeSurvey) have been frequently requested. A service that is not yet provided but has garnered significant interest is an eLearning Tool.Raising Awareness for HIFIS Is CrucialA considerable number of participants are either unfamiliar with HIFIS or have heard of us but lack a clear understanding of our services. Those participants who are familiar with HIFIS or Helmholtz Cloud primarily learned about us through (Helmholtz) colleagues. Some were also informed by their internal IT department or via internal communication (email, wiki, newsletter). However, a significant number of participants first heard about HIFIS during the survey. From the survey participants perspective, it would be helpful to raise awareness if HIFIS and Helmholtz Cloud were promoted more within the centers (e.g., top-down). Additionally, lectures/workshops and information on the intranet would be appreciated. According to the free-text answers, participants would like to receive information about HIFIS via email/newsletter, including details such as: What is HIFIS? How can I use services? What are the costs? A template from HIFIS to integrate information into local intranets or wikis would also be beneficial. The information should clearly state the value proposition, provide useful services for everyday work, and emphasize the advantages compared to local services. Finally, information about HIFIS should be integrated into the (staff) onboarding process.Whats Next?The HIFIS Cloud Team is pleased to have a prioritization of some service ideas! In May 2025, we will address the most requested services with the heads of IT departments at the Helmholtz Centers to find service providers. We have also received valuable information on how to increase HIFIS awareness and will consider integrating these suggestions into our processes. Furthermore, we are working on establishing a continuous service idea voting system, allowing us to gather insights on the priority of numerous additional service ideas we have already collected. Understanding your requirements enables us at HIFIS to develop Helmholtz Cloud in the best possible way. Thank you again for your support!AcknowledgementThis text was slightly refined with the assistance of Helmholtzs own Large Language Model Service, Blablador.Questions or Proposals?Please contact our Service Portfolio Manager at support@hifis.net.Changelog 2025-05-13: Minor numerical corrections, see details." } , { "title" : "Looking for a GDPR-friendly Large Language Model?", "url" : "/tips/2025/05/05/tip-llm/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz AI, Helmholtz Cloud, Services, Blablador, Artificial Intelligence", "date" : "2025-05-05 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Are you looking for a large language model server you can use in the browser or integrate in your coding environment?Use the Helmholtz AI experimental service BLABLADOR that is part of Helmholtz Cloud.To avoid too much bla bla, here are the main points you need to know: its using Helmholtz AI GPU resources. everything is hosted in Jlich. theres no usage of your data, were not keeping logs. it can be integrated in your prefered IDE to be used as a co-pilot, as explained here. you can add your local RAG for specific usage, as explained here. its free and there are no token limitation!* new models are regularly added.Something missing? Just ask BLABLADOR.*Well, there are technical limitations, context tokens are inherently limited by the models architecture and the memory of the GPU on which the model is running, but there are no restrictions on the usage." } , { "title" : "Helmholtz UNLOCK Benchmarking Call Published", "url" : "/announcement/2025/04/08/unlock/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Incubator, Call, Artificial Intelligence, Open Data", "date" : "2025-04-08 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The Helmholtz Information &amp; Data Science Framework has been discussing the need for high-quality, publicly available benchmark datasets in AI-driven research. Following last years Incubator Workshop, an initiative group has been working to advance this topic.As a first step, a short-term funding program for benchmarking datasets will be launched.The call has been published on April 1, with funding available for projects in 2026.Deadline will be May 31.An information session on April 10, 10:00 - 12:00 CET will provide details on the call and how interested Helmholtz researchers can participate.Register here: https://events.hifis.net/e/UNLOCKAll information on the call can be found here.Get the Most out of HIFISWhen applying for the call, keep in mind that HIFIS is here to help, with infrastructure and services.If you need a place to store your datasets, you can use our dCache service.Selected projects can also use HAICOREs computing resources, including GPUs, container runtime and Jupyter notebooks to streamline your data preparation, quality control, or any other processing you may require, in a reproducible way.If you need help setting up part or all of the data processing pipeline, just ask support@hifis.net. Our experts are here to support you, even before you submit your proposal.We can orchestrate these services to work together and make a good case for your application." } , { "title" : "Collaborative Editing of Scientific Formulas", "url" : "/tips/2025/04/04/tip-formulas/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Services, HedgeDoc, Support", "date" : "2025-04-04 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Do you want to work collaboratively on scientific formulas? Use the Helmholtz Cloud service HedgeDoc notes. You can render LaTeX mathematical expressions using the $ delimiter.Here an example with the Fourier Transform that you can directly try in a Hedgedoc note if you have one open:123$$&#92;mathcal F(f):&#92;xi &#92;mapsto &#92;hat{f}(&#92;xi) = &#92;int_{-&#92;infty}^{&#92;infty} f(x) e^{-{&#92;rm i}&#92;xi x}&#92;, dx$$It will render like this*:&#92;[&#92;mathcal F(f):&#92;xi &#92;mapsto &#92;hat{f}(&#92;xi) = &#92;int_{-&#92;infty}^{&#92;infty} f(x) e^{-{&#92;rm i}&#92;xi x}&#92;, dx&#92;]It also works inline if you are writing simpler and not less magnificent formulas like $E = mc^2$: &#92;(E=mc^2&#92;).The Helmholtz Cloud also offers more comprehensive tools with dedicated text editors for academia like Collabtex and SciFlow, both supporting LaTeX.*That is because Codebase also uses MathJax, which is behind this feature in HedgeDoc. If you want to check what else HedgeDoc can do, have a look here." } , { "title" : "Using Jupyter for a school intern project", "url" : "/use-case/2025/03/18/uc-Jupyter-student/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Jupyter, Education, High Energy Physics", "date" : "2025-03-18 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Fabian, a 15-year-old school intern, worked on a Monte Carlo simulation project using one of our HIFIS Jupyter Services. During his three-week internship, he focused on three key areas: understanding the CMS Detector and producing interactive plots in Jupyter notebook, exploring B Meson Decay and making a short animation, and simulating parton transverse momentum distribution using PYTHIA.His work yielded valuable results, showcasing how HIFIS can support projects, even at the high school level. It allowed Fabian and his supervisors to dive directly into the research with minimal overhead. This straightforward use case exemplifies a frequent need in both educational and research settings.Let us dig a bit deeper in the notebook with one example.Exploring B Meson DecayThe B meson decay is a process where a heavy particle breaks down into lighter ones, following the weak interaction. It first decays into a Dmeson, a muon, and a neutrino. The D meson then decays into a kaon and a pion, while the pion can further decay into another muon and neutrino. Studying these decays helps physicists understand quark transitions, test the Standard Model, and explore CP violation*, which may explain why the universe favors matter over antimatter.Heres a code snippet from Fabians notebook that illustrates this decay process using a Sankey diagram:12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334import plotly.graph_objects as go# Define particles in the decay chain (realistic version)particles = ['B Meson', 'D Meson', 'Muon', 'Neutrino', 'Kaon', 'Pion']# Define how particles are connected (what decays into what)decays = [ ('B Meson', 'D Meson'), ('B Meson', 'Muon'), ('B Meson', 'Neutrino'), ('D Meson', 'Kaon'), ('D Meson', 'Pion'), ('Pion', 'Muon'), ('Pion', 'Neutrino')]# Create the diagramfig = go.Figure(go.Sankey( node=dict( pad=15, thickness=20, line=dict(color='black', width=0.5), label=particles # The names of particles ), link=dict( source=[particles.index(source) for source, _ in decays], # Where the decay starts target=[particles.index(target) for _, target in decays], # Where the decay goes value=[1 for _ in decays], # The strength of each decay (simplified to 1) )))# Add title and show the diagramfig.update_layout(title_text="Corrected B Meson Decay Chain", font_size=14)fig.show() While this static plot effectively illustrates the primary decay channels, it omits additional possible decay channels and intermediate particles. For example, the D meson can decay in multiple ways, not just into a kaon and pion.By reproducing the entire Sankey chart using the code snippet above, you can visualise the B Meson decay chain interactively, and modify the structure to represent different decay scenarios or branching probabilities.*CP violation is a phenomenon where the laws of physics behave differently for particles and their corresponding antiparticles when their spatial coordinates are inverted. More on this from CERN. Get in contactIf a similar need arises on your side, you can explore our HIFIS Jupyter Services. Should any question come up along the way, reach out to us at HIFIS Support." } , { "title" : "Shaping the Future of the Helmholtz Cloud", "url" : "/news/2025/03/17/helmholtz-cloud-strategy-meeting/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Workshop, Milestone, Strategy", "date" : "2025-03-17 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The strategic development of the Helmholtz Cloud continues to move forward in order to build the best cloud platform for science. On March3, the development team met for a strategy workshop to evaluate the progress of the project and align it with the vision.Thinking Outside the BoxAlthough many requirements are already known and are currently being developed, the team took a step back to see the big picture. In a role-playing exercise, the team simulated a dialog between a researcher and the Helmholtz Cloud. This experiment revealed important aspects that can be improved. For example, existing useful functions available upon login need to be brought to the forefront and, more generally, we should further explore the potential for customization, from booking options to personalized workspaces. A Second Thought on the Brainstorming IdeasThe first step generated a multitude of ideas without considering their quality. The team used the How Wow Now Matrix to separate good ideas from bad ones by ranking them according to originality and feasibility. The Now and Wow sections show issues that can be easily implemented. Deploying ideas in the How area is complex and needs a discussion and planning of several HIFIS working groups.Quick Wins und Low Hanging FruitsIn the final step of the workshop, the team ranked the ideas using the impact-effort matrix. Low hanging fruits were identified along with quick wins. These categories mainly include issues that improve the quality and usability of the Helmholtz Cloud, such as booking options and the improvement of service cards and descriptions. Features characterized as Luxury are postponed until a use case arises. With a long breath for a borderless Helmholtz CloudStrategic ideas will require careful preparation of Cloud Management, because they push an ambitious vision and break existing chains: The team aims to give everyone at Helmholtz the opportunity to use all the services offered immediately via Use-Helmholtz-ID-and-go. However, progress must remain in line with legal and compliance requirements. But even if the hurdles are high, the team remains committed to reducing access barriers.Questions or proposals?Contact our Cloud Manager at support@hifis.net." } , { "title" : "HIFIS All-Hands Meeting 2025 in Bremen", "url" : "/news/2025/03/13/invite-all-hands/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Event", "date" : "2025-03-13 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " Looking forward to the next all-hands meeting of HIFIS!We invite you to register for the next HIFIS all-hands meeting, hosted by AWI in Bremen (not Bremerhaven) on September 24-25, 2025. More details and registration are available on the event page.We hope to see as many HIFIS participants as possible, and also welcome users, service providers, strategic partners, and colleagues from the other platforms to represent the diversity of our stakeholders.This year, our meeting coincides with the IT4Science Days, also happening in Bremen, making the trip doubly worthwhile.Following our last annual meeting at Cologne, we look forward to seeing you in Bremen. Should you have any suggestion or query for the meeting, please contact us at HIFIS Support.Changelog 2025-05-14: Added link to IT4Science Days event page" } , { "title" : "Code for Thought podcast on TEACH", "url" : "/news/2025/03/04/podcast-TEACH/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Media, Conference, Education, Helmholtz Incubator, Interview", "date" : "2025-03-04 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " An ear to the fourth TEACH conference in BerlinIn November 2024, Peter Schmidt was invited to speak at the 4th TEACH conference, held at the HiDA-hub in Berlin.Peter is the host of Code for Thought, the podcast about software for research and the people who make it, and so he took the opportunity to interview the organisers and some of the speakers while he was there.In the resulting episode, recorded in German, you can get different perspectives on a broad selection of topics on RSE education.For example, Fredo Erxleben (HIFIS) tells the story of TEACH: why it came to be and how it is evolving.You will also hear from speakers sharing their experiences with hybrid lectures, strategies for dealing with no-shows, and the importance of entanglement in moving information from short-term to long-term memory!Plus, Anna-Lisa Dring (HIDA) gives her thoughts on why teaching skills often get overlooked in researcher evaluations - and why thats a shame.Finally, listeners get a glimpse of whats in store for the next edition of the TEACH conference.Happy listening!Get in Contact With Code for Thought: Peter Schmidt With HIFIS: HIFIS Support With HIDA: HIDA Course Team" } , { "title" : "Helmholtz Quality Indicator: Make your Software Count", "url" : "/news/2025/02/11/quality-indicators/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Research Software Engineering, Helmholtz RSD, PoF", "date" : "2025-02-11 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Helmholtz Quality Indicator for Data and Software Publications IntroducedResearch Software is well on its way to becoming a first class citizen in the Helmholtz community. Starting 2025 the Helmholtz Quality Indicators for Data and Software Products will be used to count research software as well as data publications within Helmholtz for the annual reporting of research output. Several requirements need to be met for a software (or data) publication to be included (just as papers need to get through peer-review).While HMC is your partner for data publication questions, HIFIS is here to support you with everything needed to make your research software count! The indicators are developed by the Task Group Helmholtz Quality Indicators for Data and Software Products and your feedback is very welcome there.How the Software Indicator Works Initial RequirementsFor a software to be considered in your centers report, it needs to: have someone in your center listed as an author, be a research software, and have a release in the reporting year (e.g. the initial publication, a new major version, or an update fixing bugs and updating dependencies).Quality DimensionsYour softwares quality is assessed in six dimensions (the first four dimensions are based on the FAIR4RS principles): Findable Accessible Interoperable Reusable Scientific Basis Technical BasisAttributes Detailing Each DimensionTo judge the softwares quality along those dimensions, specific attributes in each dimension are evaluated. For instance to determine whether a software is Findable, the indicator looks at whether it is published in an open repository, whether some sort of versioning is applied, whether it can be found via an identifier (e.g. a DOI) and whether metadata is provided. Each attribute has several maturity levels: For versioning some software might only count releases, others might employ structured versioning and some software might even come with a description of its versioning scheme and a documented release cycle.Minimal RequirementsNot all attributes and maturity levels need to be covered by a software to count. For each dimension a minimal score is defined, which needs to be met on average among its attributes and the indicator will start out slowly and increase those values over time to give everyone the chance to develop their software project accordingly. One can depict the 6 dimensions in a radar plot as examplified in the figure and your software will be counted if it covers at least the entire minimal polygon (red in the figure). In the example publication A and B would count, publication C, however, is not meeting the minimal requirements in all dimensions. The indicator will also be introduced at the next HiRSE Seminar.The seminar takes place on February 21, 2025, 11am CET, via zoom. Details on the event page.How to Make Your Research Software CountCheck back in here, we will publish the details of the indicator once available. Until then you can already have a look at the FAIR4RS principles and make sure your software uses a version control system like git, has a licence, a README and relevant meta data information available.HIFIS Supports You with ToolsIf your project is at home in the Helmholtz Codebase you already tick important boxes in the dimensions Findable as well as Technical Basis without your code leaving Helmholtz servers. You can additionally publish your software in the Helmholtz Research Software Directory (RSD) to make it easier to find for potential users and improve your score for findability at the same time. Additionally, various tools to evaluate software quality will be added to the RSD in the upcoming months and the RSD will be an important work horse for automating the evaluation of software at Helmholtz following the quality indicator.with TrainingsIf you feel like you dont really know how to go about some of the requirements the indicator poses, some of the HIFIS courses might be helpful for you. Check the HiDA Course Catalog for the next dates of our courses on Introduction to Git and GitLab, Foundations of Research Software Publication and more.with KnowledgeYou prefer to help yourself? The Awesome RSE lists curated by HIFIS gather some helpful resources to make your software FAIR and give it a strong technical foundation.with Personal AdviceIf you need additional help with getting your project into shape, the HIFIS Consulting Team is ready to help you out!RoadmapFrom 2025 until 2027 the indicator will be tested and feedback can be incorporated. Starting 2028 it will become part of the evaluation for round five of the program-oriented funding (PoF V), so its a good idea to already get your software up to speed and share your feedback on the indicator with the task group." } , { "title" : "Helmholtz Cloud Survey Complete - Thank you!", "url" : "/announcement/2025/02/10/Service-Recruiting-Survey/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Services", "date" : "2025-02-10 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Survey on potential future Helmholtz Cloud services completedThe Helmholtz Cloud offers a variety of digital services that are essential for scientists in their daily work - but yet some are still missing. We continuously collect ideas for future services but lacked their priority from a users perspective - so we set up a short survey in which users could give us feedback on a bunch of service ideas we already collected. Additionally, users could tell us which services they are missing in Helmholtz Cloud. To round it up, we asked some general questions about HIFIS/Helmholtz Cloud.The survey started on December 2nd, 2024 and ended roughly two months later on February 7th, 2025. First insightsWe are happy to already report some rough numbers, starting with a great participation of 1,648 persons all over Helmholtz.Some of the service ideas were confirmed to be very interesting for users (such as a Project Management Tool, Overleaf PRO, Visual Collaboration / Mindmapping Tool), whereas other service ideas show a quite balanced result between users being interested and users not being interested (Federated Messenger, Wiki, Video Conferencing Tool). Surprisingly, the Electronic Laboratory Notebook, which we thought would be very interesting for users, does not seem to be much demanded.The participation among centers varied considerably: 12 of 18 centers provided answers, with numbers ranging from about 12 to about 300 answers per center. The distribution among research fields is quite balanced, with a little more participation from Health and a little less from Information and Earth &amp; Environment.Based on the response, it appears that the familiarity with HIFIS and Helmholtz Cloud is balanced among the participants. A considerable number of participants are either not familiar with us or have heard of us but do not have a clear understanding of what our Services are about.Those participants who know about HIFIS or Helmholtz Cloud mostly heard about us from (Helmholtz) colleagues. The most frequently named Helmholtz Cloud services in use are Mattermost, Nextcloud (DESY Sync&amp;Share, nubes and bwSync&amp;Share) and Helmholtz Codebase.From the survey participants perspective it would help to raise awareness if HIFIS and Helmholtz Cloud would be promoted more within the centers (e.g. top down). Additionally, lectures/workshops and information on the intranet would be appreciated.Stay tuned: More results coming!Of course, these are only first rough numbers derived from the survey. Within the next weeks, we are going to have a closer look at the results, also including the correlation between answers. We will keep you updated!At this point we would like to thank all participants of the survey for taking your time and giving us important insights. We can only improve our Service Portfolio (and broader: the awareness about HIFIS and Helmholtz Cloud) with your feedback and are happy that so many of you are interested in our work and appreciate Helmholtz Cloud.Questions or proposals?Contact our Service Portfolio Manager at support@hifis.net" } , { "title" : "Helmholtz ID Simplifies Secure Login", "url" : "/news/2025/01/09/Helmholtz-ID-simplifies-secure-login/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz ID, MFA", "date" : "2025-01-09 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The Whims and Woes of Secure LoginSome of you may have already witnessed the need of duplicated multi-factor logins when using Helmholtz ID:Since mid 2023, a secure multi factor-backed login (2FA/MFA) became mandatory when using Helmholtz ID for group management. On top, a user could also explicitly activate MFA for all other purposes. However, Helmholtz ID has so far not been able to honor if such a second factor has already been checked one step before when you logged in.The result: Double work for you, i.e. you needed to provide yet another second factor for login. The fun was limited, we know. Now we are able to simplify the process.Honoring of MFA During LoginIf you already provided a second factor during login at your home organisations account and your organisation transmits that information to Helmholtz ID, you will not be prompted yet another time to provide a second factor. This works already seamlessly for several Helmholtz Centers.With that, Helmholtz ID moves forward in its mission to deliver an authentication and authorization infrastructure (AAI) that is both user-friendly and highly secure.Still Getting Bothered by Repeated MFA Requests from Helmholtz ID?There are four possible reasons: Check the header and URL of the query. Often, not Helmholtz ID is asking you for the second factor, instead a page from your own organisation. You have not (yet) provided a second factor during login at your home organisation in the first place? Then, Helmholtz ID will continue to ask for it, at least for the group management or if you decided to use it in past. Thats how it should work. You might consider to activate MFA in your home organisation, thats safer anyway. You have already provided a second factor and still get asked again by Helmholtz ID? Then, most likely, your home organisation does not transfer the corresponding information correctly: Ask your IT department to implement the corresponding transfer, as documented here. You can also contact us via support@hifis.net if problems persist. You were not asked by your home organisation but by Helmholtz ID to provide a second factor, although you have configured a second factor at your home organisation. Some home organisation may only ask for a second factor if the connected service (Helmholtz ID) requested authentication, using a second factor. Sadly we are not yet able to send this request, but we are working on it.ContactShould you have any questions or comments, dont hesitate to contact the Helmholtz Cloud team at support@hifis.net." } , { "title" : "HZB IT Relies on Helmholtz Cloud for LaTeX", "url" : "/announcement/2025/01/08/HZB-LaTeX/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, HZB", "date" : "2025-01-08 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " The IT department of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) has announced a notable change in its approach to supporting scientific workflows. Rather than maintaining its own LaTeX infrastructure, the IT will now direct researchers to services available through the Helmholtz Cloud.Managing IT services in a scientific institute is an ongoing challenge. Its not just a matter of setting up servers and installing software once, explains Ants Finke, head of IT at HZB. Services and servers require constant updates, maintenance, and support by the help desk. With the wide range of application expected, IT teams need both breadth and depth of expertise to keep everything running smoothly.This challenge is on of the inspiring benefits of the Helmholtz Cloud. The platform enables the 18 Helmholtz Centers to collaborate by sharing selected services across the network, eliminating redundancies and fostering efficiency. For years, LaTeX has been a cornerstone of scientific writing, providing researchers with the tools to create high-quality documents for publications and presentations. We decided to meet the demand for LaTeX through two services available on the Helmholtz Cloud, says Finke. One is Collabtex, offered by HZDR, which is based on Overleaf, a modern online platform for LaTeX. The other is SciFlow, another online tool designed for editing and collaborating on scientific publications. Interestingly, SciFlow itself is a service provided by HZB to other Helmholtz Centers, making the collaboration reciprocal.This decision means that HZB will no longer operate its own LaTeX service. The move reflects a broader trend toward shared infrastructure in scientific organizations, enabling IT departments to focus on supporting cutting-edge research rather than duplicating efforts on common services. By adopting this model, HZB is not only optimizing its resources but also reinforcing the collaborative mission that underpins the Helmholtz Association.ContactShould you have any questions or comments, dont hesitate to contact the Helmholtz Cloud team at support@hifis.net." } , { "title" : "Think Tank on the Service Onboarding", "url" : "/news/2024/11/26/think-tank-service-onboarding/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Process Framework, Service Integration", "date" : "2024-11-26 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " Do new Helmholtz cloud services go online efficiently?More than 40 services are now available in the Helmholtz Cloud. But how well does it actually work to bring a new service to the Cloud Portal? The path follows a clearly defined process that is described in detail in the Process Framework for Helmholtz Cloud Service Portfolio.For the HIFIS team, the Onboarding process has become routine. They competently guide the new services through all necessary steps. For the service providers, on the other hand, it is usually a challenge: the process involves numerous tasks and requirements. Often, the technical integration has to be customized to fit the service.To optimize this process, the Service Portfolio Management and Service Integration teams met in Jlich in September 2024 for a workshop. The aim was to critically and constructively identify ways to optimize the entire workflow.Concrete improvements for more efficient OnboardingNumerous ideas were collected in several iterations of the group work. From these, a series of concrete tasks have now been formulated that the Helmholtz Cloud team will implement successively, including: A step indicator will provide visual support for entering the required service information in the Plony database. A preview of the service card function allows to see early how the service is displayed in the Cloud Portal. The optimization of the structure and scope of service information requires a revision to reduce the effort for all parties involved. Personal contact is suggested earlier: in addition to the central support address support@hifis.net, a public chat channel is already available to enable direct communication at an early stage.With these and other measures, the team will make the Onboarding of services into Helmholtz Cloud more efficient and user-friendly for service providers and everyone involved.Getting StartedYou want to publish your service in the Helmholtz Cloud? Have a look at our documentation for Service Providers.ContactShould you have any questions or comments, dont hesitate to contact the Helmholtz Cloud team at support@hifis.net." } , { "title" : "DataHub Services Closely Linked With HIFIS", "url" : "/news/2024/11/25/datahub-services/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Earth & Environment, Earth DataHub", "date" : "2024-11-25 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " DataHub and Its Earth Data PortalThe DataHub is a cross-center initiative with participation of the seven research centers (AWI, FZJ, GEOMAR, GFZ, Hereon, KIT, UFZ) of the Research Field Earth and Environment in the Helmholtz Association. As a federated, interoperable and open data infrastructure, a range of digital services facilitate research data sharing and collaboration between researchers from different scientific disciplines and institutions. The DataHub provides researchers with a digital ecosystem to store, manage and share their data. It also provides data analysis, data visualization, and data annotation tools to improve data processing and interpretation.DataHub services continously become accessible through the Earth Data Portal as a single access point for successively delivering data, key analytics and visualizations, demonstrating the value of integrated Earth system data for knowledge generation in science and society.HIFIS Offerings for DataHubAcross all research fields, the Helmholtz Incubator for Information and Data Science (HIDS) initiates collaborative development, solutions and implementation of the digitalization strategy, and thereby the DataHub of the Research Field Earth and Environment is linked to several Incubator initiatives such as the HIDS platform HIFIS.The DataHub integrates seamlessly with HIFIS, which supports a FAIR and open digital infrastructure. DataHub services utilize HIFIS services like Helmholtz ID for authentication and authorization, the Helmholtz Research Software Directory (RSD) for offering research tools, and the Helmholtz Cloud for opening the access to data infrastructure services. Helmholtz Cloud, Support and Linked ServicesThe Helmholtz Cloud follows clearly defined processes to guarantee secure handling of services and supports service providers, such us DataHub, when offering broader access to their services via the Helmholtz Cloud Portal. Also the quality of operations is increased, as services are monitored thoroughly and structured. As part of this, service providers and Helmholtz Cloud portfolio managers interactively process service information and furnish it in the Plony Database. All necessary information are available via an API.Thus HIFIS supports in professionalising operation of scientific services and in opening access. In addition, information about the services is available for reuse in use cases levaraging open science. So registering the DataHub services centrally in the Helmholtz Cloud makes it easy to automatically retrieve and publish the services on the Earth Data Portal and to make them findable and accessible. DataHub ServicesAt present, eight services of DataHub are offered in the Helmholtz Cloud Portal and thus likewise in the Tools &amp; Services section of the Earth Data Portal: Earthquake ExplorerThe GFZ Earthquake Explorer is the next-generation mobile-aware earthquake information system. It augments the existing GEOFON data products which have provided rapid global earthquake information to users world-wide for many years. GIPP Experiment DatabaseThe Experiment Database of the Geophysical Instrument Pool Potsdam (GIPP) contains information about all supported experiments since 1993, including links to the collected data. Gravity Information Service (GravIS) GFZs GravIS, developed and operated in collaboration with AWI and TU Dresden, visualizes and describes user-friendly mass transport products for dedicated geophysical applications derived from the gravimetric satellite missions GRACE and GRACE-FO. International Centre for Global Earth Models (ICGEM)A data base for global Earth gravity field models and calculation service for gravity related functionals. O2A Registry (Ocean and Climate Sensor Management)Manage metadata for platforms, devices and sensors or product related information for permanent transparency. Sensor Management SystemManage metadata for devices, platforms &amp; measurement configurations. Timeseries ManagementThe Timeseries Management allows to store, visualise, organise and share timeseries data and provides access to a (broad) selection of data from different long-term projects and campaigns (e.g. TERENO, MOSES).Further DataHub services will be rolled out successively for broader adoption over the course of the next months in 2025. Beyond this, also services provided by other Helmholtz centres and initiatives complement the service portfolio of DataHub and generate true synergies. Check all currently available 42 services on Helmholtz Cloud.ContactShould you have any questions or comments, dont hesitate to contact the Helmholtz Cloud team at support@hifis.net." } , { "title" : "Anaconda Restrictions and Alternatives for RSD", "url" : "/news/2024/10/15/anaconda-licensing/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Research Software Engineering, Licensing, PSA", "date" : "2024-10-15 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Restricted Usage of AnacondaThe company Anaconda provides very convenient software development environments and libraries for Python and R, especially for beginners. Due to their many years of free availability for research and educational institutions, they are also very popular in training and in the discussion on StackOverflow.In a clarification of the terms of use amended in 2020, Anaconda also designates research institutions with more than 200 employees as commercial users, for which corresponding usage fees apply.These fees are also due if employees of the institutions access Anacondas software directories.It is known from several institutions that this is actually being pursued by Anaconda.As a consequence, some Helmholtz centers (e.g. HZDR) have decided to prohibit use and block access to the software directories, including access restriction to all software obtained directly from Anaconda, andin particular the standard channels in the still freely available conda command line environment.However, the use of conda-forge (without the default channels) is still possible.Recommended AlternativesThe following alternatives are available for the components offered by Anaconda: mamba instead of conda Miniforge which defaults to conda-forge instead of the anaconda channel Poetry project and package management solution for Python Rye Python packaging and dependency management uv Fast Python package and project manager, written in Rust pip as Python package manager venv for managing virtual Python environments Spyder can also be installed directly. Under Windows, WinPython is also an alternative complete Python environment.Questions? Comments?If you have anything to tell us, dont hesitate to contact us.Further ReadingIndividual Helmholtz centers have contributed their own guidelines on this topic, including: Recommendation of the UFZ by Matthias Bernt Recommendation of the FZJ-JSC by Robert SpeckChangelog 2024-10-16: Added one recommendation 2025-01-29: Added further reading and clarified a key point" } , { "title" : "HIFIS at Third Edition of IT4Science Days", "url" : "/news/2024/10/14/it4science/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Research Software Engineering, Event", "date" : "2024-10-14 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Presentations of HIFIS at this Major Cross-Cutting EventThe IT4Science Days 2024, a joint meeting of the Max Planck Society, the Helmholtz Association, Fraunhofer and Leibniz, concluded end of September. Hosted at the Faberg-Campus in Gttingen, this event brought together many actors from both organisations to discuss and explore the latest developments in the field of digital science.After the 2023 edition of the meeting, it was the second time withseveral major contributions by the HIFIS team to illustrate and enhance collaboration: Advancing Scientific Collaboration: Recent Developments and Progress in HIFIS We showcased the overall achievements of HIFIS over the past few years.Our platform has expanded its support to new centers, research fields, use cases and external collaborations.We onboarded new scientific services, finalized the contracting process for Helmholtz Cloud services and extended our course program.Fighting operational overhead: a developers perspective We presented the case for applying DevOps practices to manage a services underlying infrastructure, using workload schedulers such as Kubernetes and infrastructure as code tools like Pulumi. This approach aims to streamline processes, reduce human intervention, and help understaffed IT departments.Sharing resources across centers - resource requests in the Helmholtz Cloud We demonstrated the Helmholtz Clouds solution to facilitate the sharing of digital resources across research centers. The solution combines a user-friendly interface with highly customizable resource requests, policies, quotas, and center-level integration points for providers.Overall, our contributions strongly align with the recommendation put forward by the Science Council (Forschungsrat) to improve digital sovereignty in research, while maintaining autonomy and competence of IT departments.Next IT4Science will Come: You Are Invited to Contribute!We are look forward to the 2025 edition of the IT4Science meeting.Stay tuned and be invited already to join and contribute!Questions? Comments? Proposals?If you have anything to tell us, dont hesitate to contact us." } , { "title" : "Bachelor Thesis on Resource Booking in the Helmholtz Cloud", "url" : "/news/2024/09/26/bachelor-thesis/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Resource Booking, Bachelor", "date" : "2024-09-26 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " New Process Will Improve the Booking of Resources in the Helmholtz Cloud In the Helmholtz Cloud the centers offers selected services for the members of the Helmholtz Association. As part of the Helmholtz Cloud Portal, a central system is required which allows the booking of resources for the services based on customizable rules. This system is divided into multiple parts: the Helmholtz Cloud Portal represents the interface to users, where the resource booking takes place. The resource booking rules are stored in the service data management system Plony. The task of this bachelor thesis was to first develop a process for resource booking and then implement it as a web application in Plony. As part of the process development, an UML activity diagram was created which served as the basis for the implementation. Plony consists of a frontend and a backend. The backend was developed with Plone CMS in the programming language Python, the frontend with JavaScript and the framework Vue.js. The application includes automatic validation of user entries and an approval process to ensure that no incorrect resource bookings are made. As a result, the process was successfully developed and implemented that meets the given requirements. On this base, the application will be expanded to include additional functionalities that simplify the creation of resource booking rules for users. Questions? Comments? Proposals? If you have anything to tell us, dont hesitate to contact us. Changelog 2024-10-10: Shortened title. " } , { "title" : "Legal Aspects of the Helmholtz Cloud - Interview", "url" : "/news/2024/09/20/interview-legal-aspects/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Legal Aspects, Interview", "date" : "2024-09-20 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Whats possible under a legal point of view?Interview at HIFIS &amp; friends meeting at DLR, 2024-09-12At the HIFIS &amp; Friends meeting at DLR, a lively discussion emerged as T. Glodowski and A. Spicker of HZB delved into a stimulating discussion on the legal aspects of the Helmholtz Cloud. Moderated by F. Erxleben (HZDR), the interview quickly highlighted the complexity and relevance of the topic. Audience questions enriched the discussion, proving that this open format was the effective way to explore the legal challenges and opportunities from a scientific users point of view. (F) As the Manager for Cloud Services, you are in charge of the Helmholtz Cloud. What kind of services are offered here?(A) The Helmholtz Cloud is designed to support scientists with digital services in their daily business. So, our aim is to offer a high-quality portfolio of resources from the researchers perspective, covering the complete scientific project lifecycle: This starts with writing the proposal, continues with measuring and computing the data and culminates in publishing the research results.During the ramp-up phase, we successfully published a lot of collaboration tools including chat, GitLab, computing. Now Im pleased to state that we are entering the next level, so to speak. Especially the Earth and Environment DataHub and namely the GFZ have handed in a lot of scientific services, such as the Earthquake Explorer or Earth Gravity tools. If this trend continues, the Helmholtz Cloud will get a completly different scope.(F) Who can use the Helmholtz Cloud?(T) The Idea of the Helmholtz Cloud is to share already existing resources from the centers with all other Helmholtz centers. Every center can provide some of its local resources in the Helmholtz Cloud. So, everyone in Helmholtz can use the available resources for their collaborative work. And for this you can also invite external colleagues to their projects.(F) Does that mean that everyone can use everyones services?(A) Our vision is to enable collaboration between scientists as seamlessly as possible. However, of course, we have to deal with the circumstances. Firstly, we can only share resources within Helmholtz. Fortunately, this includes external partners that are invited to Helmholtz-based collaborations. Although the technical capabilities would allow a broader scope, we are not entitled to expand to a wider audience.Let me explain that. The funding of the Helmholtz Centers comes from the government. And its strictly dedicated to science. Therefore, the centers are not allowed to use their funds for offering services to a public audience. This would undermine the public market.It is only because the Helmholtz Association organizes all the individual Helmholtz Centers into a larger unit that we can share the cloud resources for free. We had to take a detailed look in the funding conditions of the centers so that the sharing of resources within the community was acknowledged as being in line with the purpose of funding.(F) Are there any other aspects of law that come into play when offering such resources?(T) Oh yes. Plenty! Right from the beginning, we were aware of the data protection aspect, the European GDPR. But it quickly became clear that as a cloud provider, you have to deal with many areas of law. In addition to Data Protection Law (GDPR/DSGVO), we have also dealt with topics such as State Aid Law (EU Beihilferecht) and Tax Law (Steuerrecht). In order to be legally compliant here, a further agreement had to be drawn up: the Ruleset of the Helmholtz Cloud (Regelwerk). This agreement rules responsibilities and obligations for each role within the Helmholtz Cloud. These are using and providing Helmholtz Centers and HIFIS itself.(F) This sounds like quite the challenge. Do all users have to contend with such issues if they want to use these resources?(A) Well, our aim is to shield the users from this. They should be confident that HIFIS is taking care of the legal aspects and guide them carefully through the necessary processes.We negotiated with all stakeholders to establish the legal base agreements. As you know, we have 18 Helmholtz Centers and the head office. And we have to persuade legal department, data protection officer and tax expert of each center. One reason why we finally were successful is that everyone was inspired by the vision of the Helmholtz Cloud.(F) Could you give an example how this affects the daily work of the users?(T) For example, as a user - in most cases - you do not need to care about GDPR. Because its a Helmholtz Cloud service, we as HIFIS already cared about the GDPR requirements. Therefore we have created a Joint Controller Agreement in close cooperation with the 19 Data Protection Officers of the centers. It covers all the components we need for operation the Helmholtz Cloud. For these four Core Components the agreement specifies, which personal data is processed and which center is responsible for this. The running of the Helmholtz Cloud is GDPR compliant and from the user perspective this is all behind the scenes.(F) Are there any limitations?(A) Legally, it is forbidden to use the Helmholtz Cloud services for economic or private purposes. And this is because of the State Aid Law (EU Beihilferecht). To simplify this, you can say that one can use our services for all tasks that are funded by the government.(F) How can I then work with my non-Helmholtz colleagues especially outside the EU e.g. CERN?(T) If you want to collaborate with non-Helmholtz colleagues you will need to register a so called Virtual Organisation (VO). VO is only the technical term. You can think of it as the technical representation of real groups as project groups or research groups. So all members of your research group have to join the new VO and accept the corresponding policies. Then service providers can enable their services for this VO and every member can use the service. So the VO Manager has to be an employee of Helmholtz. And he/she is responsible for the invitation of other people like external partners.(F) Who can I ask for help?(A) There are many starting points: First of all you can have a look at the Helmholtz Cloud portal. For legal questions, you can ask your local legal department, your data protection officer. And of course, you can ask us.(F) How to reach you?(T) The easiest way is to open a ticket via sending an email to support@hifis.net.This is our single point of contact and we will make sure that your request reaches the right expert as fast as possible.(F) And what are the next steps for your working group?(A) We are currently putting our ruleset into practice. Now that all Helmholtz Centers has agreed, we are going to publish the Terms of Use. It is our duty to regularly inform our users that they are not allowed to use the cloud services for private or economic purposes. For example, you can find a banner on the Helmholtz Cloud website, and soon you will have to confirm the Terms of Use via the Helmholtz ID.(T) Additionally, we need to improve the process of data processing agreements (AVVs) between using and providing centers. Here, GDPR becomes complex because it stipulates that the using center is fully responsible for the data processing. However, in reality, the providing center holds all the information and opportunities.Currently we are working on another GDPR (DSGVO) agreement, which should define the rules for the processing of personal data between the service providers and the centers using their services.(F) What if I want to use these services in an economic setting, e.g. contractual research, startups?(A) At the moment, we cannot allow a commercial use of the Helmholtz Cloud services. The possible solution is to make your own agreements with the providing center. Of course, the providing center can decide to offer a part of its resources for economic purposes. But thats up to a specific agreement and beyond our scope.(F) Any last-minute advice/ comments?(T) If you want to offer a service in Helmholtz, let us help you.More information on this topicIf you are interested in this topic, please read The Long Journey to Clarity: The Legal Basis is in Place." } , { "title" : "Get impressions from our All-Hands & Friends Meeting!", "url" : "/news/2024/09/17/all-hands-meeting/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Event", "date" : "2024-09-17 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " All-hands &amp; Friends Meeting at DLR Cologne On September 12-13, 2024, we welcomed all HIFIS members and close collaborators to our All-hands &amp; Friends meeting at German Center for Space and Aeronatics (DLR) at its site in Cologne. Who participated? Amongst the approx. 60 participants,we were happy to see multiple members of our scientific advisory and federation boards,including participants of NFDI, DFN, EOSC, EMBL, SURF, INFN, TU Dresden and more.Also our colleagues from Helmholtz Imaging,Helmholtz AI andHelmholtz Metadata Collaborationwere on site, which allowed us to join viewpoints and experiences on overarching topics that are related to all platforms of the Helmholtz Information and Data Science Framework. Whats been in there? Firstly, we gathered to keep our stakeholders updated on the recent developments of HIFIS, includingnew developments in our cloud portfolio,service quality assuranceHelmholtz Software Awardand more. More significantly, in multiple interactive sessions, we gathered valuable input from experts outside of the core HIFIS team on topics like Consulting 2.0, Mentoring, Scientific User Support, Operational Cybersecurity, Outreach and User Awareness, Anchoring in and Connection to Helmholtz Research Fields, E-Learning, User Experience and more. Finally, the legal experts from Helmholtz Cloud Cluster have been interviewed with a user-centric perspective on legal aspects when using Helmholtz Cloud. Complex topics like tax issues, legal regulations, data protection frameworks etc are being considered by HIFIS, resulting in an evolving Cloud Regulatory Framework.Scientists, however, should be confronted as little as possible with such topics.In an interview, our experts shed some light on the scientists perspective in using Helmholtz Cloud.The interview has been published here. Follow-up The HIFIS team will summarize recommendations of our boards in a brief report.Moreover, the ideas and proposal collected during our interactive sessions are pioritized to shape the upcoming works of HIFIS 2.0. Stay tuned! HIFIS newsletter / unsubscribe Service Maintenance and Downtime mailing list / unsubscribe HIFIS Blog Posts RSS Feed (RSS Reader required) Helmholtz ID Announcement letter /unsubscribe Contact Should you have any questions or comments, dont hesitate to contact the HIFIS team at support@hifis.net. Changelog 2024-09-20: Added link to meanwhile published blog post on interview. " } , { "title" : "Apply for the Helmholtz Software Award 2024!", "url" : "/announcement/2024/09/05/sw-award-second-round/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Community, HIFIS Software, Helmholtz RSD", "date" : "2024-09-05 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Second Round of the Helmholtz Software Award has started!The Helmholtz Research Software Award is intended to promote the development of professional, high-quality and sustainable research software and to recognize the commitment to software as the basis of modern data science. Recently we informed you on the winners of the first round of the award in 2023. On August 20, 2024, the call for applications for the Award 2024 was published and sent to all Helmholtz Centers. As before, the prize is awarded in three categories for the best scientific software, sustainability and newcomer.The nomination deadline is October 20th 2024!If you have any questions or suggestions about the award, please contact open-science@helmholtz.de or support@hifis.net.Register your software in the Research Software Directory!Register or update your software project at the Helmholtz Research Software Directory (RSD) today!This service allows you to increase visibility of your project and cross-linking with other projects, organisations, contributors and publications.The RSD is also part of the Helmholtz Cloud.Registration at the RSD is also precondition to take part in the next round(s) of the software award.Dont miss any news on good scientific software in Helmholtz - and HIFIS!Most straightforward, you can subscribe to our newsletter and news feed.Questions or proposals?Contact us at support@hifis.net!" } , { "title" : "Helmholtz Cloud Sets Quality Criteria for its Services", "url" : "/announcement/2024/07/31/cloud-quality-areas/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Quality, Services", "date" : "2024-07-31 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The Helmholtz Cloud offers a variety of digital services that are essential for scientists in their daily work. Annual service portfolio reviews ensure that service information is up to date, allowing users to trust that all published services are well-maintained and compliant with legal requirements such as GDPR and state aid law. Since every service needs to fulfill defined exclusion criteria, a minimum standard for service quality is already set during the Service Onboarding. To ensure that these services meet high quality standards above what is absolutely required, the HIFIS Cloud team evaluates criteria to measure service quality during operation. While everyone has a general sense of what constitutes good or bad quality, it is difficult to define these criteria in concrete terms (and consequently find objective ways to measure them). In order to measure service quality, the HIFIS Cloud team identified five key fields (criteria) that are relevant to seek information on service quality and can be measured somehow: High availability (Easy) accessibility Existing user documentation Being up-to-date (and updated regularly) Reliable backup &amp; recoveryTo get into action, the HIFIS Cloud team started to discuss on how the five key fields could be measured in an objective way.However, defining the evaluation of each criterion can be tricky. For example, the team discussed whether a lengthy documentation is better than a concise one, and whether a new software version is preferable to an older version that maybe is performing very well.Even though it takes time to settle, the criteria already identified are giving insights on service quality and will enriche the service information now being collected during the Onboarding Process in Plony. By implementing this initial set of quality criteria, service providers gain guidance on which areas are crucial for improving their services. This marks the starting point for further iterations, where the details of quality criteria will be refined and expanded.Anyway, it is not only important to have a look at every single service but also at the service portfolio as a whole. Consequently, the next step will be to release a qualitative assessment of the Helmholtz Cloud service portfolio. This ensures that the services offered are precisely tailored to the needs of the scientific community.Questions or proposals?Contact our Service Portfolio Manager at support@hifis.net" } , { "title" : "Software Award: Winners 2023 and Call 2024", "url" : "/announcement/2024/07/18/sw-award-final/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Community, HIFIS Software, Helmholtz RSD", "date" : "2024-07-18 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "First Helmholtz Software Award has been presented!Its finally done: the winners of the first Helmholtz Software Award have been found. A total of 42 proposals from 16 centres were received. These submissions have been evaluated by international experts. On this basis, a committee consisting of representatives from the participating incubator platforms and the Helmholtz Open Science Office made the final selection of the prize winners for the three categories. The Helmholtz President, Prof. Dr. Otmar D. Wiestler, informed the respective centres on July 15, 2024.And the winners are: Scientific Originality Prize (Main Award, EUR 5,000):CellRank (dynamics from multi-view single-cell data)https://helmholtz.software/software/cellrankRepresentative: Philipp Weiler (HMGU) Sustainability Prize (3,000 EUR):ESMValTool (Earth System Model Evaluation Tool)https://helmholtz.software/software/earth-system-model-evaluation-tool-esmvaltoolRepresentative: Birgit Hassler (DLR) Newcomer Prize (EUR 2,000):openCARP (Cardiac Electrophysiology Simulator)https://helmholtz.software/software/opencarpRepresentative: Axel Lwe (KIT) Congratulations to the developers and software engineers and thank you for these fantastic software applications!New Call upcoming soon - dont miss!The call for 2024 is already prepared. It will be published within the next days with an application deadline end of September. So: Stay tuned!Most straightforward, you can subscribe to our newsletter and news feed.Register your software in the Research Software Directory!Register or update your software project at the Helmholtz Research Software Directory (RSD) today!This service allows you to increase visibility of your project and cross-linking with other projects, organisations, contributors and publications.The RSD is also part of the Helmholtz Cloud.Registration at the RSD is also precondition to take part in the next round(s) of the software award.Questions or proposals?Contact us at support@hifis.net!Changelog 2024-09-24: completed members of committee" } , { "title" : "Check out two new scientific services!", "url" : "/announcement/2024/07/17/new-services-connect-kg/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Science, Metadata Repositories", "date" : "2024-07-17 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Good news!Recently we onboarded two new scientific metadata services to our Helmholtz Cloud portfolio that have been developed by our sister platforms: CONNECT with Helmholtz imaging capabilities!Helmholtz Imaging CONNECT is a platform showcasing the diverse spectrum of scientific imaging within the Helmholtz Association. Scientists develop and apply numerous imaging modalities to study processes at atomic, molecular, organismic, ecosystemic, and cosmic scales. This imaging network facilitates collaboration, offering a space to connect experts, instruments, and applications. The service is being developed by Helmholtz Imaging platform.Youre invited to join! Scientists affiliated with Helmholtz Centers are encouraged to join by adding their profiles, modalities, applications, and stories to expand their network and explore new research opportunities. Knowing what Helmholtz knows: Knowledge GraphThe Helmholtz Knowledge Graph (KG) is a central metadata repository for digital assets of the Helmholtz community including data, publications, code, institutions, and experts. It is an openly published service that makes the Helmholtz Associations research data findable and usable according to the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable). The sources are metadata from various data providers such as repositories, libraries, and code deposits.The Helmholtz KG is developed by unified Helmholtz Data and Information Exchange (unHIDE) initiative of the Helmholtz Metadata Collaboration (HMC) that aims to harmonise and consolidate the representation of digital assets within the Helmholtz association.Visit Helmholtz KGs search interface and explore the knowledge of Helmholtz through keyword, category browsing or filtered searches.Questions or proposals?Contact our Cloud Team at support@hifis.net" } , { "title" : "Contribute to IT4Science-Days!", "url" : "/news/2024/07/04/it4science/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Event", "date" : "2024-07-04 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "You are working on digital solutions for scientists?This meeting is probably for you: Check out the IT4Science-Days 2024! When? September 24-26, 2024 Where? Gttingen, Faberg-Campus Submit your abstract here! Deadline July 17.The event is organized by Max Planck Society, with contributions from Helmholtz, Leibniz and Fraunhofer welcome.During recent years, the meeting developed towards a crossover exchange platform for IT solutions and challenges specifically for scientific use cases. Whenever you are facing such challenges: You are probably not the only one - get in touch with experts there.In the last meeting, HIFIS and Helmholtz Platforms contributed technical topics such as continuous integration and building a cloud portal for science and broader topics like consulting for AI-related use-cases in Helmholtz AI as well as development perspectives towards a global research landscape.Submit your ideas there and join - dont miss out!Contact Contact us on HIFIS specific requests: support@hifis.net Contact to the organizers: dv-treffen@mpg.de" } , { "title" : "Working with scientific data? Join our Roadshow!", "url" : "/news/2024/06/21/platforms-roadshow/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Education, Event", "date" : "2024-06-21 18:00:00 +0000", "content" : " Are you working with scientific data?Dont miss the virtual roadshow organized by the five Helmholtz Information and Data Science platforms HIFIS, Helmholtz AI, Helmholtz Imaging, HMC and HIDA! When? June 26th 10 11:30 am Where? Online Register here! Discover our huge range of data science solutions and support - dont miss out!The roadshow consists of a short presentation of the portfolios followed by engaging breakout sessions: Interact with experts: Engage directly with representatives and scientists from each platform to gain insights into their offers. Learn and collaborate: Discover how each platforms services and expertise can support and enhance your research. Network with peers: Connect with fellow researchers and explore potential collaborations within the Helmholtz Association.Wed love to see you there!" } , { "title" : "Relaunch of the HIFIS Software Spotlights", "url" : "/announcement/2024/06/21/spotlight-migration/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Community, Cloud Services, Helmholtz RSD", "date" : "2024-06-21 12:00:00 +0000", "content" : "We are happy to announce some exciting developments around the RSD and the HIFIS Software Spotlights.Migration finalisedAs part of our efforts to increase the visibility of Research Software, we have now fully migrated the HIFIS Software Spotlights from their previous home at hifis.net/spotlights to a new, dedicated place at the Helmholtz RSD.RelaunchMoreover, we are also relaunching the HIFIS Software Spotlights with a new format. Starting soon, the developers of the Spotlights will present their software on a monthly basis during the HIFIS Software Community meetings.Stay tuned for invitations and more details on the upcoming HIFIS Software Spotlights." } , { "title" : "Philipp Neumann ist neuer HIFIS Koordinator", "url" : "/de/news/2024/06/12/neumann/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Personalia, HIFIS, DESY", "date" : "2024-06-12 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " Philipp Neumann (Uni-Prof. Dr. rer. nat. habil.) ist der neue HIFIS Koordinator. Indem er Anfang Mai 2024 seine Aufgabe als Leiter der IT am DESY bernommen hat, wurde er gleichzeitig der Sprecher der HIFIS Plattform. Mit seiner umfangreichen Erfahrung im HPC Bereich wird Neumann die Zukunft von HIFIS entscheidend mitgestalten und weiterentwickeln.Neumann bringt eine jahrelange Expertise aus verschiedenen leitenden Positionen mit. Nach seinem Studium der Technomathematik an der Friedrich-Alexander-Universitt Erlangen-Nrnberg promovierte er 2013 am Institut fr Informatik an der TU Mnchen zum Thema Hybrid Multiscale Simulation Approaches for Micro- and Nanoflows. Whrend seiner Forschungsphase als Postdoc sowie wissenschaftlicher Programm Manager fr das DFG-Programm Software for Exascaling Computing (SPPEXA) fhrten ihn zwei Forschungsaufenthalte an die brasilianische Univerdidade Federal de Juiz de Fora und an die Brown University auf Rhode Island, USA.Von 2016 - 2019 arbeitete Neumann am Deutschen Klimarechenzentrum in Hamburg sowie 2017 - 2019 als Postdoktorand an der Universitt Hamburg in der Forschungsgruppe Wissenschaftliches Rechnen. Er habilitierte sich 2019 zum Thema Algorithms and HPC Software for Molecular-Continuum Flow Simulation an der Technischen Universitt Mnchen (TUM). Im selben Jahr folgte Neumann dem Ruf auf die Professur fr High Performance Computing der Fakultt fr Maschinenbau der Helmut-Schmidt-Universitt.Seit Anfang Mai ist Neumann der neue Head of IT Leiter at DESY, eine Position, die die Aufgabe als HIFIS Koordinator beinhaltet. Sein Vorgnger, Volker Glzow, ist krzlich in den Ruhestand gegangen. Glzow hatte durch unermdliche Initiative die HIFIS Plattform ins Leben gerufen und mageblich mitgewirkt, so dass HIFIS von Beginn an ein Erfolg wurde.Der Start von Neumann fllt in eine wichtige Phase fr die HIFIS Plattform, denn 2025 beginnt die neue Frderperiode.Wir wnschen Neumann viel Erfolg in seiner neuen Rolle und freuen uns auf die Impulse, die er in die Plattform einbringen wird." } , { "title" : "Philipp Neumann is the new HIFIS Coordinator", "url" : "/news/2024/06/12/neumann/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Personalia, HIFIS, DESY", "date" : "2024-06-12 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " Philipp Neumann (Uni-Prof. Dr. rer. nat. habil.) is the new HIFIS Coordinator. By taking over his role as Head of DESYs IT department at the beginning of May 2024, he also became the spokesperson for the HIFIS platform. With his extensive experience in the HPC field, Neumann will significantly shape and further develop the future of HIFIS.Neumann gained years of expertise in various leading positions. After studying Engineering Mathematics at Friedrich-Alexander-Universitt Erlangen-Nrnberg, he completed his dissertation in 2013 at the Institute of Computer Science at Technical University of Munich on the topic Hybrid Multiscale Simulation Approaches for Micro- and Nanoflows. During a postdoctoral research phase and his work as scientific program manager for the DFG program Software for Exascale Computing (SPPEXA), he undertook two research stays at the Brazilian Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora and at Brown University in Rhode Island, USA.From 2016 - 2019, Neumann worked at the German Climate Computing Center in Hamburg, and from 2017 - 2019 as a postdoctoral researcher in the scientific computing research group at Universitt Hamburg. In 2019, he finished his habilitation on the topic Algorithms and HPC Software for Molecular-Continuum Flow Simulation at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). In the same year, Neumann accepted a call to the professorship for High Performance Computing at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Helmut Schmidt University.Since May 2024, Neumann has been the new Head of IT at DESY, a position that includes the role as HIFIS Coordinator. His predecessor, Volker Glzow, recently retired. Glzow tirelessly initiated and significantly contributed to the establishment of the HIFIS platform, making it a success from the start.Neumanns start coincides with an important phase for the HIFIS platform, as the new funding period begins in 2025.We wish Neumann much success in his new role and look forward to the impulses he will bring to the platform." } , { "title" : "Upcoming: Results of Helmholtz Incubator Software Award", "url" : "/announcement/2024/06/11/sw-award-winners/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Community, Cloud Services, Helmholtz RSD", "date" : "2024-06-11 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "First round of Helmholtz Incubator Software Prize finalized!The selection process for the awardees of the first round of the Helmholtz Incubator Software Prize has been finalized.The winners will be notified by June and a press release will be prepared.They will be honored during the upcoming Incubator Workshop in November.The award is based on an initiative of Helmholtz Federated IT Services (HIFIS), the Helmholtz Information &amp; Data Science Academy (HIDA), the project Helmholtz Platform for Research Software Engineering - Preparatory Study (HiRSE_PS), the Helmholtz Open Science Officeand funded by the President of the Helmholtz Association through the Helmholtz Information and Data Science Framework.New Call upcoming soon - dont miss!Due to the high success of this first round of the award, a second round is already in preparation. We hope to publish the new call by summer 2024.So: Stay tuned!Most straightforward, you can subscribe to our newsletter and news feed.Register your software in the Research Software Directory!Register or update your software project at the Helmholtz Research Software Directory (RSD) today!This service allows you to increase visibility of your project and cross-linking with other projects, organisations, contributors and publications.The RSD is also part of the Helmholtz Cloud.Registration at the RSD is also precondition to take part in the next round(s) of the software award.Questions or proposals?Contact us at support@hifis.net!Changelog 2024-07-18: Corrected typo." } , { "title" : "Join the TEACH 4 conference", "url" : "/news/2024/05/13/teach-4/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Education, Event", "date" : "2024-05-13 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The TEACH conference has become an established and well-received event in the Helmholtz education community and even beyond it.In this fourth edition, it will be a live event for the first time, held in Berlin at the HIDA office.If you are an educator, personnel developer, or simply interested in improving teaching and learning in the Helmholtz context, this conference is for you.You can share knowledge, experiences and good practises through talks and poster sessions. You can also discuss challenges in workshops and network with like-minded people.For more information, to submit contributions and to register for attendance, check out the TEACH event website.Wed love to see you there!" } , { "title" : "Der lange Weg zur Klarheit: Die rechtlich solide Basis steht", "url" : "/de/news/2024/04/30/cloud-ruleset/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Legal Aspects", "date" : "2024-04-30 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " Der lange Weg zur Klarheit: Die rechtlich solide Basis stehtVier Jahre hat es gedauert, bis das Regelwerk der Helmholtz Cloud den verschiedenen Ansprchen gengt hat. Nun haben sich 18 Helmholtz Zentren sowie die Geschftsstelle geeinigt ber die Regeln fr Service Provider und Nutzergruppen in der Helmholtz Cloud.Die Fderation gibt sich die Regeln selbstDie Idee der Helmholtz Cloud ist eigentlich simpel: Jedes Helmholtz-Zentrum hat die Option, ausgewhlte Services zu ffnen, damit andere Zentren sie nutzenknnen. Alle Beteiligten der Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft waren sich schon 2019 einig, eine fderierte Cloud aufzubauen. Das schpft Synergien aus, sowohl interdisziplinr in der Forschung wie auch in den IT Abteilungen. Sinnvoll in einer Zeit, in der Fachkrfte fehlen und Energiepreise steigen.Die technische Umsetzung ist ein Glanzstck geworden: Die Helmholtz ID transferiert geschtzt und datenschutzkonform die Logindaten des Mitarbeitenden in die wissenschaftliche Einrichtungen, die den Service hostet. Dieses Novum vereinfacht den Alltag so sehr, dass es inzwischen kaum noch wegzudenken ist. Es macht die ber 20 Services der Helmholtz Cloud mhelos erreichbar.Doch wenn 19 wissenschaftliche Einrichtungen gemeinsam Services in einer Cloud zusammenstellen, reicht die technische Umsetzung nicht aus. Es kommen rechtliche Aspekte ins Spiel: So mssen der Umfang von Pflichten begrenzt, Ansprche ausgeschlossen, Prozesse vereinbart werden. Das klingt zunchst nach der Aufzhlung potenzieller Probleme. Doch dem HIFIS Team gelingt es geschickt, den Fokus auf die Vorteile der Helmholtz Cloud zu halten.Und dann - die SteuerfrageUnd was ist eigentlich mit der Umsatzsteuer, gilt die nicht auch bei kostenfreien IT-Leistungen? Dass kostenfreie Dienste wie Youtube, Whatsapp oder Dropbox (um hier nur einige zu nennen) Umsatzsteuer bezahlen mssen, ist einleuchtend. Die Klrung, wie sich die Helmholtz Cloud von diesen kommerziellen Unternehmen unterscheidet, brauchte Zeit und Expertise. Der Unterschied liegt in der Aufgabe, die sich Helmholtz stellt. Es ist eine etablierten deutschen Forschungsorganisation, gefrdert durch Bund und Lnder. Der Zweck der Forschung aller Zentren ist die freie Forschung, es fehlt die Ausrichtung auf kommerziellen Erfolg.HIFIS brachte die Experten aus den Bereichen Recht und Steuerrecht zusammen und zog externe Consultants hinzu. Die Diversitt von Helmholtz mit zwei verschiedenen Ministerien als Geldgebern und unterschiedlichen Rechtsformen der Zentren erforderte eine sorgfltige Recherche ber die Finanzierung der Helmholtz Cloud. Nur auf dieser detaillierten Basis konnte die Consultant-Kanzlei eine fundierte Aussage machen. Letztlich diktieren Umsatzsteuerrecht und Beihilferecht neue wichtige Klauseln in das Regelwerk mit dem Ergebnis: Die Services sind fr Helmholtz untereinander kosten- und umsatzsteuerfrei! Externe Partner knnen einbezogen werden, jedoch nur unter der Leitung eines Helmholtz Partners. Die Auftragsforschung ist jedoch ausgeschlossen, genauso wie die private oder kommerzielle Nutzung: Hierfr drfen Forschende die Helmholtz Cloud Services nicht verwenden.Die Gltigkeit des Regelwerks beendet die Aufbauphase. Fr die Helmholtz Cloud beginnt jetzt eine neue ra.Fragen Sie unsWenn Sie gerne mehr wissen mchten, schreiben Sie uns. Wir haben im Laufe der Zeit viel Erfahrung sammeln knnen und teilen diese gerne. Das Regelwerk ist jedoch ein vertrauliches Dokument, das nicht verffentlicht werden wird. Wir bitten dafr um Verstndnis." } , { "title" : "The Long Journey to Clarity: The Legal Basis is in Place", "url" : "/news/2024/04/30/cloud-ruleset/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Legal Aspects", "date" : "2024-04-30 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " The Long Journey to Clarity: The Legal Basis is in PlaceIt took four years for the ruleset of the Helmholtz Cloud to meet various demands. Now, 18 Helmholtz Centres, along with the head office, have reached an agreement on the rules for service providers and user groups in the Helmholtz Cloud.The Federation sets its own RulesThe idea of the Helmholtz Cloud is quite simple: Each Helmholtz Centre has the option to open selected services for use by other centres. All Helmholtz members agreed to run this federated cloud back in 2019. It leverages synergies both interdisciplinary in research and within IT departments, which is meaningful in a time of labour shortages and rising energy prices.The technical implementation has become a masterpiece: The Helmholtz ID transfers the employees login data to the scientific institution hosting the service in a secure and data protection-compliant manner. This novelty simplifies everyday tasks to such an extent that its has become indispensable. It is making the over 30 services of the Helmholtz Cloud easily accessible.However, when 19 scientific institutions jointly bundle services in a cloud, technical implementation alone is not sufficient. Legal aspects come into play: the scope of obligations must be limited, legal claims excluded, processes agreed upon. This may sound like a list of potential problems. Yet, the HIFIS team manages the feat of consistently focusing on the advantages of the Helmholtz Cloud.The Value-added Tax (VAT) IssueAnd what about VAT, doesnt that apply to free IT services too? It is understandable that free services like YouTube, WhatsApp, or Dropbox (to name a few) pay VAT. Clarifying how the Helmholtz Cloud differs from these commercial entities took time and expertise. The distinction lies in the mission that Helmholtz pursues. It is an established German research organization, funded by the government. The purpose of research at all centers is independent science and there is no alignement on commercial success.HIFIS brought together experts from legal and tax law fields and enlisted external consultants. Helmholtzs diversity, with two different ministries as funders and different legal forms, required careful research into the financing of the Helmholtz Cloud. Only on this detailed basis could the consulting firm provide a well-founded statement. Finally, VAT law and state aid law dictate new important clauses in the ruleset, resulting in: Usage of services is free of charge and of VAT for Helmholtz entities! External partners can be invited but need the leadership of a Helmholtz partner. Contract research is excluded, as is private or commercial use: Researchers may not use Helmholtz Cloud services for these purposes.The validity of the regulations also marks the end of the set-up phase. The Helmholtz Cloud now begins a new era.Get in ContactIf you would like to learn more, please contact us. We have accumulated a wealth of experience over time and are happy to share it. However, the ruleset is a confidential document that will not be published.More information on this topicIf you are interested in this topic, please read Legal Aspects of the Helmholtz Cloud - Interview.Changelog 2024-06-24 Corrected typo. 2024-09-23 Add link to more information on this topic." } , { "title" : "How HIFIS helped us after our cyber attack", "url" : "/news/2024/03/21/hzb-cyber/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Resilience, Cybersecurity", "date" : "2024-03-21 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "How HIFIS helped in the aftermath of HZBs cyberattack Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) became a victim of a cyber attack on 15.06.2023. To protect against it, we have shut down all IT systems. The research centre cannot be reached via the website, email or telephone at the moment. We ask for your understanding.This was the message on hzbblog.de the day after HZB discovered it had been the victim of a cyber-attack. Six months later, our colleagues finally got their accounts back. Its time to take a look at what happened and understand how HIFIS could help. Andreas tells us the story. Could you first provide a brief overview of the cyberattack HZB experienced last year? What were the initial signs of compromise, and how did the attack unfold? I would like to share this story here because many research centres can learn from our experience. Actually, I was one of the first to be affected when the cyber-attack hit us. I was on call that week of the 15th of June [2023]. On a Thursday morning at 6am I got a call from campus security that some of their systems were not working, so I just assumed that something had broken down. I tried to connect remotely via the remote desktop protocol1 and already noticed that the remote desktop terminal server was not responding. So, I tried to go to the documentation page and saw that I could not access any document on the SharePoint.I had to ride to the office at 6 something am. When I arrived, I still had no clue what the issue actually was. I just had a bit of a weird feeling.When I got to the office, still tired, I saw a colleague, whos responsible for SharePoint, run by my office. Hes not usually in that early in the morning, so I went to see him. He told me that he also received emails from SharePoint, monitoring emails, about files being encrypted. So, I left it to him to do further analysis. He found out that the encryption had been going on since some hours. We had already called the IT security officer, and when another colleague arrived, we very quickly called DFN to shut down our internet connection. Which was a good call, at around 7am or so. Thats when the distribution of ransomware stopped because the software lost contact to its control server.But by then, a lot of damage had been done, and we shut down all of our systems within a couple of hours. We couldnt shut everything down immediately because the synchrotron has to be shut down very carefully and so on. It was half a day of shutting things down. What were the immediate challenges researchers and staff faced in the aftermath of the cyberattack? We quickly realised that we were going to be offline for quite some time. People started to revert to their private email accounts very quickly, as did I for example.I contacted DESY about migrating our DNS2, which was the most important thing in our eyes, to have some DNS running somewhere, to be able to reach anything. We didnt have any reachable services at that time, but it was a prerequisite for doing anything at all. If our domain was down, it would be pointless to do anything else.We had to follow protocol; communication was very important. First of all, communication between colleagues. We had to inform our staff by using private email accounts, private phone numbers and hoped that the message would somehow spread. On that day, the HZB Scientific Retreat took place, so we were able to inform all the OU heads via a phone call. We also did an announcement via the fire department loudspeakers to inform people on our campus in Wannsee. In Adlershof, people put up some notes on doors and bulletin boards. And at the same time, we had to fulfil our duty to provide information to the many external stakeholders, all by telephone call or from private email addresses.Only a few days later, regular on-site staff meetings were started to inform on the current situation. Getting information to people was surprisingly difficult: what happened, what happens next, what happened to my data, to my files, how can I do this, how can I pay this bill or do this calculation? At this moment, we did not have answers for many of these questions. How did the attack impact the functioning of your research centre, both operationally and in terms of data security? Our synchrotron radiation source, BESSY II, had to be shut down, that means no large-scale research was available for weeks. A great success so early after the attack was that the operation of BESSY II was already restarted on July 3rd and our partners at PTB and BAM had access to the light again. The beamlines operated by HZB were still out of operation at this moment. We didnt have a running user coordination system anymore, so all measurements and the next calls for proposals had to be cancelled until December 2023. We announced this news on our social media channels and hoped it would spread to our users. We know this was a very difficult situation for all our users who were eager to perform their experiment at our light source but could not. The cyber-attack also had an impact for lots of PhD students who lost time to finish their thesis.But the administrative processes were also affected and had to continue. The administration still had some paper forms in their drawers and could pick up old processes. And it was good to see that these old paper processes still worked, although very slowly, producing very large piles of paper, especially for paying bills, the yellow forms we had to sign off for payment, It was interesting to get all those circulation binders, we had a lot more of those going around again. I actually like them for nostalgias sake. But all in all, it makes us appreciate even more how fast digitalized bureaucracy can be.Im also a move-up on the works council, and its processes started to work quite promptly again. For example, to hire new people, the works council has to sign off on that. Human resources and the works council were very quick to reestablish paper processes, which was good to see. The works council also went back to meeting offline very quickly. When did HIFIS step in to assist HZB during this crisis? Basically immediately, if you count the DNS. Without HIFIS, I dont think we would have that tight connection with DESY, to be able to just send them an email from a private email account and negotiate how to migrate our DNS within a day. That was very good to see, how it worked.In general, as soon as we requested something, HIFIS jumped in immediately, there was basically no delay. The following days we also started to use the Nextcloud-instance provided by DESY called DESY Sync &amp; Share to upload information for our staff but also for the internal communication between departments. We had one read-only folder for the staff, where we uploaded FAQs and basic information, and we had internal folders for some of the departments, where they could coordinate themselves. Were actually still using them to some extent today and we are just migrating back now, as our intranet is starting up again.So that was less than a week, I dont have the exact start date, but I do have it on the virtual machines which we requested from Forschungszentrum Jlich: that was 10 days after the attack. We had to do some internal negotiations first: how do we want to start up again? Do we want to rely on external cloud services, like commercial cloud services? Do we want to rely on the HIFIS virtualisation platform, or how quickly our own virtualisation platform would come back? But then it became clear rather quickly that our own platform would not be back online anytime soon, and before paying for resources, we obviously took the HIFIS route. I contacted Forschungszentrum Jlich and the colleagues there were very quick to give us OpenStack resources and we could deploy some virtual machines, which was very helpful. What HIFIS services did you use in place of your own during the recovery period? We mainly use DESY Sync &amp; Share and OpenStack (HDF Cloud) from Jlich very extensively. We actually still use OpenStack to this day, to access our SAP for example. The first things we set up there were Linux based terminal servers and VPN3 solutions, but other tools followed, for example OpenProject4 to track our tasks and testbeds for other services which we rebuilt locally after figuring things out in the OpenStack cloud. We still use a lot of those cloud based tools today and are starting the progress of migrating back just now.Surprisingly, it seems that the colleagues were happy to work with Linux, even to be able to work with anything at all. Now theyre happy to go back to their Windows but it was still nice to see that they are open for open-source solutions.Also, however not as extensively, we used Mattermost and Codebase from Dresden.For DESY Sync &amp; Share, we had public shares that were password protected. For the other services (OpenStack, Mattermost and Codebase), we used social accounts: Google accounts, GitHub accounts, maybe some ORCID, I dont know. Thats also what made it a bit tricky. Because on OpenStack there were only two/three accounts for people who were managing the virtual machines. But on Mattermost and Codebase all sorts of HZB users tried to join their old Mattermost teams and GitLab projects and creating all these social accounts which now have to be rolled back very extensively to be migrated back to the actual HZB account. We didnt want to create too much of a clutter and tried to keep it small. The HIFIS team also got some social accounts on DESY Sync &amp; Share, but these have already been rolled back. Were there challenges or limitations encountered while transitioning to HIFIS services and how were they addressed? Especially with the social accounts being necessary, we dearly missed our identity provider and the connection to Helmholtz ID, it was a very, very big problem. If we had a backup IdP5 , it would have been so much easier to communicate with each other, to get access to resources, without always having in the back of your mind the rollback of the social accounts sometime in the future. That was a very, very big limitation. The HIFIS team supported us excellently, so we did not have any other problems at all. From your perspective, how much did HIFIS contribute to the resilience and recovery of your research centre following the cyberattack? From my perspective, it was absolutely critical to have the support of HIFIS. On the one hand, we had the provided HIFIS services, we were able to migrate our DNS to DESY very quickly, that was very helpful. But we also have access to the know-how from other centres, could talk to experts and learn what solutions they had in mind for things like multi-factor authentication (MFA), which we wanted to implement after the attack. Just talking to people who had different perspectives was extremely helpful.We even received a lot of help offers from all kinds of HIFIS colleagues, which we couldnt even accept at this time. They wanted to help, but we couldnt provide them with accounts in our ecosystem, we were still offline at the time, but they were so eager to offer their help, that also felt nice. Looking back, what lessons have been learned from this experience in terms of cybersecurity preparedness and response? That was, yes, a lot of learning! What we have experienced within the last eight months you cannot learn at school or in a tutorial, you have to go through it to actually learn how things go and how they go sideways.Obviously, there are several things we should improve- Specifically for the case when everything has to be shut down. We had plans for shutting down individual IT parts, but not for the whole thing.One thing that became clear very quickly was that multi-factor authentication should have been implemented sooner. So, my strong recommendation is: If any centre hasnt rolled-out MFA yet, they should start now, not tomorrow.Another thing we have learnt: you need a good network segmentation. We didnt have that strict network segmentation before. Now, we have implemented very strict network segmentation, and that makes rebuilding services difficult, because if you rebuild old services that were designed with an unsegmented network, and now you rebuild them with a segmented network, you have to untangle those old structures and bring that old service into the new network world, which takes a lot of time. In normal operations, we dont always have the resources to do this, but now we not only have the opportunity, but also the obligation.A big lesson to learn is that external IT emergency services must be prepared. We need external DNS fall-back, we need external identity management fall-back, storage fall-back, email fall-backWe had an opportunity to try out Grommunio as an email fall-back. T-Systems was very quick to set up a Grommunio server for us, where we could move to. Grommunio has its own issues, but it was still very important to have email communication back. Not receiving emails is really bad, as it turns out, if you are not able to receive emails, youre kind of in the dark!Having a fallback for emergency email services is very important, and basically anything that has to do with email: DNS, identity management and so on. And obviously the fall-back has to be secure and separate from all your internal IT.Moreover, we should improve the availability of contacts in case of an IT emergency. A list with phone numbers should be stored somewhere safe, not only on our IT, but somewhere in the cloud, that would have made things much easier as well. In what ways do you anticipate leveraging HIFIS services to strengthen HZBs cybersecurity posture in the future? To basically cover all the things I just stated, maybe except for the email part, which can be tricky. We dont have any email provider in HIFIS currently and I dont think we will have one anytime soon. However, providing external fallback storage or storage of emergency protocol resources in HIFIS would be very helpful. Having a fallback for DNS via HIFIS would be very good.I believe that the HIFIS security work package, which is hopefully coming soon, will bring not only resources but also know-how into the Helmholtz world, into the HIFIS world.We could rely a lot on HIFIS for knowledge and for resources, but this already tightly knit community needs to be even tighter. We just need to talk to each other more, we need to strengthen this community and the interaction between the Helmholtz centres, even if theyre not in HIFIS, we need to bring them in somehow to talk about security issues and to learn from each other. Thats basically it. About the intervieweeAndreas Klotz works at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin where he manages the local HIFIS Cloud cluster. His experience focuses on Linux, Open-Source software, and Federated Identity Management. As many other HZB colleagues also did, he temporarily switched focus from his usual work to help HZB recover from the recent cyber-attack.Want to know more about HIFIS?After witnessing firsthand how HIFIS could help HZB, you might be curious to explore further how HIFIS can benefit you and your institution.HIFIS provides and brokers digital services for everyone in Helmholtz and collaboration partners. These range from compute resources in the Helmholtz Cloud, to training courses on Continuous Integration in GitLab, to a directory for research software, all of which can be accessed with your home institutions login thanks to the Helmholtz ID.Find out how HIFIS can help you as a researcher, as a software engineer, as a cloud service provider or as an IT support expert.You can also learn more about our commitment to resilience here.1 Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP): A network protocol developed by Microsoft which allow accessing remote computers with a graphical interface.2 Domain Name System (DNS): Colloquially sometimes called the phonebook of the internet, mapping technical network addresses (IP addresses) to human readable addresses (Domain Names) like www.helmholtz-berlin.de.3 Virtual Private Network (VPN): A networking technology which allows to connect two separate networks in a secure way.4 OpenProject: An open-source project management software.5 Identity Provider (IdP): An authentication interface which is used to log in to remote services, which do not have access to internal identity management systems, by using local credentials." } , { "title" : "Explore the HIFIS training program for 2024", "url" : "/news/2024/03/11/courses-2024/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Education, Research Software Engineering, HIDA", "date" : "2024-03-11 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "HIFIS Courses in 2024In close cooperation with HIDA, the HIFIS course program on Research Software Engineering was prepared for 2024.A year packed with 22 courses awaits many participants from all Helmholtz centers.For the first time, the organisation and implementation of the courseswill be split up in order to make targeted use of the strengths of each platform.HIDA primarily takes care of the organisational aspects and the advertisement,while the HIFIS instructors can focus on the training curriculum.All scheduled courses can be found in the HIDA course catalog.We will cover a broad range of topics from beginner to advanced.We help you in getting started with various aspects of Python programming,in getting started with research software publication orin getting in touch with Continuous Integration and automation.If you have ideas and suggestions for courses or would like to run a HIFIS course at your center, please contact us.Changelog 2024-10-16: Updated link to course catalog." } , { "title" : "HIFIS All-Hands Meeting 2024 in DLR Köln", "url" : "/news/2024/02/26/std-all-hands/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Event", "date" : "2024-02-26 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Save the date for the next all-hands meeting of HIFIS!We invite you to mark your calendars for the next HIFIS all-hands meeting, scheduled to take place at DLR Cologne on September 12-13, 2024. More details, including registration and the event programme, will be available soon on the event page.Prepare to learn everything you wish to know about HIFIS 2.0 and explore the latest developments in the different clusters. Be sure to pack your HIFIS hoodies, clear up your ideas for the brainstorming sessions and practice drinking in small glasses.Following our last gathering at HZDR, we look forward to seeing you again in Cologne. Should you have any suggestion or query for the meeting, please contact us at HIFIS Support." } , { "title" : "Service spotlight: Resource Entitlement Management (REMS) by DKFZ", "url" : "/news/2024/02/22/REMS-Cloud-Service/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Database, Health, Science", "date" : "2024-02-22 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Manage Access to Research Datasets: REMS brieflyResource Entitlement Management System (REMS) is an open source tool for managing access rights to different kinds of resources. REMS enables users to apply for access rights easily and offers a secure way for the data owners to manage access to their data.The resources in REMS do not necessarily have to be in electronic data sets. It is possible to manage access to basically anything as long as it is identified by an identifier. This includes for example research datasets and biological samples.REMS is a service developed by CSC IT Center for Science Ltd. and Nitor.Proven DKFZ software solutions for Helmholtz support the research processIt is not always possible to share data publicly. Sometimes data can contain sensitive personal data that restricts its use (e.g., due to data subjects consent). However, sensitive data is also very important for research, which is why accessing it needs to be easy but secure. Thus, it is advisable to use a system like REMS to assure a process to grant controlled access.With REMS, the DKFZ provides a Helmholtz Cloud Service to streamline the handling of Data Access Requests for research data hosted at archives, such as EGA and GHGA. REMS plays an essential role in tracking the status of requests and generating reports. Since early 2023, it is usable across the Helmholtz Association and provided via the Helmholtz Cloud Portal.Who can use REMSREMS is useful for individual researchers who want to get access to certain resources, as well as service providers who want to manage access to their material.Benefits for the resource owner A dynamic way to handle applications and manage access rights: For example, the data owner can define, how involved they want to be in the approval process, and how the process proceeds. An audit trail of all committed actions and enhanced reporting tools to improve application traceability: One can view the entire processing history of the application. Customisable application process: The application forms can be created and modified individually. Automation: Some functions can be automated to reduce unnecessary workload, such as approving and rejecting applications.Applicants can log in to REMS using Helmholtz ID, fill in the data access application and agree to the datasets terms of use. The REMS system then circulates the application to the resource owner or designated representative for approval. REMS also produces the necessary reports on the applications and the granted data access rights.The three roles in REMS explained Resource applicant: is allowed to use the service and to apply for resources directly after the first login. This is the standard role for all REMS users. Application handler: manages the access to resources for resource applicants. This role is assigned to users by organization administrators. Organization administrator: To assign this role to users, please get in contact with us.Get in contactIf you want to start using REMS to manage access rights to your resources, contact us at support@hifis.net.Changelog 20240925: Replace Helmholtz Login by Helmholtz ID" } , { "title" : "Best Scientific Image Contest 2024: submit your image", "url" : "/announcement/2024/02/13/imaging-contest/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Imaging, Contest", "date" : "2024-02-13 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Best Scientific Image Contest 2024: Submit your image by 23 February 2024Helmholtz Imaging is calling for the Best Scientific Image 2024.Submit your captivating scientific image(s) by 23 February 2024for a chance towin Helmholtz Imaging Best Scientific Image 2024, and valuable prizes totaling 5000 EUR!Theimage competitions in 2021, 2022, and 2023 were a huge success, and winning images travelled across Germany highlighting the remarkable portfolio of the Helmholtz Association in imaging and the contribution of imaging science in addressing major societal challenges.Images eligible for the competition can be: The outcome of any imaging technique developed or applied at Helmholtz Centers. Artistic compositions resulting from the combination of various images. Images need to be accompanied by a clear, informative and engaging description, providing context on the scientific significance, uniqueness, and origin of the image.Participation is open to all individuals working at a Helmholtz Center.A distinguished international jury will evaluate entries based on scientific merit, originality, and the artistic or visual impact of the image.The winning images will be prominently featured at theHelmholtz Imaging Conference 2024 on 14-15 May in Heidelberg, and shared with the public, media, and scientific institutions. Additionally, 12 selected images will be showcased in the Helmholtz Imaging calendar 2025, and the top 20 images will participate in a traveling exhibition displayed in various Helmholtz Centers and beyond.Aside from theJury Awardyour images have two additional opportunities to be recognized: Public Choice Award: The entire imaging community will vote for their favorite image. Participants Choice Award: Participants of the Helmholtz Imaging Conference will choose their preferred image.Save the date for the award ceremony at the Helmholtz Imaging Conference 2024 on 14-15 May &amp; join Helmholtz Imaging at their 4th annual conference.Get your images ready &amp; submit them via Helmholtz Imagings contest portal." } , { "title" : "Helmholtz RSD improved", "url" : "/announcement/2024/02/05/rsd-update/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Community, Cloud Services, Helmholtz RSD", "date" : "2024-02-05 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The Helmholtz RSD has received a major update to and now provides some new exciting features.Citation scrapingThe latest update provides the long awaited feature that will help software maintainers to effortlessly manage the mentions of their software entry in the Helmholtz RSD. Based on reference papers, citations can now be efficiently added to a software entry. The user adds DOIs from publications that are relevant to the software (e.g. method papers) via the Reference papers pane in the software settings:Using these DOIs, the Helmholtz RSD regularly collects citations form OpenAlex.org and automatically adds them to the list of mentions.HIFIS Software SpotlightsThe HIFIS Software Spotlights were the first software entries to be visible in the RSD. The HIFIS Spotlights do now have their representation in the Helmholtz RSD and appear at the top of the Software grid.ORCID coupling and public profile pagesHelmholtz RSD users can now link their ORCID to their RSD user account. This new feature opens up the possibility to create public profile pages, providing a comprehensive showcase of the users software entries and projects where they have contributed.FeedbackAre you missing features or discovered a bug, or need help with the Helmholtz RSD in general? Please contact us via support@hifis.net." } , { "title" : "Helmholtz Foundation Model Initiative call out!", "url" : "/announcement/2024/02/02/hfmi/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Artificial Intelligence, Helmholtz, Call", "date" : "2024-02-02 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The Helmholtz Association has launched an ambitious initiative to harness the recent advancements in AI and the rise of Foundation Models.The Helmholtz Foundation Model Initiative (HFMI) aspires to lead in creating generic AI models for a variety of research domains.Several recent examples demonstrated the potential of foundation models, e.g. RETFound, Segment Anything and IBM NASA Geospatial. The program aims to establish domain-focused pilot foundation projects with a clear path to transform research data into high-impact tools for scientific discovery.This call, launched yesterday, initiates our search for the highest-impact pilot foundation projects within the Helmholtz Association.Through this call, we wish to extend an opportunity to all Helmholtz researchers to apply for pilot foundation projects, inviting them to take part in the Helmholtz Foundation Model initiative with their specific existing datasets, related research questions, and unique foundation model approach. HFMI will facilitate the pairing of domain and AI experts where required. HFMI info eventAn info event is organised next week on Thursday, 08.02.2024, 11:00-12:00. It will provide a brief overview of the call for proposals, deadlines and requirements as well as the scientific approach and explains in detail what the Helmholtz Foundation Model Initiative is looking for. Match-making EventA match-making event will follow on Thursday, 15.02.2024, 10:00 12:00. It will help bring AI experts, HPC experts and domain scientist together to form competetive consortia for the Helmholtz Foundation Model Initiative. More informationThe call, preparation instructions and proposal template can be found in the call for application page of Helmholtz." } , { "title" : "HIFIS at HMC Dialog", "url" : "/news/2024/01/26/hifis-at-hmc-dialog/", "category" : "", "tags" : "HMC, Service Orchestration, Research Software Engineering", "date" : "2024-01-26 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Recently, HIFIS was invited to participate in the HMC Dialog. With 35 participants, we had the opportunity to present HIFIS and discuss ideas for more synergies between our platforms. This is the first of a series where all platforms will meet each other in the coming weeks. We look forward to these exchanges and the new ideas that will follow. The incubator platforms have already introduced a different atmosphere in Helmholtz: We are sharing much more than just a few years ago and these meetings are a good illustration of this changed wind.Uwe first presented how HIFIS can support scientists along the entire research lifecycle, in particular with the Helmholtz cloud services, but also with our consulting offers, be it for research software engineering or for deploying services in the cloud. Together with Franz, he also explained how HIFIS is increasingly focusing on the orchestration of different services. This is indeed a next big step for us in HIFIS, where we want to interconnect services to support complete and flexible scientific workflows. We have already started, as shown in a demonstrator we have created with the Imaging platform, where 6 different Helmholtz sites are involved in a distributed service orchestration.HMC already uses a lot of services from HIFIS: the Helmholtz ID, of course, but also as an example the HMC dashboard on FAIR and open data in Helmholtz is hosted in a docker-based service on the HDF cloud, which was set up together with HIFIS.As the name Dialog suggests, the presentation was followed by a lively discussion, for which we offer here a few takeaways.An interesting point was on the potential for collaboration between HMC and HIFIS on the distributed services orchestration. As workflows gain wider adoption, HIFIS could potentially not only process but also generate metadata, e.g. recording pertinent metadata about the execution of a workflow itself and thus improving the provenance information of processed datasets. Another interesting aspect would be to define with the user community which metadata is needed for a specific workflow to work.Both these aspects would offer added-value to scientists as well as an incentive to better annotate their data to use the scientific workflows available through HIFIS. It was agreed it would be interesting to see HMC and HIFIS teaming up on this topic, starting maybe with a pilot project in the portfolio of workflows Franz is currently supporting. We will follow-up on this.Another inquiry was made regarding the measurement and publication of cloud service energy consumption. While it is not currently measured nor displayed centrally, we should start by aggregating the information that is published by the service providers themselves. In the long term, this information could be used to optimize workflows based on environmental footprint. The Hub Energy was identified as a resource for further collaboration on energy consumption frameworks and related ontologies, e.g. for computer centres.Additionally, there were questions on consulting, best practices, scalability, and more. We could provide relevant links and stress that our support team at support@hifis.net is always available to address questions.The discussion concluded with the suggestion that future services developed through HMC calls should be onboarded in the Helmholtz Cloud, whenever appropriate, to enhance their sustainability. Get in contact For HIFIS: HIFIS Support" } , { "title" : "Prototype implementation of the NEST Desktop", "url" : "/use-case/2024/01/24/uc-nest/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Data Science, Rancher managed Kubernetes, In Development", "date" : "2024-01-24 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The NEST Desktop: Computational neuroscience for studentsNEST Desktop is an educational application for neuroscience that serves as a web-based graphical user interface (GUI) for the NEST Simulator a tool for spiking neuronal network models. NEST Desktop eliminates the need for programming skills and complex installations, providing a user-friendly experience through a GUI accessible in a web browser.NEST Desktop offers features for creating, configuring, and simulating neuronal network models, as well as visualizing and analyzing results. It consists of two main views, allowing users to interactively construct point neuron network models using a visual modeling language.The architecture ensures robustness against technological changes and simplifies deployment for both students and teachers. The tool enhances the teaching of computational neuroscience in university courses, promoting equal opportunities by being available on public resources like the European ICT infrastructure for neuroscience, EBRAINS, and more recently, on resources provided via HIFIS for Helmholtz Cloud.The NEST Desktop powered by HIFIS is accessible through the following link: NEST Desktop - HIFIS. NEST on Helmholtz Clouds Rancher serviceThe deployment architecture of the NEST Desktop service comprises three integral components, that have been implemented in a Rancher/Kubernetes environment that is provided via Helmholtz Cloud: NEST Simulator: This component is responsible for executing simulations of spiking neural network models. It leverages a highly optimized simulation kernel written in C++. NEST Desktop: This is a web-based application designed to offer a user-friendly graphical interface for the NEST Simulator. HTTP Server: The HTTP Server serves as the unit for delivering the NEST Desktop service to client programs and their users. Notably, it integrates an authentication and authorization module. This module implements the OpenID Connect Relying Party functionality to feature the login via Helmholtz ID.For each of the three components, the following Kubernetes resources have been established: Pod: In Kubernetes, a pod represents a co-located group of containers and serves as the fundamental building block. Instead of deploying containers individually, a pod facilitates the deployment and management of a cohesive group of containers as a single unit. Service: A Kubernetes service is an object designed to provide a stable, singular access point to a set of pods that deliver identical functionality. Deployment: The Kubernetes Deployment object is responsible in managing a group of pods within a workload. It oversees the creation and deletion of pods and allows for the selection of an update strategy. This means that rather than manually executing a series of operations to replace a set of Pods with ones running an updated application version, updates to the configuration in the Deployment object trigger Kubernetes to automate the update process. Get in contact For NEST: https://helmholtz.software/software/nest For HIFIS and the Helmholtz Cloud Services: HIFIS Support" } , { "title" : "Helmholtz Open Science Forum: Research Software", "url" : "/announcement/2024/01/23/forum-research-software/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2024-01-23 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " Helmholtz Open Science Forum: Research SoftwareThe Task Group Research Software of the WG Open Science, the Helmholtz Open Science Office and the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ) co-organize the 5th Helmholtz Open Science Forum: Research Software. The event will be hosted by UFZ in Leipzig Feb 05/06, 2024.Topics and TimetableThe 5th iteration of the Forum will feature topics such as the Helmholtz Incubator Software Award and Open Source Policy Offices as well as presentations of current software projects from within Helmholtz. Furthermore, we will gain insight into some recently published software policies. There is also room to speak about reusable CI/CD templates and workflows in GitLab.The detailed programme can be found here.RegistrationPlease register here. Participation is free of charge.In case of questions please do not hesitate to contact open-science@helmholtz.de." } , { "title" : "Helmholtz GPU Hackathon, Deadline: Jan 31", "url" : "/announcement/2024/01/17/gpu-hackathon/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2024-01-17 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " Helmholtz GPU HackathonCASUS, Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Forschungszentrum Jlich (FZJ), and the Helmholtz Information &amp; Data Science Academy (HIDA) together with NVIDIA and OpenACC will co-organize the Helmholtz GPU Hackathon 2024.The event will be hosted by CASUS in Grlitz April 23 through 26, 2024 with a virtual kick-off on April 15, 2024 (and a brief virtual get together on Apr 8).GPU Hackathons provide exciting opportunities for scientists to accelerate their large scale AI or HPC research under the guidance of expert mentors from national laboratories, universities and industry leaders in a collaborative environment.What happens at such a GPU Hackathon?Teams of about 3-6 people apply to work on porting (parts of) their code onto the GPU or refining an already existing GPU implementation. This can be classic simulation or also large scale AI models.Teams can use almost any programming model to do so, provided we find mentors for support.Each team will receive two mentors to help in the process. All of this is free of charge (but you have to cover your teams travel expenses to Grlitz). We will be using the Jlich HPC Systems (JURECA, JUWELS Booster or even an early access system for JUPITER - the upcoming exascale system at Jlich Supercomputing Center (JSC)).A maximum of eight teams can be accepted for the event.Prerequisites and how to apply? Teams are expected to be fluent with the code or project they bring to the event and motivated to make progress during the hackathon. A minimum of 3 team members must participate throughout the entire event. Lack of complete participation will result in the entire team being excused. Projects brought to the event are required to have a license attached and detailed in the application. For more information on why licenses are important and how to obtain one, please use following links: https://tldrlegal.com/ https://choosealicense.com/ Deadline for the team application is January 31, 2024!Please register here.In case of questions please do not hesitate to contact support@hifis.net." } , { "title" : "Better Coding: some starting points", "url" : "/tips/2023/12/15/better-coding/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Education, Research Software Engineering", "date" : "2023-12-15 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Divide-and-conquer the GoF design patterns with a DRY KISS?You learned some programming skills and can write code in one or maybe even two programming languages? Congratulations, this is amazing and a very useful skill!But as you continue on your journey, you may find yourself wondering how to find better solutions to a coding problem - depending on the context, this means shorter, faster, more easily reusable or more readable code.Or you may stumble across concepts about how to write code - and they are often hidden behind acronyms such as DRY or KISS. While no single concept will help you in every situation, they can be good guardrails for your coding journey. So lets take a look at some very popular ones!Helpful concepts and starting points for writing better codeDRYWriting DRY code means Dont Repeat Yourself.Thomas and Hunt (1999/2019), who coined the term, applied this not only to code itself, but also to databases or documentation. The key is that each piece of information is stated once and only once, e.g. in a variable, a function, or through data normalisation.KISSThe KISS principle is even older and comes from the US Navy: Keep It Simple, Stupid.Simplicity is the main design principle here, often easier said than done.Divide and conquerLiterally ancient is the maxim of divide and conquer (often attributed to Philip II of Macedon or Julius Caesar).In the programming world, the term describes an algorithm that breaks down a given problem into smaller, more manageable parts, solving them individually, and then combining the solutions to solve the overall problem. This approach is widely used in algorithm design and is known for its efficiency and scalability.Heres a classic example of divide and conquer in action with binary search. Binary search is used to find the position of a target value within a sorted array. Heres how it works: Divide: Start with the entire array and divide it into two halves. Conquer: Compare the target value with the middle element of the array. If they match, the search is complete. If the target value is less than the middle element, search the left half; otherwise, search the right half. Combine: Repeat the process on the selected half until the target value is found or the array is empty. 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243444546474849505152535455def binary_search(data, target): """Find the index of an element in a collection of data. Args: data: A collection of data that is indexable by position. Its elements must be comparable, and the data is assumed to be sorted in ascending order target: the element to look for Returns: The index of the target or `None` if the target is not present. """ # Base case: if there is no data, # the target will not be there if not data: return None # Base case: if there is only one element # it either is the target or it isn't if len(data) == 1: return ( 0 if data[0] == target else None ) # Find the middle index middle_index = len(data) // 2 # Check if the middle element is the target if data[middle_index] == target: return middle_index elif data[middle_index] &gt; target: # If the target is smaller, search the left half return binary_search(data[:middle_index], target) else: # If the target is larger, search the right half # Do not forget to account for the return value of the recursion # being offset by the middle index offset_index = binary_search(data[middle_index:], target) return ( None if offset_index is None else offset_index + middle_index )# Example usagesorted_array = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]for target_value in [1, 7, 99]: result = binary_search(sorted_array, target_value) if result is not None: print(f"Element {target_value} found at index {result}.") else: print(f"Element {target_value} not found in the array.")In this example one could also add in parallelization and would end up with another famous approach: Map-Reduce.While binary search is a common divide and conquer application at the algorithmic level, the concept also works at a higher architectural level.For example: I need to build a multi-day population simulation with statistical evaluationInstead of trying to build the whole multi-day population simulation at once, I solve the smaller tasks: simulate one day collect and store the data from a one day simulation extend it to several days by repeating 1. and 2. figure out independently how to do a statistical analysis of a dataset put all the pieces togetherThis is - what were the odds? - the example we use in the First Steps in Python course.GoF design patternsA more detailed approach comes with the 23 design patterns by the four authors Gamma, Helm, Johnson and Vlissides (1994), hence the name Gang of Four or GoF for short.They describe three categories of design patterns that are still valid today:Creational, structural and behavioral patterns.Very common in Java is the Factory (Method) Design Pattern - you may even be using it without realising its origin.Intrigued? You can find a lot more resources for research software engineering in this awesome RSE GitHub repository curated by our consulting team. You can also check for past and future training courses in our Education &amp; Training page, like the first steps in Python we mentioned earlier.Further Reading: Some Classics Dustin Boswell, The Art of Readable Code. Simple and Practical Techniques for Writing Better Code. 2011. Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, John Vlissides. Design Patterns. Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software. 1994. Pankaj: Gangs of Four (GoF) Design patterns. Tutorial. 2022. David Thomas, Andrew Hunt: The Pragmatic Programmer. Your Journey to Mastery. 20th Anniversary Edition, 2019.Helmholtz Software ConsultingStill need support with a concrete code project? HIFIS offers free-of-charge consulting as a service to research groups under the Helmholtz umbrella. Submit your request through a short questionnaire or find out more about the process here.Questions? Comments? Suggestions?Feel free to contact us!Changelog 2026-05-04 Renaming HIFIS consulting to Helmholtz Software Consulting" } , { "title" : "The 6th issue of our newsletter is here", "url" : "/news/2023/11/20/newsletter/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Newsletter", "date" : "2023-11-20 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The Latest News from HIFIS Sustained funding for HIFIS and the other platforms, new communities using HIFIS services, a new version of the research software directory now listing nearly 200 software, some news to read and listen to about the software award, and finally our journey towards a better resilience: find out the most recent news from HIFIS in the latest edition of our newsletter here (or in PDF).To receive further issues or spread the word, here is where to subscribe.Check also our previous newsletters and if you dont want to wait for the next edition for more news, you can regularly check our blog posts. Get in contactFeel free to write to us at HIFIS Support with any question or suggestion." } , { "title" : "Helmholtz Research Software Directory updated", "url" : "/announcement/2023/11/09/rsd-update/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Community, Cloud Services", "date" : "2023-11-09 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "New major update for the Helmholtz RSDThe Helmholtz Research Software Directory (https://helmholtz.software) was updated to version v2.0.0 of the Research Software Directory.The new release is focused on better usability and visual appearance of the RSD. It specifically includes a new layout for the software, project and organisation pages.The new release also includes enhanced filtering options for software entries, e.g. by assigned keywords or programming language. Further options are currently being developed, in particular dedicated filtering by Helmholtz Research Fields and PoF topics.Upcoming updates will include more enhancements such as better handling of logos and images of software entries, a feature that automatically collects citation information of a software entry based on DOIs, and personal RSE pages.Stay tuned for more updates and add your software to the RSD:https://helmholtz.software" } , { "title" : "Looking back at the Incubator Summer Academy 2023", "url" : "/news/2023/11/09/isa-summary/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Research Software Engineering, Incubator Summer Academy, Education", "date" : "2023-11-09 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " For the second time, the incubator platformsHelmholtz AI,Helmholtz Imaging,HIDA,HMC andHIFIScame together to organize a joint education and training event:the Incubator Summer Academy. The joint two-week program was structured into several course packages covering state of the art Data Science methods and skills, as well as networking opportunities in the Summer Academy Gathertown space!Ranging from fundamental course packages as for instance Python, or Introduction to Scientific Metadata to advanced topics as Machine Learning Based Image analysis,the program offered participants to select course packages that best suited their experience levels and interests. In total, 225 unique participants joined the event.In 44 hours, HIFIS instructors taught 4 course packages which were attended by 93 participants.The participant feedback was very positive. We can look back on an extensive two-week program that is well worth repeating in 2024. In any case, you dont need to wait that long to participate in a HIFIS workshop.Further HIFIS workshops are held regularly.All information is available here. " } , { "title" : "Resilience of HIFIS Core Services", "url" : "/news/2023/11/02/resilience-core-services/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Helmholtz ID, Resilience, Codebase, Sustainability", "date" : "2023-11-02 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "HIFIS Resilience: protecting core services in a federated environmentA federated environment, such as the one established through HIFIS, provides the key advantage of inherent resilience that comes from having multiple centres and resources working together. When one centre is impacted by an issue, whether it be a cyber attack or other unexpected events, like power shortages, HIFIS can rapidly activate a duplicate of its core service at an alternative location. This minimises downtime and ensures the continuous operation of the HIFIS services for our users.Over the past three months, we have identified and prioritised the HIFIS core services. Since the end of September, the most important core services are replicated daily at other Helmholtz centers. Having started with ad hoc solutions, we will continue to improve the technical implementation and organisational structure to support the overall resilience of HIFIS in the long-term.This commitment to resilience and adaptability ensures the continued availability of services like the Helmholtz ID or the HIFIS Helpdesk, even in the face of unexpected events.Questions? Comments? Proposals?If you have anything to tell us, feel free to contact us." } , { "title" : "Bachelor Thesis to improve Helmholtz AAI Processes", "url" : "/news/2023/10/26/VO-registration-process/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Helmholtz ID, Bachelor", "date" : "2023-10-26 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " New Registration Process for Helmholtz AAI User Groups Digital collaboration is becoming increasingly important in research. This represents research centres with the challenge of finding ways to strengthen the digital collaboration of their researchers. To be able to share digital resources, User Groups are used within the Helmholtz Association as a digital representation of real (research) groups across institutions and disciplines. Prior to usage these groups must be registered in the Helmholtz authentication and authorisation infrastructure (Helmholtz AAI). Within the Helmholtz AAI, the User Groups are referred to as Virtual Organisations (VOs).This registration of the User Groups is currently not automated and is therefore cumbersome.The aim of the bachelor thesis was the redesign of the VO RegistrationProcess and the implementation of a user surface in the service data base Plony. For this purpose, the process was first modelled as a UML activity diagramand then implemented as a web application in Plony. The thesis describes the requirements, design, and implementation of the VO RegistrationProcess. The focus is on the creation of the design and the implementationof the backend and frontend. The discussion shows that a new process could besuccessfully modelled and was used as a basis for the implementation. Thus, a webapplication with a form for the registration of User Groups was implemented. To complete the implementation, the next step is to realise the connection to the Helmholtz AAI, among other things, so that the User Groups can also be created there automatically. Questions? Comments? Proposals? If you have anything to tell us, dont hesitate to contact us." } , { "title" : "HIFIS supporting the VISA Collaboration", "url" : "/use-case/2023/10/26/VISA/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Data Science, Mattermost, Notes, Codebase", "date" : "2023-10-26 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " The VISA Portal: Analyzing data in the web browserThe Photon and Neutron science cluster for Open Science, PaNOSC, developed in the last years a Virtual Infrastructure for Scientific Analysis: VISA.It allows scientists to easily access scientific data and computing resources from their browser. These can either be open data accessible to anyone or data still under embargo originating from an experiment the scientist participated in.VISA provides a selection of data sets the scientist has access to and mounts them into a virtual machine that is outfitted with analysis software tailored to the scientists needs.Furthermore, VISA allows scientists to easily share access to these virtual machines with colleagues working on the same topic from a different geographical location.This approach to simultaneous access to a common workspace is unique in the sense that it allows scientists to collaborate without the need to install anything on their personal computers. The transfer of large data sets to make them available in an instance of VISA can also be handled in the background by means of asynchronous automated transfer methods. Thus, scientists do not have to carry any storage media from one facility to another, making the process seamless and easily accessible to anyone. For more details see the VISA documentation and sustainability sheet. If you want to use VISA, you can request access to the ESRF instance via the EOSC with a short statement of your interest.Helmholtz Cloud Services enable this pan-European collaborationIn order to further the development and subsequent use of VISA, a collaboration of eleven European research institutes has been established. This VISA collaboration is coordinated by colleagues at SOLEIL, France with support from DESY, Germany. In order to exchange documents, scripts and information, the collaboration is using several services provided through HIFIS: Files, especially written documents, tables or presentations can be shared and worked on collaboratively via Sync &amp; Share, Notes offers collaborative note taking in markdown, The Helmholtz Codebase is a GitLab which is used to share and work collaboratively on code, enabling among other things version control, Mattermost is a chat service that allows for private messages as well as group channels, document exchange and boards.Because it is available to Helmholtz members and their partners, HIFIS is a key enabler of pan-European collaborations, while respecting data sovereignity. Get in contactFor the VISA Collaboration: VISA Mailing listFor HIFIS and the Helmholtz Cloud Services: HIFIS Support" } , { "title" : "All-Hands Meeting of HIFIS", "url" : "/news/2023/10/19/all-hands-meeting/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Event", "date" : "2023-10-19 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "All-hands HIFIS Meeting in Dresden-Rossendorf On October 11-12, we welcomed all HIFIS members and close collaborators to our All-hands meeting at HZDR.This also included members of our scientific advisory board and federation board.The meeting was actually the first in-person event comprising all HIFIS members, since all previous meetings were either virtual or centering around smaller groups. We gathered to: keep all branches of HIFIS and our stakeholders updated on our progress and development directions, foster networking between our branches, as well as with scientific user groups, develop our working groups to align with the anticipated future developments of HIFIS, particularly considering the positive decision of the Helmholtz Assembly of Members in September to continue the platforms. During the meeting, we collected numerous new ideas on how we could and should develop HIFIS further in order to even better serve the needs of scientistis and to support science overall. Lively discussions, such as No limits here: what would you wish HIFIS to be by 2025, by 2030? proved extremely popular, as they facilitated the rapid generation of creative ideas. Follow-up The initial phase of HIFIS has been completed successfully, so we are currently adapting our resources to tackle new challenges and ensure long-term sustainability of our services. The increased need for cross-cluster collaboration and overarching tasks will be reflected in the near future by adjusting working groups and corresponding meeting formats. " } , { "title" : "Codebase is now a forge in the Software Heritage project!", "url" : "/news/2023/10/18/software-heritage/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Codebase, HIFIS Software, Sustainability", "date" : "2023-10-18 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Preserving the Helmholtz Codebase legacy in the universal software archiveOur Helmholtz Codebase is now part of the archived forges which are regularly harvested by the Software Heritage Archive. You can browse through the archived repositories of our forge here. It is more than a digital formality, it shows our dedication to preserving the history and evolution of our research software and our commitment to the open-source community. Software HeritageSoftware HeritageSoftware Heritage aims to collect and preserve software in source code form, because software embodies our technical and scientific knowledge and humanity cannot afford the risk of losing it. It is an open, non-profit initiative unveiled in 2016 by Inria. It is supported by a broad panel of institutional and industry partners, in collaboration with UNESCO. HIFIS, with its strong focus on research software engineering quite naturally support their mission.What does it mean for your project? That you dont need to use the save code now function of the Software Heritage archive, as your repository - as long as it is set to public in GitLab - is now automatically and regularly harvested as part of the Helmholtz Codebase forge. That the Step 2 in the HOWTO archive and reference your code is taken care of. That you can use the Persistent Identifier (SWHID) which identifies each and every source code artifact, that can also be used as a badge. That other researchers will be able to find your repository via the Software Heritage Archive." } , { "title" : "HIFIS at the IT4Science Days 2023", "url" : "/news/2023/10/16/IT4science/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud, Research Software Engineering, Event", "date" : "2023-10-16 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "HIFIS showcases innovation at the IT4Science Days 2023The IT4Science Days 2023, a joint meeting of the Max Planck Society and the Helmholtz Association on IT for Science concluded two weeks ago. Hosted at the MDC Berlin-Buch campus, this event brought together many actors from both organisations to discuss and explore the latest developments in the field of digital science. Several contributions were made by the HIFIS team to illustrate the importance of collaboration. Our colleagues from Helmholtz AI also made a presentation, further enriching the diversity of perspectives and ideas shared.The organisers from the Max Planck Society expressed their gratitude for the contributions and active involvement of HIFIS members.Towards a Global Digital Research LandscapeSebastian outlined the challenges that IT organisations in science face and demonstrated the current disparity in the global digital research landscape. He argued for the importance of sharing knowledge and digital infrastructure among organizations to enable spontaneous interdisciplinary collaboration in science.Continuous integration in complex research softwareTobias showed how complex local Gitlab CI infrastructure could be integrated within a GitHub.com project, to make use of specific developments which are not available on the global platform while still keeping the code there.Developing and deploying the Helmholtz Cloud PortalThomas presented an overview of the Helmholtz Cloud Portal GitOps. He introduced the underlying infrastructure, presented the development process using local containerized environments and review environments on Gitlab, and concluded with the final deployment in production on Kubernetes with FluxCD." } , { "title" : "HIFIS funding guaranteed until 2029", "url" : "/announcement/2023/10/13/HIFIS-continued-funding/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Incubator, Evaluation", "date" : "2023-10-13 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Five more years of continued funding to look forward toTheres reason to celebrate:The Helmholtz Assembly of Members (German: Mitgliederversammlung, MV) decided to continue the funding for HIFIS and its four sister Incubator Platforms at least until 2029.This good news came after the extraordinarily positive feedback by an external review board that we received end of last year.With that, the Helmholtz MV rewarded us according to our fantastic results and commitment!All platforms are now tasked to further elaborate on their future plans and hand in their concepts in for the next Helmholtz MV in spring 2024. So: Lets rock!" } , { "title" : "A 1000th event hosted by HIFIS services", "url" : "/news/2023/09/15/1000th-event/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Cloud Services", "date" : "2023-09-15 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "A Milestone in HIFIS Events: A 1000th EventWe are pleased to announce a milestone for our Event management service: the creation of a 1000th event.It happened to be organised by the Helmholtz Head Office in the frame of the Helmholtz School for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (HeSIE).HIFIS Events is a Helmholtz-hosted Events Management service for everyone within Helmholtz and their partners, based on CERNs open source Indico. This service can be used free-of-charge by anybody within Helmholtz, also external collaboration partners can be invited. Login is, as usual, seamless via the Helmholtz AAI.Thanks to all who trust us for their event management, and heres to the next thousand ." } , { "title" : "Incubator Summer Academy: Registration is open", "url" : "/announcement/2023/08/15/summer-academy-registration/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Event, Helmholtz Incubator", "date" : "2023-08-15 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Registration is open nowPut your data science skills to the next level with the Summer Academy Once more, the five platformsHelmholtz.AI,Helmholtz Imaging,HIFIS,HIDA andHMC have teamed up to create an exciting program consisting of a variety course packages covering state of the art Data Science methods and skills, as well as networking opportunities in our Summer Academy Gathertown space! This online event will take place on September 1829, 2023.If you want to level up your data science skills (or develop any), take a look at the program and choose your course package.The registration is now open until August 25. Ranging from fundamental course packages as for instance Python, or Introduction to Scienctific Metadata to advanced topics as Machine Learning Based Image analysis, the program offers participants to select course packages that best suit their experience levels and interests. The Incubator Summer Academy is open to all doctoral and postdoctoral researchers in the Helmholtz Association. How to register Log in to indico first at HIFIS Events. Have a look at the course packages and the timetable. Choose the course package(s) you would like to attend. Please keep in mind that some workshops require certain previous experience/knowledge. Also, you should not pick two course packages that overlap in time. If you want to register for a course package, click on the link Register here displayed in the overview of course packages. Alternatively, you can click on the Registration button on the left hand side of this general information page to find a list with all available registration forms. You will be directed to the registration form for that course package. Fill it in and click on Apply or Register. You will receive a registration notice via e-mail. Please note that this is NOT yet a confirmation. Please make your own calendar entries so that you do not miss the course package you registered for. If you are selected as a participant for the course package, you will be notified about ten days to one week prior to the Incubator Summer Academy. Questions? Comments? Suggestions? For the Summer Academy: HIDA For HIFIS: HIFIS Support. " } , { "title" : "A Podcast about the new Software Award", "url" : "/news/2023/08/14/podcast-award/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Media, Helmholtz Incubator", "date" : "2023-08-14 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The Helmholtz Incubator Software AwardAs frequent readers of this blog already know, Code for Thought is a community podcast for Research, (Open) Science and Engineering. At the end of July, an extra episode was published where the host Peter Schmidt interviewed HIFIS coordinator Uwe Konrad from Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf.They talked about the Helmholtz Incubator Software Award, which is offered for the first time and aims to promote the development of professional and high-quality research software. Feel free to tune in anytime! Theres more to listen to!Are you a podcast fan? Then you might also want to listen to other podcast episodes that cover HIFIS topics: Earlier this year, Peter Schmidt already hosted an episode with HIFIS.In the German episode Bringt uns Programmieren bei (teach us programming), he interviews Fredo Erxleben from HIFIS Software about his experiences as workshop leader, teaching coding, version control and other important topics to scientists.And there is another German episode from 2021, where Holger Klein from the Helmholtz Resonator talks with Uwe Jandt (HIFIS Coordination) and Carina Haupt (HIFIS Software Services) about the platform in general.Get in ContactFor Code for Thought: Peter SchmidtFor HIFIS: HIFIS Support" } , { "title" : "The July Issue of our Newsletter is here", "url" : "/news/2023/07/20/newsletter/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Newsletter", "date" : "2023-07-20 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The Latest News from HIFISWhile this newsletter might find some of its readers at beaches or mountainsides, here at HIFIS were still very busy. The latest issue of our newsletter just got sent to all subscribers.In it, we bundled up the latest news from HIFIS and the Helmholtz Incubator:As you might have seen, Helmholtz Cloud has got a facelift. Also, we expanded the service portfolio further, as now also large-scale storage is available for research and service pipelines.We were also active in the Incubator context with the 13th Helmholtz Incubator Workshop.Especially if you write Research Software in Helmholtz, you should consider the first Helmholtz Incubator Software Award.Upcoming events to keep in mind are the Teach 3 Conference, Incubator Summer Academy and, arriving after editorial deadline, the HMC Conference.And, last but not least, if you are interested in the educational activities from HIFIS, tune in to the German episode of Code for thought.Interested in Our Next Steps?Then dont miss our next newsletters to track the progress and perspectives of HIFIS!Subscribe here, and spread the word and link.Check also our newsletters archive and blog posts.Questions? Comments? Suggestions?Dont hesitate to contact the HIFIS Support!" } , { "title" : "New Helmholtz Cloud Landing Page", "url" : "/announcement/2023/07/19/portal-relaunch/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud", "date" : "2023-07-19 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " Helmholtz Cloud Design Update Were excited to finally show you what has been in the works for the past few months: a completely redesigned landing page for the Helmholtz Cloud Portal along with a design refresh!Things are moving fast at HIFIS and we felt the original landing page needed a few updates to reflect the expanded service portfolio. Putting Scientists at the Center The landing page is the first point of contact when using Helmholtz Cloud Services. For new users, getting a clear understanding of Helmholtz Cloud is vital. Therefore, all texts owere re-written to put scientists at the center, highlighting how they can use services to support their daily work.Not only can scientists organize their teams work but they can also assemble services into customized workflows, access some of the most powerful resources available at Helmholtz and collaborate with people around the world. The Cloud Built for Science Continuing on the theme of putting scientists and their work at the center you may have noticed the video at the top of the landing page. It represents a real-world use case of Helmholtz Cloud services. As Helmholtz Cloud gained wider adoption, so grew the number of use cases covered on HIFIS.net. Their aim is to showcase a project or a workflow and let scientists discover ways others use Helmholtz Cloud with contact info readily available to share experience.The video at the landing page, for example, links to a detailed description of the DataHub of the Research Field Earth and Environment. Were Just Getting Started This design update marks the beginning of a series of updates coming to HIFIS websites and applications. Apart from the visual refresh it also lays the foundation for a unified user interface design system for HIFIS overall. Development is going to continue and you may see updates all over HIFIS pages, so stay tuned for more updates! Questions? Comments? Proposals? If you have anything to tell us, dont hesitate to contact us." } , { "title" : "HIFIS Scientific Advisory Board 2023", "url" : "/news/2023/07/19/SAB-2023/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Report, Event", "date" : "2023-07-19 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "International experts discussed further developmentOn 13th July 2023, the HIFIS Scientific Advisory Board met online to discuss the progress of HIFIS over the last year and to provide advice for future development. Ten international IT experts participated and, together with our HIFIS management, discussed upcoming opportunities and challenges. Both reliable operation and user-oriented further development now need careful management. With the contributions of the advisory board, this evolution takes place well embedded in the global scientific context without neglecting Helmholtz requirements.Discussion how HIFIS can improve the following task at HelmholtzWithin HIFIS, we identified four tasks that we need to focus on, so we presented them to the advisory board.Their external contributions were particularly desirable on these topics and were discussed in four breakout rooms: Contribution that HIFIS can make to enhance operational cybersecurity in the Helmholtz Centres. Boosting of Research Software Development. Further development of raw scientific software and services into sustainable offerings e.g. by funding projects. Improving of the scientific Helmholtz Cloud portfolio.Comments and suggestionsContact us anytime in English or German / Deutsch: contact us!" } , { "title" : "HMC Conference: Call for Abstracts is open", "url" : "/announcement/2023/07/17/hmc-conference/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Event, HMC, Helmholtz Incubator", "date" : "2023-07-17 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Better Research Through Better MetadataHMC, the Helmholtz Metadata Collaboration, invites you to their second conferenceThe HMC conference 2023 wants to provide you with a platform to present your metadata project, to share ideas with the metadata community, to get an insight into recent developments and to network.The conferecne will focus on three main areas:Assessing and monitoring the state of FAIR data, Facilitating connectivity of research data and Transforming (meta)data recommendations into implementations.More details on those topics and their subtopics can be found here.The online event will happen on 10.-12.10.2023.Registry and Call for Abstracts are openSounds interesting? Register here.The call for abstracts for talks or posters is also open. The submissions must belong to one of the three tracks listed above and the deadline is 16.08.2023.Get in ContactFor the HMC conference: HMC" } , { "title" : "Helmholtz Incubator Workshop 2023 in Berlin", "url" : "/news/report/event/2023/07/11/incubator-workshop-13/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Incubator", "date" : "2023-07-11 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Helmholtz Incubator Workshop 2023 in BerlinWith the 13th Incubator Workshop, all platforms (HIFIS, Helmholtz AI, Helmholtz Imaging, HIDA, HMC) continued to exploit their high creative potential to implement far-reaching benefits for the scientific communities.A unique initiative in the scientific landscapeBoth the Helmholtz President Otmar D. Wiestler (picture on the right) and the invited external experts emphasized the enormous value that all Incubator platforms have for the Helmholtz Association. The initiative is regarded as unique in the scientific landscape in bringing together digital expertise across a broad spectrum of science. Since 2017, the Incubator and its experts made invaluable contributions to a sustainable, long-term and association-wide structure that mobilizes significant synergies and generates substantial benefit for Helmholtz and its research programs, Wiestler stated. He and the experts considered it important for the future that the momentum and the dynamic spirit in all platforms is maintained. To open the Incubator Framework to a growing information &amp; data science community in order to systematically exploit the Incubator as a vivid exchange platform will be one of the future challenges.Excellent ratings for all platforms2022 and 2023, all platforms and also the schools, concluded their respective evaluation with the rating highly recommended to continue.During this process, all platforms have developed strategies for their future development and enhancements. Numerous supporting recommendations from the evaluation panels need to be implemented. Following the advice to intensify cross-platform collaboration, these valuable ideas were brought together during the workshop. In several breakout sessions, the participating experts from all research fields generated comprehensive ideas, ranging from short-term plans to far-reaching missions.In fall 2023 and based on the fruitful and valuable results of this workshop, the Helmholtz Assembly of Members will decide on the future of the Incubator and the platforms, with the upcoming Incubator Workshop fleshing out the details on their continuation and development.Get in ContactHIFIS Support" } , { "title" : "New service: DESY provides dCache InfiniteSpace", "url" : "/news/2023/07/11/dcache-in-helmholtz-cloud/", "category" : "", "tags" : "dCache, Storage, Cloud Services", "date" : "2023-07-11 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Exa-scale storage now available as a service: Check DESYs dCache InfiniteSpacedCache InfiniteSpace as the 32th Helmholtz Cloud service rounds off the service portfolio: Large scale storage is now available as a service via the Helmholtz ID to all user groups of the Helmholtz Cloud.Mass Storage from DESY for Helmholtz dCache is an open source project which developed a system for storing and retrieving large amounts of data, providing world-wide access. It has been built and is further developed by Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) and the Nordic e-Infrastructure collaboration (NeIC).Thus, the system was a perfect candidate for DESY to provide mass storage Helmholtz-wide via Helmholtz Cloud. Actually, it has been one of the first services connected to the Helmholtz AAI in early 2020 as a demonstrator. Now, it has become a regular service and is provided via the Helmholtz Cloud Portal branded as dCache InfiniteSpace.The service allows Helmholtz-based user groups to store, process and publish research data with practically no storage limits.It is a perfect match to combine with data processing pipelines (service orchestration) that the HIFIS team is currently setting up in collaboration with research groups.On top, the dCache software features advanced authorization delegation, provides a user-transparent workflow to enable buffering and pre-fetching of data transfers, thus minimizing performance losses due to latency. It also supports integration with large data transfer services such as CERNs File Transfer Service.Early Adopters become regular UsersA few Helmholtz user groups have been using this service already in its prototypic phase.For example, Helmholtz AIs SeisBench project uses this service as Mass Storage for Machine Learning in Seismology.Also our partners from Helmholtz Imaging are using the storage.We also showcased our first implementation of a service pipeline for scientific data processing that will be further extended in collaboration with Helmholtz Imaging Modalities.In this pipeline, multiple services, including the large scale storage, are chained in a modular fashion to process data in an automatable and reproducible way.On top, the storage service is an important element in large scale data transfer, for example employing the HIFIS transfer service.Get in contactFor dCache InfiniteSpace or anything else HIFIS-related: HIFIS SupportChangelog2023-08-14:The service can now be accessed via Helmholtz Cloud Portal, hence links in this blog post have been adjusted." } , { "title" : "TEACH 3: Call for Abstract is open", "url" : "/news/2023/07/03/teach3-call/", "category" : "", "tags" : "HIFIS Education, Event, HIDA, HMC", "date" : "2023-07-03 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "TEACH 3: Explore, Exchange, ExcelSave the date and registerThe conference TEACH, the Teaching Across Communities at Helmholtz, will take place on 07./08.12.2023 for the third time.The online event will be hosted in Gathertown and the registration is now open. This years focus lies on AI in Education, Education on AI, Mental Health as well as Best Practices in Online vs Offline Settings.The Call for Abstracts is open!For each of these topics you can now send in abstracts for contributions whether it be a poster, workshop or talk.You find all the details and submission instructions here.The call for abstracts will be open till 13.09.2023.Get in ContactFor HIFIS Education: HIFIS Support" } , { "title" : "Apply for the first Helmholtz Incubator Software Award", "url" : "/announcement/2023/07/03/software-award/", "category" : "", "tags" : "HIFIS Software", "date" : "2023-07-03 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The Helmholtz Incubator Software AwardThe President of the Helmholtz Association offers a new prize, the Helmholtz Incubator Software Award.It aims to promote the development of professional and high-quality research software and to recognize the commitment to software as the basis of modern Data Science. The award will put the spotlight on sustainable development and operation of research software.It recognizes the importance of collaboration between software developers and will help making research software available for re-use.Call is openOn the first of July, the call for the Helmholtz Incubator Software Award was published and sent to the Helmholtz centres. It will be awarded to Helmholtz scientists, engineers and teams (including PhD students) who develop outstanding software solutions. The prize can be awarded in up to three categories: scientific originality, sustainability and newcomer.Apply now!The call is open until September 30th, 2023.More information and details can be found in the call.Dont miss the opportunity!PodcastFeel free to tune in to the podcast on this topic !Get in ContactHIFIS SupportChangelog 2023-08-03: Added link to podcast" } , { "title" : "A Podcast about HIFIS Education", "url" : "/news/2023/06/29/podcast-education/", "category" : "", "tags" : "HIFIS Education, Media", "date" : "2023-06-29 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "A Podcast about HIFIS EducationCode for Thought is a community podcast for Research, (Open) Science and Engineering.In the latest German episode Bringt uns Programmieren bei (teach us programming), the host Peter Schmidt interviews Fredo Erxleben from HIFIS Education.He talks about his experiences as workshop leader, teaching coding, version control and other important topics to scientists. Feel free to tune in anytime! Theres more to listen to!Are you a podcast fan? Then you might also want to listen to another German episode from 2021, where Holger Klein from the Helmholtz Resonator talks with Uwe Jandt (HIFIS Coordination) and Carina Haupt (HIFIS Software Services) about the platform in general.Get in ContactFor HIFIS Education: HIFIS Support" } , { "title" : "Recap and Report on the TEACH Conference 2022", "url" : "/news/2023/06/21/teach-report/", "category" : "", "tags" : "HIFIS Education, Report, Event", "date" : "2023-06-21 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The second TEACH Conference, Open Up! 2022A short recapThe conference TEACH Talk about Education Across Communities in Helmholtz was initiated in 2021 by educators and trainers from the Helmholtz Incubator platforms.This event was repeated in November 2022, this time under the motto Open Up!. The contributions focused on the topic of open educational resources (OER) as part of the Open Science movement. Ten talks and workshops were offered by 14 contributors in parallel sessions.Posters presenting the Helmholtz platforms were set up in a gallery, like a traditional poster session at a in-person conference.If you are interested in the contents, have a look at the Book of Abstracts and the slides beneath the respective slot in the timetable.The ReportAfter the event, the organizers took some time to reflect on the outcome and prepared a concise report on the conference.It was published on Zenodo, the open repository operated by CERN. With the publication on Zenodo, the report got persistantly citeable with a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and was added to the HIFIS Community on Zenodo.You can also find the report of the first conference on Zenodo.Core FindingsRefering to the takeaway messages from the last TEACH conference, there is still a great demand for improving the communication within the Helmholtz Society. Events like the TEACH conference can bring people together. But as developments in open educational resources point out there is also a demand for platforms, tools and workflows for collaboration. One example for this is the website Workshop Materials by HIFIS.It can be seen as an initial step in this direction. The goal is to create many points of contact in the Helmholtz Society to establish a culture of sharing and networking. A new focus at the second TEACH conference was placed on mental health this year. Often neglected in the past, its importance and an awareness thereof increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. This demand was recognized and addressed in the present teaching community. Here in particular an exchange between trainers among the Helmholtz Centres is necessary to develop concepts and implement further courses. [From the Report on the TEACH Conference 2022, p. 2.]Get in ContactFor HIFIS Education: HIFIS SupportReferences Schmahl, Ines, Schworm, Stephanie, Erxleben, Fredo, &amp; Lemster, Christine. (2023). Report on the TEACH Conference 2022 (Revision 2023-05-16). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7956292 Erxleben, Fredo, Ehrmanntraut, Sophie, Ferguson, Lea Maria, &amp; Florian, Mona. (2023). Report on the TEACH Conference 2021 (Revision 2023-05-16). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7956355" } , { "title" : "Incubator Summer Academy > Next Level Data Science", "url" : "/announcement/2023/06/20/summer-academy/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Event, Helmholtz Incubator", "date" : "2023-06-20 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Save the Date!Our Incubator Summer Academy Next Level Data Science will take place on September 1829, 2023! Once more, the five platformsHelmholtz.AI,Helmholtz Imaging,HIFIS,HIDA andHMC have teamed up to create an exciting program consisting of a variety course packages covering state of the art Data Science methods and skills, as well as networking opportunities in our Summer Academy Gathertown space! Ranging from fundamental course packages as for instance Python, or Introduction to Scienctific Metadata to advanced topics as Machine Learning Based Image analysis, the program offers participants to select course packages that best suit their experience levels and interests. The Incubator Summer Academy is open to all doctoral and postdoctoral researchers in the Helmholtz Association. Registration will open mid of August stay tuned, we will keep you up to date here! Questions? Comments? Suggestions? If you have any feedback to tell us, dont hesitate to contact us. " } , { "title" : "Insights from the Cloud Team Meeting 2023", "url" : "/news/2023/06/08/cloud-team-meeting-berlin/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Cloud Services", "date" : "2023-06-08 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "In our fourth HIFIS Cloud team meeting, we identified the milestones to further develop the user experience of the Helmholtz CloudTo improve user experience (UX), we have to go beyond the concept of interconnecting individual components with specific work packages. This way of thinking proved to be very successful as it accelerated the way to set up the Helmholtz Cloud for our scientific users in a short term. Now, with the Helmholtz Cloud being increasingly used, our approach needs to be adapted: Strictly distingiushing the specific components is not sufficient anymore, as they only work as a whole.Within our workshop, we took time to emphasize how a user experiences the Helmholtz Cloud. We asked ourselves: Imagine you are a new Helmholtz employee and your team leader asks you to find out how to use a Helmholtz Cloud Service. For this purpose, we used the Six-thinking-hats method [1,2] to discuss the login process. This allowed us to include all relevant perspectives.Although the individual components already function reliably, their user-friendliness and functionality can be improved. Many ideas are waiting in the backlog to be developed. The workshop results clearly showed priorities, correlations and dependencies of the issues. Also the future structure of working groups and meetings became clear.Comments and suggestionsContact us anytime in English or German / Deutsch: contact us!References[1] Wikipedia: Six thinking hats (English)[2] Projekte Leicht gemacht Blog (German)" } , { "title" : "New functionality in Plony: Change Requests", "url" : "/news/2023/05/30/new-functionalities-in-Plony/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Cloud Services", "date" : "2023-05-30 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Edit your service information directly in Plony!With the introduction of the Online Form any member of the Service Operation Group can suggest changes for one or multiple service information. For example: The nubes Service Operation Group can change the content of any field of the nubes Service Description.Roles in the Change Request processThe roles included in the Change Request process are the Service Operation Group, the Object Owner and the Service Portfolio Manager: The Service Operation Group includes one or more persons operating a service (usually admins) and therefore knowing the service best. Whenever service information is outdated, a member of the Service Operation Group can update the information and thereby create a change request. The Object Owner can review/edit change requests from the Service Operation Group and forward the Change Request for approval to HIFIS. Additionally, the Object Owner manages the members of the Service Operation Group by adding/deleting members. The Object Owner is automatically filled with the person named as Service Manager during the Onboarding Process; this entry can be changed so that Object Owner and Service Manager are different persons. The Service Portfolio Manager receives Change Requests, may discuss them with the HIFIS Team and decides about acceptance/denial of the suggested changes.You find a detailed description of how changing service information works in chapter V of the Plony instruction.Service Providers: We need your support!If you already provide a service to Helmholtz Cloud: Please log in to Plony and check the tab Ownership in your service is the right person set as Object Owner? As Object Owner, please add the correct members to your Service Operation Group. If you miss someone in the list of possible Service Operation Group members, please ask them to initially login to Plony via Helmholtz AAI. They will then be added to the list of possible Service Operation Group members." } , { "title" : "Last Minute! Open Seats in Course "First Steps in Python"", "url" : "/announcement/2023/05/19/open-seats-python/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Workshop, HIFIS Education", "date" : "2023-05-19 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Open Seats left in First Steps in PythonThe online course First Steps in Python offered by HIFIS Education takes place on Thursday 25th of May and aims at beginners.You are only expected to install the software on your computer as a prerequisite, details can be found here.This workshop is conceptualized as a one-day event that covers an introduction to the Python programming language, its basic language and programming concepts. It leaves you with fundamental knowledge as a jumping-off point for self guided learning.Registration is still open!The registration for this course is open until Tuesday 23rd of May, so do not hesitate to secure your place!Questions? Comments? Proposals?If you have anything to tell us, dont hesitate to contact us." } , { "title" : "deRSE unconference Call for Contributions", "url" : "/announcement/2023/05/03/deRSE/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Event", "date" : "2023-05-03 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " Extended deadline for Submissions The deRSE Unconference 2023 which takes place on the 26th, 27th and 28th September 2023 in Jena, Germany, has extended its deadline and you still have time to get involved! Deadline for proposing new break-out sessions (extended): May 15, 2023 Deadline for short talks (extended): May 29, 2023 Deadline of finishing break-out session proposals (extended): May 29, 2023 An Unconference, you ask? For this event we let YOU create the program! We offer a great location (Dornburger Schlsser, Jena), food, plenty of time and a lot of people interested in RSE, but the topics will come from you and we will make sure there are enough free slots for you to talk, code, write, and have fun. We have two different formats for you to fill: short talks with round tables and break-out sessions. To learn more and create your submission, go to the website.You can submit your break-out idea here and your short talk abstract here. Questions? Dont hesitate to contact the unconference orga team! " } , { "title" : "Six Main Tasks in Image Processing", "url" : "/announcement/2023/05/03/HI-seminar-series/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Imaging, Event", "date" : "2023-05-03 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " Seminar Series: Six Main Tasks in Image Processing The virtual seminar series covers applied imaging processing, its concepts and techniques.Topics range from reconstruction &amp; denoising, tracking, segmentation, visualization and explainable machine learning.The seminar will take place on Thursdays, 14.00-15.30 via Zoom and starts on May 4. The Program 4.5.2023: The six main tasks in image processing: an overview; speaker: Prof. Philip Kollmannsberger (Heinrich-Heine-Universitt Dsseldorf) 25.5.2023: Tomographic methods in medical imaging; speaker: Dr. Christoph Lerche (PET Physics Group at Forschungszentrum Jlich) 15.6.2023: Tracking of objects: from one to many; speaker: Prof. Carsten Rother (HCI, Universitt Heidelberg) 29.6.2023: Machine Learning for Image Segmentation; speaker: Prof. Dagmar Kainmller (Helmholtz Imaging, Max-Delbrck Center, Berlin) 6.7.2023: Visualizing spatial datasets; speaker: Deborah Schmidt (Helmholtz Imaging, Max-Delbrck Center, Berlin) 27.7.2023: Explainable Machine Learning; speaker: Prof. Ullrich Kthe (Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing (IWR) University of Heidelberg) Details for the six events as well as the registration can be found here. The event is organized by International Helmholtz Research School of Biophysics and Soft Matter, BioInterfaces International Graduate School, Helmholtz Information &amp; Data Science School for Health and one of our partner plattforms, Helmholtz Imaging. " } , { "title" : "A Consulting Success Story", "url" : "/use-case/2023/04/26/consulting-succes-story-blogpost/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Software Consulting", "date" : "2023-04-26 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " Who is Helmholtz Software Consulting? If you are looking for help with your software projects, Helmholtz Software Consulting can help you with any topic related to software development.Since its inception, the Helmholtz Software Consulting team has been defined from scratch and implemented its semi-experimental workflow for the researchers in the scope of Helmholtz.Around 70 groups / individual researchers have used our services yet, ranging from merely getting oral advice / reassurances to detailed and prolonged coding support. However, we believe that there are still a lot of research teams out there that could benefit from software consulting on topics ranging from software licensing, publishing, and code reviews to detailed tasks like code optimization. In this blog post, well delineate a typical consulting scenario and how the help / advice was delivered, leading to a fruitful situation for the researchers. It might help teams to understand what we do and how we could help them. The following post is based on a real-life experience. However, the names are changed for obvious reasons. Alexs Software ChallengeAlex is a geologist. Alexs research entails crunching sensor data from ocean bottom nodes and visualizing it across 1000 timesteps.The tools to accomplish the goals are inherited from a former college. Alex can access a high-performance computing facility using the provided Python routines. Still, Alex is not an inclined computer programmer and finds the code slow and it does not scale very well. A single time step file took around four hours to process. This means a lot of running time, even for a reasonably spaced paper deadline. Alex makes a consulting request searching for code optimization possibilities to speed up the process.How did we help?Once the consulting request was received, we scheduled a call and talked in person with Alex. This was to understand the problem precisely, along with the context. The problem posed may not always be exactly as requested in the Helpdesk. Hence, contextual information, e.g., target domain knowledge, deadlines, level of programming competency of the client itself, etc., are helpful in finding pragmatic and sustainable solutions. After the first meeting, we found that the Python code had other problems as well, in addition to the optimization problem. The code was written in an outdated version of Python and didnt have version control for sustainable development. Also, the code was not written following standard best practices. First, we introduced them to codebase.helmholtz.cloud and recommended the Gitlab courses from HIFIS Education. Once the code got transformed into a version-controlled git repository, we did the code audit to include standard best practices like exception handling and logging. Then, we deep-dived into the code and refactored it to facilitate the much-needed parallelizing. Then we introduced multiprocessing adapting to the high-performance computing facility at the clients disposal. We improved the readability and sustainability of the code and significantly reduced the time and effort to analyze the sensor data. Any corruption in the 5million data points like NaN or any issues in processing causing, e.g., division-by-zero exceptions, was caught and logged for later analysis. Finally, after discussing the publication intentions with the client, an appropriate license was chosen for the code project. It was decided to use the permissive MIT license for a more flexible approach for later use. Get in contact If you want to start a new consultation, fill out the short questionnaire. If you have comments, questions, or queries, please dont hesitate to write us. Contact us! Changelog 2026-05-04 Renaming HIFIS consulting to Helmholtz Software Consulting" } , { "title" : "The April issue of our newsletter is here", "url" : "/news/2023/04/21/newsletter/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Newsletter", "date" : "2023-04-21 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Find out about new services and orchestrated service pipelinesDuring the last months we have been busy to expand our Helmholtz Cloud portfolio and added dedicated scientific services.As further development, we introduce orchestrated service pipelines:We showcase this with a use case HIFIS set up together with its sister plattform Helmholtz Imaging to build automated, distributed image processing pipelines.We invite you to discover this and more news in our latest newsletter in HTML or as PDF.Interested in our next steps?Then dont miss our next newsletters to track the progress and perspectives of HIFIS!Subscribe here, and spread the word and link.Check also our newsletters archive and blog posts." } , { "title" : "Cloud Service Orchestration for Helmholtz Imaging", "url" : "/use-case/2023/04/18/service-orchestration/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Health, Helmholtz Imaging, Service Orchestration, dCache, Codebase, GitLab, Openstack, OIDC Client, Helmholtz ID", "date" : "2023-04-18 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Automated, distributed image processing pipelinesFrom Cloud Services to Service PipelinesIn its first years, HIFIS has set up the Helmholtz Cloud to interconnect and broker services from Helmholtz for Helmholtz.The Helmholtz Cloud Portal is the central point where users have access to all services and combine them to suit their work flow.Interconnecting cloud services sometimes dubbed Service Orchestration allows to automate complex workflows,a precondition to ultimately set up reliable, scalable, reproducible and adaptable data processing pipelines for science.A typical example is to automatically and continuously fetch, move, process, publish and store scientific data, possibly in multiple iterations and for different audiences.Such interconnection of services and resources can in principle be implemented by end users,thanks to the open interfaces of most offered cloud services and the service-agnostic authentication and authorisation infrastructure (AAI) with its single-sign on functionality.However: This is the point where extensive knowledge on the underlying technologies is necessary in order to implement complex service orchestration workflows.Whenever you plan to implement such complex use cases yourself: Yay!! Feel free to contact us We are always happy to hear from you and even happier to assist!Mostly, though, you will probably be glad to use (and adopt) pre-confectioned pipelines.So, lets see whats already possible!A Pilot Use Case from Helmholtz ImagingHelmholtz Imaging, a sister platform to HIFIS, aims to improve access for scientists on innovative scientific imaging modalities, methodological richness, and data treasures within the Helmholtz Association.HIFIS can support this mission through seamless interconnection of the cutting-edge IT infrastructures in Helmholtz as orchestrated services.Our pilot implementation of such orchestration showcases the interconnectivity of five different Helmholtz centres:Cloud services are located in three centres,an interconnecting component is developed by a fourth,and the scientific user comes from a fifth centre.The pilot also demonstrates the modularity of such pipelines,allowing to exchange or scale up parts of the pipeline, whenever beneficial.The data we use to showcase our pipeline originates from aresearch paper published in 2020 [1].The authors looked into the role of intracellular organelles, such as microtubules, for insulin transportation and secretion.They segmented organelles from high-resolution tomographic images, and provided mesh generation and rendering of 3D organelle reconstructions in primary mouse betacells as a model system.Workflow in a nutshellUsing this exemplary data, we show how the data is handled and processed, starting from raw images until publication.For more details, you may also check our presentation on an earlier version of this demonstrator . The primary data of the researcher (HZB) was stored in a Sync&amp;Share. We do not advise to do this, as there are more sophisticated data storage solutions such as dCache InfiniteSpace (DESY). So, we transfer this first data to the dCache for all later usage and updates. The raw data, now located at DESY, is then transferred to a virtual machine located in Jlich, to do the processing there, with intermediate and final results synced back to dCache at DESY, and prepared for publication on an open website built and hosted at HZDR. Almost the complete workflow is automated. The script magic is supplied via Helmholtz Codebase (Gitlab) at HZDR, allowing for collaborative, versioned development of scripts and further usage-specific magic. Minimal user interaction is necessary in the beginning for the primary login via AAI; no user interaction at all for subsequent iterations / updates of the data. The secure transfer of user login information between the services, without further manual interaction by the user, is mediated by a technology calls OIDC Agent, provided by KIT.Why should I use this? All transfers and steps occur within Helmholtz infrastructure, with secure underlying authentication and authorisation methods. That is, all intermediate steps can be finely controlled to be private, group-shared and/or public, just as desired. Likewise, different steps of the pipeline can be set up to be accessible by different user (groups). The workflow can be set up to persist for a definable time frame, even when the original user(s) are not online anymore. For example, newly incoming raw data on dCache can trigger the pipeline to be continuously updated and provide correspondingly updated results. You need increased or reduced compute power at different points in time? You want to exchange the storage because the majority of primary data piles up somewhere else? You want to introduce another specific processing step employing another cloud service? No big deal: The modularity of the whole set-up allows to exchange or replace any part of the pipeline, whenever needed.Use and combine the capabilities of Helmholtz Cloud to your best, without needing to solely rely on local resources.That sounds cool. But how to set this up?The confection of this kind of orchestrated IT services and pipelines for specific classes of use cases will be a major focus of HIFIS from now on.If you have a corresponding use case any sort of complexity is welcome please get in touch with us. We will be happy to assist and build cool stuff!In the near future, generalized pipelines will be made available via our pages and the cloud portal, so: Stay tuned!Get in contactFor HIFIS: HIFIS SupportFor Helmholtz Imaging: Helmholtz Imaging HelpdeskLiteratureMller, A., et al. (2021). 3D FIB-SEM reconstruction of microtubuleorganelle interaction in whole primary mouse cells. J Cell Biol, 220(2).Changelog 2023-06-28: Added Link to Helmholtz Cloud portal entry for newly onboarded dCache service, adapted wording 2025-05-19: Updated some links to Helmholtz Cloud Portal." } , { "title" : "Helmholtz Codebase: Automating Dependency Updates", "url" : "/announcement/2023/03/28/dependabot-codebase/", "category" : "", "tags" : "GitLab, Codebase, Dependabot", "date" : "2023-03-28 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "We are happy to announce the general availability of automated dependency update management in the Helmholtz Codebase GitLab. It provides automatic dependency updates in order to keep your software up-to-date and secure.Why should you bother?Outdated dependencies with known security flaws is one of the mostfrequent security issues that get exploited most often.Enabling automated dependency updates helps you saving timeby keeping track of all dependency updates, automatingtime-consuming recurring dependency update tasks, and stayingsecure in your application.All Information in One PlaceBeside the versions of the old and new dependency, it provides you with information about the release notes as well as the commit history.How does it work?The bot will automatically create Merge Requests for dependency updates:The list of supported ecosystems is given here.Among others, Python, Docker or Git submodules are supported. If you want touse Dependabot for your software project, you can find the setup instructionsin our documentation.Comments and SuggestionsIf you have suggestions, questions, or queries, please dont hesitate to write us. Contact us! References Documentation" } , { "title" : "Five new services enrich the Helmholtz Cloud (updated)", "url" : "/news/2023/03/27/new-services-in-helmholtz-cloud-service-portfolio/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Cloud Services", "date" : "2023-03-27 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Five new Services online in Cloud Portal, and even more to come!In the first quarter of 2023, lots of new services joined our Helmholtz Cloud Service Portfolio.As LaTeX is widely used for writing in the scientific community, we added the online LaTeX editor Collabtex in January, provided by HZDR.But we also gained four other scientific services: SciFlow, provided by HZB, is an online editing tool that allows researchers to easily collaborate on scientific publications. webODV, provided by AWI, is a widely used software package for the analysis, exploration and visualization of oceanographic and other environmental data. Helmholtz RSD, provided by GFZ, is a software catalogue designated to Research Software that is being developed within the Helmholtz Association. REMS, provided by DKFZ, allows to manage resource entitlements and access rights to research datasets.Additionally, the three services already existing in the Service Pipeline have been supplemented by two brand-new services, which will be available in Helmholtz Cloud soon: FileSender, provided by DKFZ, is a web-app for sending large files, quickly and securely. HubTerra Sensor Management, provided by GFZ, allows the comprehensive acquisition, administration and export of meta data of platforms, sensors and measurement configurations by stations and campaigns operated in the Helmholtz research field Earth &amp; Environment.Nine Helmholtz Centres are already acting as Service ProvidersWith the new services in the catalogue, we proudly reach the number of nine different Helmholtz centres providing Helmholtz Cloud Services! With a total of thirty services online in Cloud Portal and overall five upcoming services we are continuously expanding the quality of our service portfolio. Thanks to our users and special thanks for your contributions!Changelog 2023-03-27: Added 5th recently added service (REMS) 2023-04-19: Changed some wording and updated numbers of services in Cloud Portal and Pipeline." } , { "title" : "Helmholtz RSD now open for all Helmholtz members", "url" : "/announcement/2023/02/17/rsd-open/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Community, Cloud Services", "date" : "2023-02-17 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Promote your Research Software in the Helmholtz RSDAfter six months of testing, HIFIS can finally open the Helmholtz Research Software Directory (RSD) for all Helmholtz members. If you have an account at a Helmholtz Institution, you can now log in to the RSD via the Helmholtz AAI, and start adding your Research Software:https://helmholtz.softwareWhat does the RSD offer?The Helmholtz RSD is tailored to Research Software Engineers and Researchers that want to promote or discover research software. For RSEs, we offer an easy to use platform to present your software in an environment dedicated to research software show where your software has already been mentioned in papers, talks or videos relate your software to other software, projects or organisations provide help to researchers to get your Software cited correctly provide interested users a gateway to get started with your software direct interested users to your code platformFuture plansThe Helmholtz RSD is not yet finished and we just started our journey. We are constantly evaluating and further developing the platform. Please contact us via support@hifis.net or open an issue in our GitHub repository if you have suggestions, critics or anything else you would like to tell us.CooperationThe Helmholtz Research Software Directory is an adaption of the Research Software Directory, and we are closely collaborating with the upstream maintainers, the Netherlands eScience Center." } , { "title" : "Join the Helmholtz GPU Hackathon!", "url" : "/news/2023/01/20/helmholtz-gpu-hackathon/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Event, HPC", "date" : "2023-01-20 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "For application, more information &amp; questions click here.Deadline for the team application is March 14, 2023!What is a GPU Hackathon?GPU Hackathons provide exciting opportunities for scientists to accelerate their AI or HPC research under the guidance of expert mentors from national laboratories, universities and industry leaders in a collaborative environment.Representing distinguished scholars and preeminent institutions around the world, these teams of mentors and attendees work together to realize performance gains and speedups using a variety of programming models, libraries, and tools.The goal of the GPU Hackathon is for computational scientists to port, accelerate, and optimize their scientific applications to modern computer architectures, including CPUs, GPUs and other computing technologies. Participating teams should leave the event either with their applications accelerated and/or optimized on the latest supercomputing hardware or a clear roadmap of the next steps needed to leverage these resources.Who, When, Where?Forschungszentrum Jlich (FZJ), Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), and the Helmholtz Information &amp; Data Science Academy (HIDA) together with NVIDIA and OpenACC will co-organize the Helmholtz GPU Hackathon 2023.The event will be hosted by FZJ in Jlich (close to Cologne) May 9 through 11, 2023 with a virtual kick-off on May 2, 2023.The Helmholtz GPU Hackathon will be hosted primarily onsite at the Jlich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) in the Central European Summer Time (CEST) zone. JSC will be providing working spaces to host teams in person to give the attendees the most immersive Hackathon experience.More Info and RegistrationYou can find out more and register at the website of the event.Deadline for the team application is March 14, 2023!Questions? Comments? Suggestions?If you have any feedback to tell us, dont hesitate to contact us." } , { "title" : "HIFIS has a Zenodo Community", "url" : "/news/2023/01/17/zenodo-community/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Open Access, Repository", "date" : "2023-01-17 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "What is a Zenodo Community?Zenodo is a repository for research across all disciplines. It is hosted by CERNs Data Centre which underpins its reliability and sustainability.After registration, all kinds of documents from single-file research papers to complex datasets, (research) software etc., can be uploaded and will be published with a persistent Digital Object Identifier, (DOI), which makes the document findable, identifiable and citeableeven when the physical location of the upload might change.If your work already has a DOI, you can register this one.While access can be restricted on Zenodo, it is a strong advocate for open access and with an upload on Zenodo, you can fulfill any open access claims you might need to consider.This might come in handy if you lack access to an institutional repository.Besides, you support the open science idea.These documents can be complemented by metadata such as keywords, and they can be included in one or several Zenodo Communities.Such a community is a collection of documents on Zenodo and has a certain topic which they all belong to. Every user can set up a community and, as its curator, is then able to accept or reject documents other user want to include in it.What are the benefits for HIFIS users?HIFIS has set up its own Zenodo Community only recently and we hope it will grow further. We see several benefits for our users: If you are new to Zenodo or self-publishing your work, this is a good starting point into the world of repositories and persistent identifiers for research documents. If you already upload your research on Zenodo, including it in our Community can help to disseminate it further. If you are interested in HIFIS-related publications, you can harvest the metadata of all documents within a community via an OAI-PMH interface.How do I contribute and show my project in there?In addition to the benefits mentioned above, you can actively support HIFIS with your contribution to our Zenodo Community.We foster the open science movement and empower researchers and software engineers to publish their work, e.g. on Zenodo.But we also need to demonstrate that this is a necessity and we can only do that with YOU.To add your work to the HIFIS Community is really simple: When you upload the document, there is a tab Communities at the metadata section.You can start typing HIFIS and select the Community from a menu. If you already uploaded relevant documents to Zenodo, you can add the community retroactively with an edit of the documents metadata section. In both cases our curator will be notified and checks whether your work is about HIFIS (e.g. a report) or has been done while using HIFIS in some way (e.g. some code for which you requested help from HIFIS Consulting or a paper from a research project that uses HIFIS Services).Both types of contribution are welcome to our Community! After the confirmation, your work will appear on the HIFIS Community page.Questions? Comments? Suggestions?If you have any feedback to tell us, dont hesitate to contact us." } , { "title" : "Submit your image to win Best Scientific Image 2023!", "url" : "/announcement/2022/12/20/hi-contest/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Imaging, Contest", "date" : "2022-12-20 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Submit your image(s) for a chance to win!The call for Best Scientific Image 2023 is open. Submit your image(s) for a chance to win Best Scientific Image. The contest is open to anyone who works at a Helmholtz Center. An international jury will award valuable prizes. The winning images will be displayed at the Helmholtz Imaging Conference 2023 on 1416 June 2023 in Hamburg and become part of a travelling exhibition to be showcased in Helmholtz Centers and beyond. In addition, twelve winning images will be published in the Helmholtz Imaging calendar 2024. Helmholtz Imaging is looking forward to your contributions!Submit your image(s) by Wednesday, 15 March 2023 here, where you can also find more details!Questions? Comments? Suggestions?If you have any feedback, dont hesitate to contact Knut Sander for Helmholtz Imaging." } , { "title" : "Happy holidays and all the best to you!", "url" : "/news/2022/12/15/xmas-newsletter/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Newsletter", "date" : "2022-12-15 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " As the year comes to an end, we want to look back It has been a challenging year in many ways, but we have overcome a lot of obstacles by focusing on our strengths and joining forces wherever possible. In terms of IT services for science, we showed how this can be done with our platform HIFIS, to which the centres of the Helmholtz Association contribute their best solutions and competencies. For a look back at our achievements during the last year, we invite you to our latest newsletter in HTML or as PDF. We would like to thank all our users, partners and friends for a great cooperation over the last year. We are looking forward to set new milestones and master new challenges together. But for now, we wish you all happy holidays and all the best to you in the year to come! The HIFIS Team Interested in our plans for the next year? Then dont miss our next newsletters, starting from January 2023, to track the progress and perspectives of HIFIS!Subscribe here, and spread the word and link.Check also our newsletters archive and blog posts. " } , { "title" : "HIFIS Evaluation: First feedback (updated)", "url" : "/news/2022/12/12/evaluation-update/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Evaluation, Report", "date" : "2022-12-12 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Evaluation after first years of ramp-up HIFIS, the Helmholtz-wide platform for federated IT services, underwent a thorough review during August and September 2022, with the major event taking place at the coordinating centre DESY from Sept 2930. The evaluation committee represents national and international institutions and collaborations, such as theEuropean Open Science Cloudand multiple more.External viewpoints, e.g. fromOpen Science Office,Helmholtz Metadata Collaboration,NFDI, andDFN,as well as in-depth discussions with members of the HIFIS Scientific Advisory Board,helped the reviewers to obtain a possibly complete picture of the landscape where HIFIS is embedded into, and its interfaces to other digital initiatives. What has been presentedDuring two days sessions, the progress of HIFIS, as well as theplans for potential future development,have been presented and discussed in detail.HIFIS has been establishing the technical and procedural frameworks to allow all Helmholtz Centres to seamlessly share digital resources with all Helmholtz and collaboration partners.Meanwhile, more than 20 cloud services have been brought online, with more than 11k users registered, numbers strongly rising.HIFIS education courses were received comparably well, with more than 14k overall participant hours so far.Initial feedbackAlready during the review event, a first response by the reviewers has been formulated:The achieved progress of all three HIFIS clusters has been rated excellent.Multiple of the future plans of further strengthening the HIFIS portfolio have been strongly supported.The enthusiasm of the HIFIS team, spanning practical and efficient cooperation throughout Helmholtz, has been especially acknowledged.Post-review meeting for all stakeholders of HIFISOn Nov 18, we held an online Post Review Meeting.All Helmholtz and HIFIS stakeholders were invited to discuss with us the results and next steps.Final results and next stepsNow, the final results are in: They substantiate the initial, very positive feedback and clearly recommend the continuation of HIFIS. The report also gives us advice on some aspects to further elaborate on throughout the next months, in order to set them into place.The written report is available within Helmholtz (login required).As mentioned in our earlier post, we will derive action points for HIFIS, adopting our next steps and roadmap according to reviewers suggestions.Once they are published, we will talk about our plans for 2023 in a blog post, so stay tuned!Comments? Suggestions?Contact us anytime if you have any suggestions or questions: support@hifis.netChangelog 2022-12-12 Updates with respect to meanwhile finished written feedback report; added link. 2023-05-09 Removed outdated references to initial feedback." } , { "title" : "HIFIS at the EuSSI training bazar", "url" : "/news/2022/11/30/HIFIS-at-EuSSI-training-bazar/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Education, Report", "date" : "2022-11-30 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "What is EuSSI?The European Software Sustainability Institute is a network of organizations following the example of the SSI in the United Kingdom.Its goal is to raise awareness and share methods to improve the sustainability of reseach software.The Training BazarOne measure to tackle these challenges is to take a closer look at the training activities regarding scientific software development.For this very reason, the EuSSI has recently invited many European training initiatives to share their goals, approaches and experiences regarding the training for research software engineering.Together with our colleagues from HIDA and Helmholtz AI, we presented the Incubator workshop process.We gave an overview over the approaches taken by the three platforms, their common aspects, as well as highlighting the individual capabilities of each.Multiple other European initiatives and institutions also presented their respective teaching endeavours, among which were Netherlands eScience Center, CodeRefinery, HSF and The Software CarpentriesFollowing these initial presentations a lively discussion was held to share experiences, network among the organizations and identify common challenges in a bid to start pooling our ressouces and knowledge to solve those.Takeaway MessagesIt became clear very quickly, that many approaches on the topic of teaching Research Software Engineering across Europe are relatively young, but have already gathered considerable experience.The demand for RSE training opportunities is very high and current endeavours are not nearly sufficient to effectively cover this.As a limiting factor the overall availability of active instructors was identified.But why are there not enough instructors to hold more classes?Being an instructor is to often regarded as a side quest and often not considered a valid choice for a full-time career / job definition by individuals and organisations alike.Coupled with non-permanent employment positions, it leads to many trained instructors who only rarely get the opportunity to apply or further develop their skills.A strong culture shift is needed in this regard.Due to this bottleneck in available instructors and organizers time (which very often are the same person), a further approach is to strive to automate as many parts around the workshop organisation as possible.Within Helmholtz, we use HIFIS Events for advertising, registration and sharing information as needed software or log-in data for the participants.With regards to training materials it is a declared goal of the participants to increase the sharing and re-useing amongst each other and to promote Open Education Resources.We started to publish our HIFIS workshop materials already some time ago, which you can find along with some tutorials at the Learning Materials.Questions? Comments? Suggestions?If you have any feedback to tell us, dont hesitate to contact us." } , { "title" : "HIFIS Post Review Meeting", "url" : "/news/2022/11/21/HIFIS-meeting/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Incubator, Evaluation, Report", "date" : "2022-11-21 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Post Review Meeting for all HIFIS Stakeholders As we posted some weeks ago, HIFIS underwent a thorough review after the first few years of ramp-up phase.As it was not possible to invite all HIFIS team members and all stakeholders to the main event, we organised an online Post Review Meeting on Friday, 18 November 2022. Volker Glzow, Coordinator and Spokesperson of HIFIS, gave a warm welcome and thanked everybody involved in the smooth running of the evaluation event.Uwe Jandt, responsible for the overall management of HIFIS, presented an overview both of the HIFIS achievements and the preliminary (very positive) evaluation results.The cluster managers added brief presentations from their areas. Further, we performed a technical demonstration of orchestrated cloud services for a use case that has been set up together with Helmholtz Imaging.In the exemplary data presented, intracellular organelles have been visualized and 3D rendered using an automated and distributed pipeline.The demonstration showcased the interconnectivity of cloud services located at different Helmholtz Centres and the modularity of such pipelines, allowing to exchange or scale up pipeline parts when beneficial.The confection of similar orchestrated IT services and pipelines will be a major focus of HIFIS in the future. The decentrality of both Helmholtz and HIFIS is clearly a forte: HIFIS as an infrastructure provider and service broker collects and connects the efforts, capabilities and accomplishments in Research Software Engineering (RSE) and IT services of all Helmholtz Centres.Thus, we can facilitate further usage and developement as well as bridge the knowledge gap between IT and domain science.By acting as a catalyst in building trust between the 18 Helmholtz Centres, HIFIS can act as a role model within and beyond the Helmholtz Association, a statement that has been stressed during the evaluation. Baton is passed on to other Incubator platforms and graduate schoolsHIFIS is not the only platform within Helmholtz that undergoes a thorough evaluation:Each of the Helmholtz Incubator plattforms and the six adjoined graduate schools have either already been reviewed in the last weeks or are going to be in 2023.However, as HIFIS was the very first to undergo this process, we have gathered valuable know-how in the organisation of such an event and of course passed this on towards the other platforms, which are going to be reviewed in Hamburg during 2023, includingHelmholtz Metadata Collaboration (HMC), Helmholtz Imaging and Data Science in Hamburg (DASHH), the Helmholtz Graduate School for the Structure of Matter.Questions? Comments? Suggestions?If you have any feedback to tell us, dont hesitate to contact us." } , { "title" : "GitLab: Helmholtz Codebase switched its domain (updated)", "url" : "/announcement/2022/11/14/new-codebase-domain/", "category" : "", "tags" : "GitLab, Domain, Codebase", "date" : "2022-11-14 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " gitlab.hzdr.de became codebase.helmholtz.cloud On November 11th, 2022, Helmholtz Codebase has been made available under the new domain https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud. The previous domain https://gitlab.hzdr.de redirects to this new domain from now on. Nothing else changes for the users.The Reason WhyThe Helmholtz Cloud offers cloud services to all members of the Helmholtz Association and partners.This also includes a GitLab servicethat was made available under the domain https://gitlab.hzdr.de by colleaguesof the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR)and the Helmholtz-Zentrum fr Umweltforschung (UFZ).Meanwhile, the vast majority of users does not come from the HZDR any longer.We decided to reflect this fact in the choice of the primary domain name.Therefore, a small contest to find a new domain name for this Helmholtz-wideGitLab service was initiated.At the end of this contest, most of the participants voted forHelmholtz Codebase and https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud, respectively,as the successors of the previous service and domain name.The New DomainThe Helmholtz GitLab has already been referred to as the Helmholtz Codebasefor quite a while now. During a transition period, you were able to access the service viahttps://codebase.helmholtz.cloud which redirected to https://gitlab.hzdr.de.On November 11th, 2022 these domains and redirects wereswapped to make the Helmholtz Codebase available under its newprimary domain https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud.Which Changes Do the Users Face?From November 11th, 2022, onwards all users are automatically redirectedfrom https://gitlab.hzdr.de to https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud.Apart from that, nothing else changes for the users, except for the need tolog in once again.What if ?In case you are facing issues with the new domain name or the redirect, pleaselet us know.In that case, please contact our HIFIS Support via support@hifis.net, orthe contact form.Thank you very much!Happy collaboration and happy coding!Changelog 2022-11-14 update blog post that both GitLab domains were switched over" } , { "title" : "deRSE23 Conference: Call for Contributions", "url" : "/announcement/2022/11/10/deRSE23/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Conference, Event, Research Software Engineering", "date" : "2022-11-10 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " deRSE23, the third conference inGermany addressing research software and the people behind it withinthe German research landscape will be held at the Heinz NixdorfForum in Paderborn on February 20-21,2023. We welcome submissions (in English or German) from any and all people who have an interesting take on research software development. We are not just looking for seasoned presenters or people who are already well known. Thus, speakers from under-represented backgrounds and at early career stages are highly encouraged to submit a proposal. The aim is toreflect the diverse community of research software engineers by seeking input from all levels of experience and across a variety of domains, geographic locations, genders, and ethnicities. November 21, 2022 - Deadline for abstract submissions December 12, 2022 - Open registration for conference December 22, 2022 - Notification of acceptance and program February 20-21, 2023 - deRSE23 conference More informations - also in German - on the submission page. " } , { "title" : "Plony, the service database, becomes the central interface", "url" : "/news/2022/11/04/cloud-plony-central-interface/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Cloud Services, Service Review Process, Service Onboarding Process, Milestone", "date" : "2022-11-04 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Service Descriptions are automatically transferred from Plony to the Helmholtz Cloud PortalSince the beginning of September 2022, the HIFIS team established the interface between the Helmholtz Cloud Portal and the service database Plony. Plony now automatically transfers the service information to be displayed in the Helmholtz Cloud Portal. This eliminates the need for manual steps and is a prerequisite for the change of service information during operation.Plony includes all service information necessary for the operation of a Helmholtz Cloud service, which the service provider is giving during the onboarding process. Helmholtz Cloud Portal publishes information of key interest to the user. Furthermore, Plony contains non-public information, e.g. technical information about Helmholtz AAI connectivity (Find more information about Process Framework for Helmholtz Cloud Service Portfolio).Service Portfolio Review Process November 2022Having all service information available in Plony, the handling of the Service Portfolio Review Process becomes much easier. Service Providers can check whether service information is up-to-date in Plony and can directly initiate changes if necessary. This reduces formerly necessary manual steps and improves the overview during the Service Portfolio Review.Questions? Comments? Suggestions?If you have any feedback to tell us, dont hesitate to contact us." } , { "title" : "HIFIS at the IBERGRID 2022 conference", "url" : "/news/2022/11/03/ibergrid/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Conference, Jupyter, In Development, HIFIS Backbone, HIFIS Consulting", "date" : "2022-11-03 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " HIFIS at the IBERGRID 2022 This years Ibergrid conference took place in Faro, Portugal and was co-located with the EOSC synergy meeting. The University of the Algarve was hosting the four-day event where scientific computing topics of institutions from mostly the Iberian region were discussed. The event page Ibergrid 2022 provides the timetable and contributions, of which two were held by members of the HIFIS backbone and software clusters. Tim Wetzel gave a talk about the Integrated dataset placement service for scientists, which is envisioned to give scientists the possibility to work with data distributed at several Helmholtz centres directly in a Jupyterhub and corresponding notebooks.This service would simplify data sharing and collaboration across centres immensely. Updates with regard to this and the underlying data transfer service will be published on hifis.net. Thomas Frster presented the Helmholtz Federated IT Services: Enabling innovative software and supporting services for research. He showed how the consulting process in Helmholtz works and that users are very pleased with the results and outcomes for them.A subsequent discussion with members of the auditorium highlighted the need to improve consulting and training offers in the context of FAIR use and common RSE practices, thus confirming our efforts in this area. Comments? Suggestions? Questions?Contact us anytime if you have any feedback you wish to share: support@hifis.net" } , { "title" : "HIFIS Consulting Handbook is online", "url" : "/news/2022/10/28/consulting-handbook/", "category" : "", "tags" : "HIFIS Consulting", "date" : "2022-10-28 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "HIFIS Consulting Handbook If your organisation does not already have a consulting team for your researchers, setting up and implementing one can be difficult.What policies do you include? What will the consulting process look like? Should you have helpful resources? If so, which ones? How do you make it 100% online?How do you obtain feedback on the consulting provided? What if thats what you are stuck on? We answered a few of these questions in our HIFIS Consulting Handbook.It focuses on explaining how to set up and run a consulting team and leaves the specifics for the IT infrastructure setup and fine-grained procedures up to you. Helmholtz institutes in Germany started the HIFIS Consulting service in 2020 to cater to the needs of every non-IT researcher. This handbook is made from our experiences and working with different scientists, helping them from cleaning their code and optimising to publishing. Its a great read; we highly recommend you check it out for inspiration! &nbsp;&nbsp;Link to the HIFIS Consultation Handbook FeedbackWe are looking forward to your feedback!Please to not hesitate to contact us." } , { "title" : "TEACH 2 conference: Registration is open", "url" : "/announcement/2022/10/27/teach-reg/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Education, Event, HIDA, HMC", "date" : "2022-10-27 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Online Event for Education Topics across disciplinesPersonal and professional development of all Helmholtz researchers ranging from undergraduate students to established scientists is a central part of the Helmholtz mission. All across the Association, efforts are underway to enable and ensure this.This participant-driven event brings together Training Coordinators, Instructors and Trainers, Personnel Developers, and Researchers to exchange experience and best practices, collaborate and share resources on the whole education life cycle, and of course specific training programs.Colleagues from different Helmholtz Centers and partnering institutions plan to give YOU the opportunity to network and dive into education topics across disciplines.Registration is open nowThe online event takes place 9 November, 2022, 10.00 17.00, and will be hosted in Gathertown. In the space you will be able to listen to talks, attend workshops, and of course network with each other! You will be able to learn more about our platforms, research schools, and more. Do not miss the opportunity get to know peers from other Helmholtz centers during the lunchbreak and in the after hour session!You find the program here,the registration is open now.Get in contactHIFIS Support: support@hifis.netHIDA: hida-courses@helmholtz.de" } , { "title" : "Out now: The 2nd issue of our newsletter", "url" : "/news/2022/10/25/newsletter/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Newsletter", "date" : "2022-10-25 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " We published the second issue of our quarterly newsletter! This autumn has been very busy here at HIFIS, as the HIFIS platform was evaluated with great results:In the end, HIFIS was certified for its excellent development in all areas and a clear recommendation was made for the further operation and expansion of the platform. We reported on that in a blog post three weeks ago and included it of course in the issue. Further topics we featured in our latest newsletter: Sam the Scientist gets help from HIFIS Consulting and tells us about the experience. Two new use cases, DAPHNE4NFDI and the AI Research in Health Topics at CASUS. HIFIS Education calls attention to the TEACH 2 Conference on 9 November, 2022 and the upcoming courses. A short reminder from Software Technology that the URL of the Helmholtz Codebase will switch on 11 November, 2022. An announcement from Helmholtz Cloud: the first two scientific services, Phileas Storage (Aircraft measurement campaign with HALO) and webODV (ocean data view by AWI) will be made avaiable in the Cloud soon Dont want to miss the next newsletter?Subscribe here to get all further newsletters automatically!The growing archive will be kept here, where you find both the HTML and PDF version of the October issue." } , { "title" : "Looking back at the Incubator Summer Academy", "url" : "/news/2022/10/13/incubator-summer-academy/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2022-10-13 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " HIDAThe Incubator Summer School From Zero to Hero took place from September 1223, 2022.The five Incubator platformsHelmholtz.AI,Helmholtz Imaging,HIDA,HMC andHIFIS teamed upto create an exciting program consisting of: Data science workshops from beginner to expert level, a data challenge, keynote speeches, and plenty of digital and on-site networking opportunities.The HIFIS team was substantially involved in organising the summer schoolwhich was largely carried out using numerous Helmholtz Cloud services.In addition, we also contributed to the workshop program by offering: Workshops about Python basics, data analysis with Python, and data visualization using Python, Workshops focused on Git , GitLab and continuous integration with GitLab, A workshop about good practices concerning publishing research software to address reproducibility of scientific results.Particularly, the Python basics workshop was a basis for the workshops of other Incubator platforms.Therefore, we also scheduled additional pre summer school events to address the heavy demand.The Incubator Summer School attracted a lot of attention throughout Helmholtz.More than 426 persons from all Helmholtz centres and partners registeredfor one or more events of the summer school.Overall, we were able to offer 324 persons a seat in at least one event.Building on this success, we hope to contribute to an even better Helmholtz-wide summer school in the future. Are you interested in expanding your knowledge in the field of software engineering? HIFIS can help you with getting started or in boosting your software engineering practice. Future HIFIS Workshops Software Engineering Consulting Learning Material " } , { "title" : "Gitlab for Require&shy;ments analysis at Earth Data Portal", "url" : "/use-case/2022/10/04/use-case-datahub/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Earth & Environment, Helmholtz Codebase, Nubes, Mattermost, Notes, Helmholtz Software Consulting, Education", "date" : "2022-10-04 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Data for the Earth System The DataHub of the Research Field Earth and Environment is a research data initiative across the seven centres of the Helmholtz Programme Changing Earth - Sustaining our Future. Within its three compartemental Hubs ATMO, MARE and TERRA, it aims at the development of a distributed and interoperable research data infrastructure as well as operational procedures and data products for the whole Research Field and the Earth System Sciences in general. In this context, the DataHub is responsible for implementing state-of-the-art policies, tools and best-practices particularly in the fields of research data management (RDM) and research software development across all participatng centres. It hence contributes to the fullfilment of the FAIR principles (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, Reusability) and fosters open science in the Research Field Earth and Environment. One of the main objectives of the DataHub is the joint development of thematic viewers, through which products and information from the participating centres are presented to end-users from the scientific, economic, and governmental sectors. As an example, the so-called Stakeholer-View integrates prominent and widely-used products like the German Drought Monitor or the Global Earthquake Viewer. Making use of HIFIS Software and in-person Services As such an initiative requires dedicated tools and services for an efficient and productive collaboration across several research centres, the DataHub has been one of the first adopters of the HIFIS-services: The exchange of documents, presentations, protocols and other files is conducted through the HIFIS Nextcloud service nubes. Mattermost is used for inter-institutional communication via private or dedicated team and group chats Collaborative notes and protocols are developed within the Markdown editor Notes. The HIFIS GitLab Instance Codebase serves as a central and widely adopted framework for collaborative software development. The seamless and transparent usage of all these services is realized through HIFIS central Authentication and Authorisation Infrastructure Helmholtz AAI Apart from those software services, the DataHub is heavily promoting trainings through HIFIS Education for collaborative software development via GitLab and other fundamental software engineering skills as well as consultation and support for software licensing issues through the Software Engineering Consulting. Earth Data Portal One major DataHub project is the joint development of an Earth Data Portal. This portal will serve as a central access point for searching and exploring data and thematic ressources from the research field Earth &amp; Environment and beyond. This will be realized by tailor-made harvesting and mapping from a wide range of existing data archives and repositories like Pangaea, the World Data Center for Climate at the DKRZ or RADAR4KIT as well as institutional repositories into a single portal infrastructure. The technical basis for the portal is the well-established Marine Data Portal, which is now enhanced by community-driven functionalities. Using GitLab Issues in requirements analysis The missing features and functionalities for a data portal covering the entire research field were identified during a requirement analysis, for which the developers made use of the HIFIS Codebase. In particular, by providing dedicated and well-defined issue templates for feature requests and data / repository integration, a clear and consistent structure is realized so that both the users and developers can easily add their suggestions, requirements and wishes. The feature request template comes with a brief user story, in which a typical use case for a specific feature or functionality is described (e.g., I want to search for all environmental data in a certain region). By adding a set of pre-defined acceptance criteria, both the developers and the creator of the request can check the status of the feature implementation and close the request once all criteria are met. The data integration template contains pre-defined tasks for providing all needed information like data sources (e.g., through a link to a repository), applied metadata schemas, interfaces as well as information about the data license. This, finally, allows for a convenient and efficient integration of new repositories and other data sources. Overall, the developed requirement analysis via the HIFIS Codebase has proven to be an efficient workflow that will be further developed and used in similar projects. Get in contact For the Earth and Environment DataHub:Peter Braesicke (KIT), Jan Bumberger (UFZ), Sren Lorenz (GEOMAR) For the DataHub Portal:Marc Hanisch (GFZ), Tilman Dinter (AWI), Roland Koppe (AWI), Robin He (AWI), Christof Lorenz (KIT) For HIFIS: HIFIS Support " } , { "title" : "Meet data science talents at the career corner on Thursday", "url" : "/news/2022/09/20/data-scientists/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Career, Data Science, Incubator Summer Academy, HIDA", "date" : "2022-09-20 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Meet data science talents at the career corner on ThursdayAre you looking for talents to fill a data science related position in your group at a Helmholtz Centre? Then join us at our Career Corner to meet motivated data scientists from the Helmholtz Association and our partners on September 22, 2022 from 4-6 PM.The Career Corner is part of the Incubator Summer Academy. Over 375 researchers from Helmholtz Centres and partners have registered to take data science courses from beginner to advanced level. At the Career Corner, you get the chance to meet them.Listen in as Helmholtz partners present their openings from 4-5 PM. Meet candidates and network at our hiring desk from 5 PM onwards. Its easy: Put HIRING in your avatars name in Gathertown and approach and be approached by candidates. Once your avatars meet, youll be connected in a video call. You can meet in private meeting rooms to deepen your conversations.How to get thereRegister here now and sign up for General: Helmholtz Career Corner. Please choose other in the dropdown Current Position and specify as Recruiter.Please be in touch if you have any questions: hida@helmholtz.de" } , { "title" : "Awesome list of Useful Links", "url" : "/tips/2022/09/19/awesome-lists/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Software Consulting", "date" : "2022-09-19 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " What does the awesome in awesome list mean? It indicates a collection of interesting and helpful stuff quality instead of quantity. The idea originates from awesomelists.top, which provides an excellent overview and a search function to explore legit awesome lists. It can include links to tutorials on programming languages, best practices on various topics, a list of great tools to improve productivity, and much more. Helpful List of useful Resources for Software Development The Helmholtz Software Consulting Team has curated an awesome list of important links, covering a variety of topics related to Research Software Development in the context of Open Science.The list can be found on HIFIS GitHub repo. The list covers a broad range of topics, e.g. educational content on how to implement solid change management or how to improve your coding style. It also contains links to guidelines on how to distribute and use Open Source software or how to get in touch with the research software community. The main repository serves as an entry point for all awesome lists generated by HIFIS. The following main topics we cover: Educational Resources Communities Find-ability &amp; FAIR Policies &amp; Guidelines ScientificYou can helpFeel free to suggest any awesome links to helpful content in the affiliated topic: Just create an issue in the corresponding repo. We appreciate every input let the awesome list become longer and even more awesome!Special thanks to Ronny Gey who initially started the RSE awesome list.Changelog 2026-05-04 Renaming HIFIS consulting to Helmholtz Software Consulting" } , { "title" : "HIFIS supports DAPHNE4NFDI", "url" : "/use-case/2022/09/14/DAPHNE4NFDI/", "category" : "", "tags" : "NFDI, Helmholtz Codebase, HIFIS Events, Sync & Share, Mattermost", "date" : "2022-09-14 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "DAPHNE4NFDI: Data from Photon and Neutron ExperimentsDAPHNE4NFDI (DAta from PHoton and Neutron Experiments for NFDI) is one of 19 consortia receiving funding as part of the German National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI). The aim of DAPHNE4NFDI is to create a comprehensive infrastructure to process research data from large scale photon and neutron infrastructures according to the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable).Uniquely, DAPHNE4NFDI engages directly with the user community to develop user-driven data solutions and infrastructure for the wider photon and neutron community. Hence, the DAPHNE4NFDI consortium consists of experts from Committee Research with Synchrotron Radiation (KFS) and Committee Research with Neutrons (KFN), experts from the different science fields and techniques at universities, research institutes and large-scale facilities, and strongly interacts also with other NFDI consortia.DAPHNE4NFDI becomes second major HIFIS user among NFDI consortiaA project of this scale needs a reliable infrastructure to ensure communication, data exchange and publishing of the results.Therefore, DAPHNE4NFDI contacted HIFIS and became their second major user among the NFDI consortia after PUNCH4NFDI.At this point, DAPHNE4NFDI makes use of a Virtual Organization (VO) to organize access rights for services like Sync &amp; Share.Events are organized by the consortium using HIFIS Events and communication among project participants was made available via Mattermost.Recently, DAPHNE4NFDI opened up a group in Helmholtz Codebase to collaborate and build software within the different task areas of the project to later make it available to the community.Get in contactFor DAPHNE4NFDI: Anton Barty (Speaker), DESY; Lisa Amelung (Project Coordinator), DESYFor HIFIS: HIFIS Support" } , { "title" : "3rd Helmholtz Forum: Research Software", "url" : "/announcement/2022/08/31/rse-forum/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Research Software Engineering, HIFIS Software", "date" : "2022-08-31 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "3rd Helmholtz Open Science Forum Research SoftwareAre you a Helmholtz employee and interested in current developments in the field of research software at the Helmholtz Association?Then save the date:On Thursday, November 24, 2022 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. the 3rd Helmholtz Open Science Forum Research Software will take place.This event is jointly organized by the Task Group Research Software of the Working Group Open Science and the HIFIS Software Cluster.The event will be hosted by the Helmholtz Open Science Office.More details and the program can be found here.The registration (link deleted) is already open participation is possible for all Helmholtz employees.Questions? Comments? Proposals?If you have any feedback to tell us, dont hesitate to contact us or the host, Heinz Pampel, from the Helmholtz Open Science Office." } , { "title" : "All Helmholtz Centres have now joined the AAI", "url" : "/announcement/2022/08/26/aai/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz ID", "date" : "2022-08-26 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " All Helmholtz Centres now use the Helmholtz AAI Time to celebrate:With the last two centres having joined recently,all 18 Helmholtz Centres and the Head Office are now using the Helmholtz-wide Authentication and Authorisation Infrastructure, the Helmholtz AAI!This is a huge step towards providing IT services in the Helmholtz Cloud for all employees within the Helmholtz Association under the same conditions.Until recently, the users from certain centres had to login via external providers (e.g. ORCID) and needed to be added manually to collaboration groups to clear access rights equal to other Helmholtz users. External users are very welcomeUsers from outside the Helmholtz Centres are very welcome to check the services from the Helmholtz Cloud Portal.They can log into the AAI with their own institutions credentials, or alternatively with an ORCID, Github, or Google account.External users can directly access only a subset of the Helmholtz Cloud services, or can be invited by Helmholtz collaboration groups to gain full access.To provide a smooth start for everybody, we have set up an illustrated tutorial on AAI login.Questions? Comments? Proposals?If you have any feedback to tell us, dont hesitate to contact us." } , { "title" : "Ocean Data View (webODV): Soon in Helmholtz Cloud", "url" : "/use-case/2022/08/17/Ocean-Data-Viewer/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Earth & Environment", "date" : "2022-08-17 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "webODV Online extraction, analysis and visualization of environmental data ODV (Ocean Data View) is a widely used softwarepackage for the analysis, exploration and visualization ofoceanographic and other environmental data with more than 10,000active users.It has been developed atAlfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). ODV is by design a stand-alone software, which can beinstalled on Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems. To simplifythe access to ODV and to strengthen collaborations, reproducibilityand sharing, we have developed an online version of the ODV softwarecalled webODV. Up to now, we are operatingseveral static webODV instances(1,2,3,4),which provide large datasets for fastand easy data extractions, visualizations and analyses online. In the framework of HIFIS, we already introduced the software amongst the Helmholtz Software Spotlights series.Now, we are planning to provide private webODVinstances as Helmholtz Cloud service, which can be easily accessed online: Users can login via theHelmholtz AAI and will have a workspace to upload private data. Concept The webODV application consists of a browser client (mainly based onHTML, CSS and JavaScript) and a server, holding the datasets andrunning a special version of the ODV software. The key tomake webODV truly interactive and as fast and agile as desktopsoftware is the usage of the WebSocket technology for communicationbetween client and server. WebSockets are permanent, bi-directional connections between clientand server for transmission of arbitrary text or binary messages withvery small latency. ServicesPresently, webODV provides two complementary services. Users selectbetween these services after choosing a dataset. Data Extractor:The Data Extraction service provides data sub-setting as easy and fastas possible. A pager on the top of the site guides the user throughthe pages, which includes mainly the selection of stations, variablesand finally the download of the data as text files, ODV collections ornetCDF files. Data Explorer:The Data Exploration service or ODV-online aims to provide thelook-and-feel and functionality of the desktop ODV in the browserwindow for creating maps, surface plots, section plots, scatter plots,filtering data etc. As in the desktop ODV, left mouse clicks on stations ordata points select these items. Right-clicks bring up context menusproviding the familiar ODV functionality. ReproducibilityFAIR data is oneof the key concepts of modern and future oriented data science.Analyses and visualizations which have been created with ODV-onlinecan be saved or exported and provide full reproducibility.ExamplesFigure 1: A section plot through the Arctic ocean showing the iron concentration. A highly active hydrothermal vent (e.g. Black Smoker, White Smoker) is visible over an undersea mountain ridge.Figure 2: Salinity in about 1250 m depth in the North Atlantic clearly showing the high-salinity plume of the Mediterranean outflow.Get in contactFor webODV: Sebastian Mieruch-Schnlle, AWIFor HIFIS: HIFIS Support" } , { "title" : "AI Research in Health Topics at CASUS", "url" : "/use-case/2022/08/10/use-case-health/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Health, Helmholtz ID, Openstack, Rancher managed Kubernetes, Jupyter, Artificial Intelligence", "date" : "2022-08-10 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Insights in current research at CASUSAs an institute of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), the Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS) is part of the Helmholtz Association. Therefore, the general use of HIFIS infrastructure and services is a good choice, as Michael Bussmann laid down in an overview post. Here, he describes a specific use case for HIFIS services from the research field Health.Clinical decision support beyond guideline recommendations based on real world evidenceThe use of pseudonymized and anonymized patient data in a secure, federated way to better understand, diagnose and treat cancer is the big next step in enhancing the quality of decision making in clinics beyond what current guidelines can offer.CASUS currently is involved in several projects on collecting real world clinical evidence on prostate, lung and breast cancer both from clinical trials and clinical data to enhance the quality of diagnostics, treatment and patient life compared to guideline based decision making.In these projects, researchers, the guideline organizations as well as clinics and pharmaceutical companies are highly interested in developing biostatistical and artificial intelligence models based on this large collection of data.The first step in providing an infrastructure for this is a secure, highly available cloud infrastructure with fine-granular authentication and authorization services that allow access and operation in a federated way. Specifically, while a central instance will provide the largest single portion of data and compute resources, it will also orchestrate the analysis across different data provider sites both for structured and unstructured data.The use of standardized data and metadata formats across different data provider sites and cancers, such as the OMOP standard, together with the federated software stack for statistical analysis and federated learning can leverage the potential of evidence based decision making in clinics.InfrastructureThe infrastructure depicted below is built upon the HIFIS servicesOpenStack (HDF Cloud) andRancher managed Kubernetes and provides aJupyterHubfor data analytics workflows.For secure access and authorization we plan to use theHelmholtz AAI. Architecture for AI development and deployment.Further information on related researchFor further information on research focusing on AI knowledge base implementation in order to improve cancer patient treatments, see also this article .Get in contactFor CASUS: Michael BussmannFor HIFIS: HIFIS Support" } , { "title" : "CASUS uses HIFIS services for data-centric research", "url" : "/use-case/2022/08/04/use-case-casus/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz ID, Openstack, Container Runtime, Rancher managed Kubernetes, Jupyter, HZDR", "date" : "2022-08-04 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "HIFIS provides software infrastructure for access to large data sets and digital workflows The HIFIS service infrastructure is essential to the CASUS strategy towards data-centric research of complex systems across scientific communities and research fields. As an institute of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) working on complex systems research using digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, high performance computing or scalable visual and data analytics, we focus on providing cloud-centric solutions for scientific communities and other stakeholders. These solutions provide unique services for researchers, companies, governmental entities and international organizations.While the hardware infrastructure and the domain specific software solutions are provided by CASUS, we rely on the infrastructure of HIFIS for federated authentication, authorization and secure, scalable cloud backends, containerization and orchestration to provide both access to large data sets and the digital workflows for knowledge extraction.Services we built our solutions on are OpenStack (HDF Cloud), Container Runtime based on Singularity, Rancher managed Kubernetes, Jupyter and the Helmholtz AAI.For development, we use the Gitlab-based Helmholtz Codebase including CI/CD workflows as well as Mattermost.All these services are provided by HIFIS and leveraging the synergies by not having to maintain these services ourselves are key to providing the solutions we develop to large user communities worldwide with high quality and availability.In particular, HIFIS and Helmholtz are well-trusted entities that have an international reputation for being able to provide high quality infrastructure for science, research and companies. This holds especially true for the software infrastructure and services provided by HIFIS, as the Helmholtz / HIFIS brand provides trust in quality, availability and long-term sustainability of these services.In the next weeks, we will showcase two of these services, one from the research field Health and one from Earth &amp; Environment which we are currently setting up. Further use cases, e.g. from the Research Field Matter, will follow in the future.Get in contactFor CASUS: Michael BussmannFor HIFIS: HIFIS SupportChangelog 2025-05-19: Updated some links to Helmholtz Cloud Portal." } , { "title" : "The Helmholtz Cloud Portal got updated", "url" : "/news/2022/08/01/update-cloudportal/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Cloud Portal, Update", "date" : "2022-08-01 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Helmholtz Cloud Portal introduces a better search and keywords The Helmholtz Cloud Portal just got updated with a new user interface.It has a fresh, clean look, but also introduces new functionalities: We tagged the services with keywords like Chat or Collaboration that describe the main features of each service. Apart from giving quick orientation on the service cards themselves, these keywords can be used in two ways: They can be selected as one of three filters (the other two being Providers and Software) to offer a faceted search.All applied filters are displayed under the search bar and can be separately disabled to fully customise the search result. Additionally, all filters are represented in the URL which can be used to save the current search and pass it around to colleagues.For example, this linkdelivers all services tagged with Infrastructure and provided by DESY, HZDR, or KIT.The second option to make use of the keywords is to click the keyword on one service card and find all other services with the same keyword. Now with better mobile viewThe Cloud Portal has also been adapted to better work on mobile devices. The service cards and filter bar have been adapted to better fit on smaller screens preserving the same functionality as on the big screen,omitting only the keywords on the cards.What do you think about the new user interface?We are looking forward to your feedback! Please to not hesitate to contact us.Changelog 2023-01-25 Reformatted direct link to keyword search 2023-05-02 Update link to filtered Helmholtz Cloud Portal output" } , { "title" : "Launch of the Helmholtz Research Software Directory", "url" : "/announcement/2022/07/29/hifis-rsd/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Community, Cloud Services", "date" : "2022-07-29 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "A new platform for Research Software developed in HelmholtzToday, HIFIS is launching the prototype of our new service, the Helmholtz Research Software Directory (RSD). It is accessible underhttps://helmholtz.softwareThis new service will become a central software directory for software that is developed within the Helmholtz Association.It is tailored to Research Software Engineers and Researchers that want to promote or discover research software.For the beginning of the test phase, we have added the Software Spotlights to the RSD, and will continuously update the list.Future plansIn the upcoming months, the Software Spotlights will be entirely moved to the RSD, and we will enable login for all members of the Helmholtz association.It is envisioned to add the service to the Helmholtz Cloud. Features and enhancements are planned to be added as well.Currently only test users are be able to login to the RSD. Are you interested to participate in the test phase? Send us a message, and we will come back to you shortly.CooperationThe Helmholtz Research Software Directory is an adaption of the Research Software Directory, and we are closely collaborating with the upstream maintainers, the Netherlands eScience Center." } , { "title" : "HIFIS has a newsletter!", "url" : "/news/2022/07/29/Newsletter/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Newsletter", "date" : "2022-07-29 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "We just published the first issue of our quarterly HIFIS Newsletter If you missed it, you can read the HTML or PDF version of the July issue.Within our newsletter, you can meet Sam Scientist who will accompany us from now on and tell us about their experiences with HIFIS.The newsletter features the latest engaging community use cases that show how HIFIS services contribute to and supporte scientific challenges.Of course, there are also news in the literal sense in each issue, informing you about important current developments within HIFIS.Theres also a section for information from HIFIS Education, advertising the next course or sharing some tips and tricks.You will also find news and interesting content from the Helmholtz Cloud or HIFIS Software.And, last but not least, we share current information or calls from other Incubator plattforms andprovide a link to the job search for data science jobs at Helmholtz, curated by HIDA.Dont want to miss the next newsletter?Subscribe here to get the second edition in october and all further newsletters automatically!The growing archive will be kept here." } , { "title" : "Mass Storage for Machine Learning in Seismology", "url" : "/use-case/2022/07/15/use-case-dCache/", "category" : "", "tags" : "dCache, Helmholtz AI, Machine Learning, Seismology", "date" : "2022-07-15 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "From dCache to dCache InfiniteSpace HIFIS mass storage from DESY for Helmholtz dCache is an open source project which developed a system for storing and retrieving large amounts of data, providing world-wide access. It has been built and is further developed by Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY),the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) and the Nordic e-Infrastructure collaboration (NeIC).Thus, the system was a perfect candidate for DESY to provide mass storage Helmholtz-wide via HIFIS.Actually, it has been one of the first services connected to the Helmholtz AAI in early 2020 as a demonstrator.Now, it has become a regular service and is provided via the Helmholtz Cloud Portal branded as dCache InfiniteSpace.SeisBench A toolbox for machine learning in seismologyThe first users of the then prototype are seismologists from the REPORT-DL project:Rapid Earthquake Phase Analysis of Ocean-bottom, Regional and Teleseismic events with Deep Learning.This was funded in 2019 by Helmholtz AI, another Helmholtz Incubator plattform, and within this context, SeisBench was developed A toolbox for machine learning in seismology. SeisBench is an open-source python toolbox, aiming to standardise access to datasets and models for seismic waveform processing with deep learning.This way, SeisBench both reduces the overhead for developers of such models and bridges the gap between model developers and seismic practitioners.Key part of SeisBench is the ability to directly access benchmark datasets and pretrained models. To facilitate the sharing of this data, they use the dCache InfiniteSpace. This service equips them with a high-performance repository, enabling the comfortable sharing of datasets of several hundred gigabytes. Additional functionality provided through webDAV allows to implement convenience functions, such as the possibility to enumerate available model weights. More detailed information can be found in the projects documentation. Schematic diagram of SeisBench. By Jack Woollam, license: GPLv3Within the nine months since publication, SeisBench has grown an active user base of almost 200 users. These users access the dCache InfiniteSpace repository around 5000 times per month. Users are located internationally, including researchers at world-leading institutions (e.g. Harvard, Cambridge, Cornell). The majority of users come from outside the Helmholtz community, which highlights the importance to grant world-wide and easy access to such contents.In addition to the infrastructure, dCache InfiniteSpace offers the SeisBench team detailed statistics on usage patterns. This allows them to identify which parts of their software are most used by the community, e.g., which models are of the largest interest. They use this information for planning future focuses in the development of SeisBench.How to use dCache InfiniteSpace via HIFIS for your projectsThe storage service is usable for any user group with central Helmholtz stakeholders, but not intended for single users. To set up the service optimally and align to your needs, you as a leader of an interested user group shall please briefly apply via HIFIS support, providing the most relevant information as described in the documentation.Get in contactFor dCache InfiniteSpace: HIFIS SupportFor SeisBench: Jannes Mnchmeyer, Jack Woollam, Andreas RietbrockChangelog 2022-08-02 adapt the date for release of DESY Storage (HDF) in the Helmholtz Cloud Portal 2023-04-05 suspend the date for release of DESY Storage (HDF) in the Helmholtz Cloud Portal 2023-06-28 Added/Updated Links to Helmholtz Cloud portal entry and documentation for newly onboarded dCache InfiniteSpace service, rephrased some wording" } , { "title" : "Insights from 3rd HIFIS Teammeeting on 5th/6th July 2022", "url" : "/news/2022/07/15/hifis-teammeeting/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Event, Report", "date" : "2022-07-15 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "From past to futureWe gathered at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) in Berlin-Wannsee, where Volker Glzow, the speaker of HIFIS, opened our Team Meeting on Tuesday afternoon. The welcome was complemented by the presentation of the HZB by Thomas Frederking, Administrative Manager of the HZB. We started with a quick catch up of the Status Quo of each HIFIS Cluster. The main focus of the meeting then switched from presentations to group work, thus enabling us to work on some ideas on the future HIFIS and create an elevator pitch about what HIFIS would be like in 2024.This thread was taken up in further group work and we brainstormed about dedicated actions regarding the strategic development of HIFIS services, the coordination &amp; development within Helmholtz and integration &amp; linking to external structures.Although it was our 3rd Meeting already, it was only the 2nd one we could meet in-person!Since the HIFIS team has grown since we last met in-person in 2019, it was a pleasure to get to know the colleagues personally. 37 HIFIS team members and HIFIS friends travelled to Berlin to participate onsite, while 20 team members joined the meeting via video conference.Whats nextAt the end of September 2022, the evaluation of HIFIS development in the last three years will take place at DESY in Hamburg. The preparation is going on at full speed and we are excited to present what HIFIS achieved in the last years. And of course, draw a picture of what we are up to in the years to come!" } , { "title" : "We welcome 10.000 Helmholtz AAI Users!", "url" : "/news/2022/07/13/10k-aai-users/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz ID, Helmholtz Cloud", "date" : "2022-07-13 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Helmholtz AAI seamless access to Helmholtz Cloud Services In early 2020, HIFIS implemented a community AAI (Authentication and Authorisation Infrastructure) for all Helmholtz,thus dubbed Helmholtz AAI.Helmholtz AAI allows to transport and mediate user identity information and authorisation between all participating centres and institutions.Most prominently, the technology allows users to log in to remote cloud services with their home username and password.Single-Sign On (SSO) is a convenient side effect of this procedure, as a recently accomplished login can be re-used to access multiple serviceswithout the need to re-enter the password.Moreover, access rights to specific resources can be decentrally configured,thus elevating collaboration on shared digital resources to a completely new level.Helmholtz AAI for Helmholtz Cloud Services: Just try!In parallel, HIFIS established numerous Helmholtz Cloud Services that areconnected to and readily accessible via the AAI. These services are provided by Helmholtz Centres for usage within all Helmholtzand external collaboration partners for details see the specific service descriptions.If you havent tried it yet, there is a solution: Try it now!Go to our Helmholtz Cloud Portal , and test the services you need;in case of questions, dont hesitate to contact our helpdesk.Since there are a few things to consider in such a heterogenous landscape of service providers and using methods,you are invited to also have a quick look at ourillustrated tutorial on AAI login.Participants and Users welcomeThe obvious benefits of AAI in combination with useful servicesattracted both centres and users to join in increasing numbers: Meanwhile,16 of the 18 Helmholtz Centres, plus the Head Office, are connectedwith active users being registered in the AAI.The remaining two centres are expected to follow soon.Users from elsewhere can also use existing ORCID, Github, or Google accounts to log in (with some restrictions).The user numbers increased drastically over time, basically from zero to ten thousand within approximately two years.Currently, AAI user accounts grow at a rate of roughly 160 per week.All connected Helmholtz centres have users in the AAI, plus roughly 2.000 users that come from non-Helmholtz identity providers.This showcases the increasing significance of HIFIS services, and Helmholtz AAI specifically, for collaborators outside Helmholtz.Once the full-fledged Helmholtz Cloud Regulations are in place, it is expected that even more users will join us.Those will be users that are not yet able to put their specific use cases in place with the current status of the Helmholtz Cloud.More to comeFor the first time, HIFIS fostered practical cross-Helmholtz sharing of digital resources on a large scale, and the Helmholtz AAIis an obvious cornerstone to that endeavour. This success increasingly yields practical use cases from the scientific communities, e.g. on group-based sharing of resources in a both flexible and GDPR compliant manner.Hence, we are cooperating with standardisation groups such asAEGIS andCS3to help put such use cases into reality ina sustainable and scalable manner.The AAI will be extended to facilitate more complex workflows (e.g., service orchestration) and also to improve user experience.Questions? Comments? Proposals?If you have any feedback to tell us, dont hesitate to contact us." } , { "title" : "Helmholtz AI needs YOU for their survey!", "url" : "/news/2022/07/11/survey/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz AI, Survey", "date" : "2022-07-11 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Helmholtz AI needs YOU!In support of our sibling Incubator plattform Helmholtz AI, we forward their call to action:WE need YOU!We would be extremely grateful for your participation in our Helmholtz AI community survey 2022! We have put together a survey to help us determine how we can better serve you, the members of the Helmholtz AI community. Are the support structures and communication channels currently in place at the Helmholtz AI platform serving your needs, or is there something we can improve on? The survey should only take around 15 minutes. To access the survey, simply click here.All answers are anonymous, so please feel free to give us your honest feedback!The survey closes on Tuesday, 16 August, 2022.If you have any questions about the survey, do not hesitate to contact Helmholtz AI at: contact@helmholtz.ai.Thank you in advance for your participation!" } , { "title" : "Register for the Incubator Summer Academy", "url" : "/news/2022/07/07/summer-academy/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Incubator, Event", "date" : "2022-07-07 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "From Zero to Hero dont hesitate, register now!As announced earlier, the Incubator Summer Academy will take place on September 1223, 2022. The five Incubator platformsHelmholtz.AI,Helmholtz Imaging,HIFIS,HIDA andHMC have teamed up to create an exciting program consisting of: Data science workshops from beginner to expert level, a data challenge, keynote speeches, and plenty of digital and on-site networking opportunitiesThe registry has opened, dont wait too long to register the first classes are already full! Youll find the buttons register or apply for participation in the workshop list or, below, in the description of each event.From fundamental workshops like Introduction to Python to advanced courses on Machine Learning for Instance Segmentation and Tracking, participants will be able to pick and choose offers that best suit their experience levels and interests. In our data challenge, you and your teammates can put your (newly acquired) knowledge to the test. Youll get the chance to network with colleagues from all Helmholtz centers and learn more about career opportunities and data science-related exchange programs. Finally, dont miss our lectures by data science experts!The Incubator Summer Academy is open to all doctoral and postdoctoral researchers in the Helmholtz Association. Additionally, a small number of seats in our workshops are reserved for Master students, doctoral and postdoctoral students from other research institutions and universities." } , { "title" : "HIFIS supports PUNCH4NFDI (updated)", "url" : "/use-case/2022/06/28/use-case-PUNCH/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz ID, Sync & Share, HIFIS Transfer Service", "date" : "2022-06-28 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "PUNCH and the National Research Data InfrastructureThe PUNCH (Particles, Universe, NuClei and Hadrons) communities represent about 9.000 scientists with a PhD in Germany, from particle, astro-, astroparticle, hadron and nuclear physics.Doing research data management for so many scientists sounds like an ambitious enterprise and needs ambitious tools to become true. To tackle this task, the consortium PUNCH4NFDI was set up within the NFDI (Nationale Forschungs-Daten-Infrastruktur, National Research Data Infrastructure) Association.The scope of this group is wide, as PUNCH physics addresses the fundamental constituents of matter and their interaction, as well as their role for the development of stars and galaxies and the large scale structures of the universe. The researchers involved are from universities, the Max Planck Society, the Leibniz Association, and the Helmholtz Association. Each of them has one or more institutional affiliations which come with their own accounts and services.Collaboration is keybut please keep it simpleIn the context of research data and meta data management, PUNCH4NFDI needed to ensure effective collaboration among all these scientists. In order to meet this requirement, it is necessary to provide collaborative tools to make the exchange of information and communication as comfortable and easy as possible, while also being safe and trustworthy. One thing everyone wanted to avoid was to make all participating scientists remember a bunch of new accounts for these services and also for using the federated computing and storage infrastructure. The solution was to create or, better, adopt an easy to use single-sign-on framework.As the Helmholtz AAI (Authorisation and Authentication Infrastructure) had already been put in place by HIFIS, there was no need to build the PUNCH service from scratch. Instead, in August 2021, HIFIS started to support PUNCH4NFDI by adapting the Helmholtz AAI to their requirements.This infrastructure now allows every user to login to any PUNCH4NFDI service using the password of their home institution (or, alternatively, Github, ORCID or other social identity providers).Since then, the HIFIS-support for PUNCH4NFDI has been growing into providing an initial set of collaborative tools which also can be accessed via the PUNCH AAI: These services allow the sharing of documents and simultaneous editing viaSync &amp; Share and an easy planning of meetings or workshops, realised by DESY Indico. The latter is a parallel instance to HIFIS Events and adopted its user account management from there. The latest addition from the HIFIS portfolio is the HIFIS Transfer Service, allowing scientists to manage transfers of large data sets between sites.Further components of the PUNCH4NFDI portfolio, and also connected to the commonly used AAI, are the PUNCH Gitlab to enable the sharing of software, data, and documentation, as well as PUNCH Mattermost for effortless communication between the scientists.The AAI single-sign-on and the PUNCH services making use of it undergo a continuous developing process in close collaboration between HIFIS experts and PUNCH4NFDI, to ensure that all current and future use cases are taken into account. Special focus is laid on the group management so that services can be used according to the rights provided by the user groups of the AAI.Get in contactFor PUNCH4NFDI and PUNCH AAI: Kilian Schwarz, kilian.schwarz@desy.deFor HIFIS: Uwe Jandt, support@hifis.net" } , { "title" : "Call for Abstracts for TEACH 2 is open", "url" : "/announcement/2022/06/16/CfA_Teach-2/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Education, Event", "date" : "2022-06-16 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "TEACH 2Open up!The second installment of the TEACH event is going to take place 9 November, 2022, in an online format. It aims at bringing together Training Coordinators, Instructors and Trainers, Personnel Developers and Researchers. The participants will exchange experience and best practices, collaborate and share resources on the whole education life cycle.For more impressions have a look at the report from last years TEACH conference.Call for Abstracts is openFor TEACH 2022, the Call for Abstracts is already open. You can submit a proposal for a talk or discussion, a poster, an elevator pitch or a workshop. For details see the submission page.Submit your abstract till Sunday, 3 July, 2022, and become part of an education network!" } , { "title" : "Recap: Workshop on RSE and FAIR at SE2022", "url" : "/news/2022/06/08/RSE-and-FAIR/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Education, Workshop", "date" : "2022-06-08 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Research Software Engineering and the FAIR criteriaMartin Stoffers (DLR, HIFIS Consulting), Tobias Schlauch (DLR, HIFIS Education), Alexander Struck (Humboldt University) and Ren Caspart (KIT) organised the workshop Lets talk FAIR for research software. The goal was to discuss practices in RSE in three parts: Based on the HIFIS workshop Foundations of Research Software Publication they identified topics to include in a future version of said workshop, e.g. Release Management / Publication and Life Cycle Management. The second part of the event connected the FAIR Principles (Findablity, Accessibility, Interoperability, Reuse) to high performance computing in general, while the last part deepened the aspect of Findable Research Software and how to overcome existing obstacles.Reaching out to relevant communitiesThe workshop covered topics highly relevant to HIFIS, but addressed a larger audience beyond Helmholtz: it took place at SE2022, the annual conference of the department Softwaretechnik of the German Gesellschaft fr Informatik, this year in Berlin from 21th to 25th February. For more details and further reading see their just published wrap-up of the event." } , { "title" : "Incubator Summer Academy—From Zero to Hero", "url" : "/announcement/2022/05/20/save-the-date-summer-academy/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Event, Helmholtz Incubator", "date" : "2022-05-20 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Save the Date!Our Incubator Summer Academy From Zero to Hero will take place on September 1223, 2022!The five platformsHelmholtz.AI,Helmholtz Imaging,HIFIS,HIDA andHMC have teamed up to create an exciting program consisting of: Data science workshops from beginner to expert level, a data challenge, keynote speeches, and plenty of digital and on-site networking opportunities.More information about the program and registration will be available here soon. HIDA" } , { "title" : "New HIFIS course: Continuous Integration in GitLab", "url" : "/news/2022/05/20/CI-course/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Education, Event", "date" : "2022-05-20 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "New HIFIS course: Continuous Integration in GitLabHIFIS Technology developed a new online course which will take place for the first time June 1416, 2022: Continuous Integration in GitLab. It aims at intermediate level users as some basic knowledge of Git and GitLab is required. You should already have some experience with a Unix shell, too. To refresh your acquaintance with the shell, you might want to have a look at this introduction. For a detailed agenda have a look at the timetable.Pipelines, Automation and Optimization: What is CI?Continuous Integration (CI) is a principle where all contributors commit their code regularly, in small amounts.But nobody wants to check each file or, even worse, each commit for formal criteria like code styles or licensing. GitLab CI is a tool to help with those tedious tasks you can build a pipeline covering all your tasks and let it run with each commit before inserting the code. This course will walk you through such a pipeline on Day 1. On Day 2, you will learn how to optimize this pipeline with some advanced concepts and on Day 3, it is time to bring along your own project and apply your new knowledge with the help of experts.All this will happen at the Helmholtz Codebase, a free-of-charge GitLab service for anybody within Helmholtz and their partners. It is already home to lots of projects, but there is always room for more.Registration is open!The registration for this three-day course is open until Sunday, 5th of June, so do not hesitate to secure your place and make sure you can log in to the Helmholtz Codebase via Helmholtz AAI!" } , { "title" : "Insights from the 12th Incubator workshop", "url" : "/news/2022/05/16/Inkubator-Workshop/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Report, Event, Helmholtz Incubator", "date" : "2022-05-16 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The Helmholtz Incubator and its plattformsSince 2016, within the Helmholtz think tank Incubator Information &amp; Data Science experts from all the Helmholtz Centers come together and promote pioneering Data Science initiatives: from big data analytics, supercomputing, the entire data lifecycle and software development, right up to artificial intelligence and robotics. To further these aspects, five platforms were created, each with a specific purpose: In addition to HIFIS, our partner plattforms are Helmholtz Information &amp; Data Science Academy (HIDA), Helmholtz Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Unit (HelmholtzAI), Helmholtz Imaging (HIP) and Helmholtz Metadata Collaboration (HMC).The 12th Helmholtz Incubator WorkshopThe President of the Helmholtz Association, Mr Otmar Wiestler, invited data science experts and the coordinators from the five platforms to meet in Berlin for the 12th Helmholtz Incubator Workshop. As it was the first in-person meeting for this group since the Coronavirus pandemic, we were particularly looking forward to it. On the first day, the successes and potential of our activities and platforms in 2021 were evaluated and discussed in breakout groups to gather ideas for the platforms future concepts. On the second day of the workshop, we started with an exciting panel discussion, featuring the President of the Helmholtz Association and the platforms Scientific Advisory Board Members reflecting on the achievements and prospects of the platforms. Towards the end, we broadened the view with an input from the Helmholtz Open Science Office from our platforms to the (digital) political landscape, including the German National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI).What HIFIS took homeExternal guests delivered useful input and constructive ideas for the development of processes around industry-related research and cooperations.The exchange with stakeholders from outside our plattform has been most valuable: We learned that a lot of aspects of HIFIS are received quite well in fact, we are very pleased to say that we received the best feedback of all five platforms. But we wont stop here, because there is still space for improvement and further developement. We cherish the constructive feedback and enlightening perspectives for the further orientation of HIFIS and the other Incubator plattforms and will take them into account.As a result of this workshop, we sharpened the future development of these plattforms and the overarching Incubator together and look forward to the next months." } , { "title" : "New HIFIS course: Introduction to OOP in Python", "url" : "/news/2022/05/11/OOP-Python/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Education, Event", "date" : "2022-05-11 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "New HIFIS course: Object-Oriented Programming in PythonHIFIS Education &amp; Training developed a new online course which will take place for the first time May 2324, 2022: Object-Oriented Programming in Python. It aims at intermediate level users as some basic knowledge of Python is already required (variables, functions, loops, conditions). For details of the agenda have a look at the course page.Object-Oriented ProgrammingObject-Oriented Programming (OOP) is a popular and widely used programming paradigm where programs are written to describe the involved elements and the interactions between these. This is a popular approach for modelling and simulation problems. Among the languages that use OOP are Java, C++, Ruby and Python. The latter will be used in this class to teach the concept.Registration is open!The registration for this course is open until Sunday 15th of May, so do not hesitate to secure your place! But please note, this is the first installment of this workshop. Bugs and hick-ups are to be expected. The instructors recommend to bring along some patience and popcorn ;)" } , { "title" : "Best Scientific Imaging—the choice is yours!", "url" : "/announcement/2022/05/10/HI-Contest/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Imaging", "date" : "2022-05-10 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Outstanding imagesdiscover structures, colours and tiny worldsScientific Imaging does not only lead to research results, but also to beautiful, surprising, aesthetic images. Our partner platform Helmholtz Imaging therefore called for images from any imaging technique developed or applied at Helmholtz Centers.Have a look at last years winner to inspire curiousityThe architecture of nerve fibres of a monkeys cerebellum, revealed by Polarized Light ImagingForschungszentrum Jlich / Markus Axer et al.To give you an impression of the outstanding images that await you, heres last years winning image: Markus Axer and his team from the Forschungszentrum Jlich won with this multicoloured image of a monkeys cerebellum, using 3D polarized light imaging (3D-PLI). This technology allows to capture the architecture of nerve fibres and was developed at the Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine.The choice is yours!A jury curated a shortlist of amazing pictures and asks the public now to vote for the winners in the Public Choice Award for the Best Scientific Imaging. You can vote for five pictures (one vote per entry) until Sunday, 29 May 2022 right here.The winners will be announced at the Helmholtz Imaging Conference 2022, which takes place in Berlin from 31 May till 1 June 2022." } , { "title" : "Service Canvas now available in Plony!", "url" : "/announcement/2022/05/05/service-canvas-now-available-in-Plony/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Cloud Services", "date" : "2022-05-05 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Service Canvas now available in Plony!At the end of April, the Service Canvas in Plony was moved to our production systemWe are happy to announce that the Service Canvas is now available in Plony!A Short recapture of the Onboarding Process: In order to hand in a Service Application a Service Provider first needs to fill out the Application Form in Plony, thus giving some basic information on the service to check whether a service fulfills the required exclusion criteria (see service selection criteria list). If the service fulfills all requirements, it joins the Helmholtz Cloud Service Portfolio. To drive the Service Onboarding, more detailed information about service is required which is collected via the Service Canvas. Please remark that the service information collected in Plony are not public. Only dedicated information are transferred to Helmholtz Cloud Portal and therefore visible in public. The Service Canvas includes weighting criteria which determine the services rank in the Service Integration list the services with the highest rank will be integrated first. The Service Integration Team will get back to the Service Provider as soon as the Service (Canvas) Information was checked. Features of Service Application and Service Canvas Form in Plony: Connected to Helmholtz AAI simply Login with credentials of home institution Flexible in use one can start filling the Service Canvas, save it and continue at any time without losing information already typed in Guiding through mandatory fields validation functionality allows to check whether all mandatory fields are filled outFeatures of Service Canvas specifically: Automated score calculation Plony calculates the score earned through weighting criteria automatically and shows the results for each service after having sent the Service Canvas to HIFIS Transparency in every status using the overview My Services the Service Provider can see their services sorted by status. To improve transparency about services within a particular Helmholtz center, all services are visible that were handed in by colleagues from the same Helmholtz center.For the Services which are part of the Service Portfolio and which are not yet listed in Plony, we will soon transfer the collected Service Information to Plony to have all Service Information in one place.The next step to have a fully integrated Onboarding Process in Plony is already ahead!The HIFIS Cloud team is implementing the interface to Helmholtz Cloud Portal next as soon as this is done, the whole Onboarding Process is built in Plony. Service Information can then be managed in Plony, even during Service Operation." } , { "title" : "HIFIS website just got relaunched!", "url" : "/announcement/2022/04/06/hifis-net-relaunch/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2022-04-06 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Have a look at the new HIFIS website that just got relaunched!New look and new contents hifis.net got a makeover to present the Helmholtz digital services for science. Meet Sam the Scientist in our welcome video for a quick introduction what HIFIS is about!The new navigation via the hamburger menu on the top right provides a faster overview about HIFIS: Get deeper insights to 1) our Helmholtz Services, 2) Learning &amp; Training, 3) Use Cases, 4) HIFIS insights, 5) Media &amp; Materials and 6) Our Support.Applied RSE and Use CasesThe new website focuses on the services available to all researchers within the Helmholtz community to facilitate their work. All of them are united in the Helmholtz Cloud. If you are curious about what can be done via research software engineering (RSE), browse the Software Spotlights or the new category of use cases which demonstrate the usage of HIFIS services. If you want your project or use case highlighted there, please get in touch with us.Different interests, different accessAnother way to enter the world of HIFIS are the buttons on the front page that are oriented along several user roles: Via different access points on the homepage, other stakeholders like researchers, software engineers, (potential) service providers or IT staff will find information relevant to them more easily than before. Each page puts together introductory texts and links to the HIFIS offers that will hopefully suit your needs. If information is missing for your query, your welcome to get in contact with us.More to come in the futureThe website team is going to add more content throughout the next weeks, e.g., more use cases. If you dont want to miss any of this, subscribe to the RSS feed or the newsletter, which will also get a makeover itself later this year.Helmholtz Digital Services for Science Collaboration made easy." } , { "title" : "Review of Helmholtz Cloud Service Portfolio completed", "url" : "/announcement/2022/03/31/service-portfolio-review/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Cloud Services", "date" : "2022-03-31 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "First regular Service Portfolio Review completedIn January 2022, the first regular Service Portfolio Review started and was completed in March.More than a year has passed since the initial Helmholtz Cloud Service Portfolio wasannounced in October 2020.In the meantime, a lot has happened: 22 services can already be used via the Helmholtz Cloud Portal; the processes around the Service Portfolio were worked out and documented in the Process Framework and thus we agreed on the rules along the whole service lifecycle.Now it was time to conduct the first regular review of the Helmholtz Cloud Service Portfolio and put our Service Portfolio Review process into practice.During the review of the services in the portfolio, the following points are checked: Services in the service catalogue (=listed in the Helmholtz Cloud Portal). Each service still meets the exclusion criteria (=subset of the service selection criteria). Serviced in the service pipeline (=upcoming services) Each service still meets the exclusion criteria Re-evaluation of the weighting criteria Service Selection criteria Check whether criteria are still fitting and add/change/delete criteria if necessary Service Portfolio processes Check whether Service Portfolio processes are still fitting and add/change processes and Process Framework if necessary The process was carried out smoothlyFor each service in the service pipeline and in the service catalogue, the cloud service providers reviewed a set of service information. Due to the adjusted service selection criteria since the initial service selection, service providers added information that was not yet given and adapted information that changed in the meantime.The results were evaluated and incorporatedThe following changes have come out of the review: 7 services are removed from the list of upcoming services (Service Pipeline) as the service providers have withdrawn their service offering. The current Service Portfolio can be checked here. Changes to the wording of the service selection criteria, the Application Form in Plony and the Service Canvas (Excel form, soon also available in Plony) have been made on the basis of experience gained so far. The wording of the service type HIFIS Basis Service was changed to Helmholtz Cloud core service due to interfaces to NFDI and the different definition of a basic service there.For more details please check the review documentation.The Portfolio is kept up to dateThe next regular review is planned for October 2022, so that both the feedback from the HIFIS evaluation in September can be incorporated and the review results can be used as part of the next HIFIS Annual Report." } , { "title" : "Report on the TEACH Conference in 2021", "url" : "/news/2022/02/14/report-on-teach/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Report, Education, Event", "date" : "2022-02-14 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "About this documentThis report documents the organization, proceedings and evaluation of the TEACH conference.General information on the eventMotivationThis event has its roots in the various Helmholtz platforms that are being developed for a few years now, and the Helmholtz Open Science Office. These organizations hold comprehensive vantage points spanning across the various centers in Helmholtz. Since the early stages, when the involved stakeholders were mostly concerned with setting up their respective infrastructures and services, it became very apparent that the communication across the various centers is a key element for the Association. During those initial contacts it stood out that the platforms and the OS Office came with one or even multiple education and community-related work packages included. This led to the insight that collaboration across centers is fruitful and necessary to enhance teaching and education, albeit in different domains. This insight spurred the idea to set up a networking event for trainers, educators, and personal developers to exchange ideas and to connect. As a result, an event was brought to life with the title TEACH - Talk about Education Across Communities in Helmholtz which fittingly describes a central issue that binds all contributions together.ProceedingsTEACH was held from December 7-10, 2021 via the online platform GatherTown. In the four days of the event, more than 100 educators, trainers, and personnel developers of the Helmholtz Association shared their ideas and insights on teaching and education in 19 participant-driven sessions provided by 42 individual contributors. These sessions were framed by an opening and a closing session that provided the overall vision of the event, as well as further information resources and networking possibilities for all participants. Additionally, a poster space allowed for the presentation of the participating platforms and organizational units as well as a support letter by the President of the Helmholtz Association, Otmar D. Wiestler.Takeaway messages from the proceedingsWhile the scope of the conference was intentionally kept broad to allow for as many various ond open contributions as possible, several key points were repeatedly made by contributors and participants alike: The communication within Helmholtz is perceived as one of the biggest challenges for a more effective outreach and coordination of the various education programs. This is not limited to the interaction between Centers but also within the Centers itself. In many cases, educators and organizers have to rely on personal contacts to enable their offers to reach the intended target groups or pull knowledge on work-related topics. This increases the workload and reduces the efficiency with which educational offers can be provided. Under the same heading it was mentioned that short contract terms tend to disrupt built-up acquaintances since the inherent abilities, further contacts, and specific knowledge usually leave together with the affected persons. In turn, the installment of effective education programs can be severly set back by such dynamics. A dedicated internal communication office was suggested for Center-internal communication to disseminate information quickly, and well-targeted, establish contacts between parties with shared interests and re-establish such contacts if positions within the Centers undergo personal changes. The demand for education within Helmholtz is immense. The requirements for early-career graduates and post-doc researchers are steadily increasing, notably in the areas of digitalization where they often only tend to bring marginal skills from their previous education. Onboarding new employees, especially young scientists often still faces too many challenges. They are often not sufficiently aware of educational offers which could benefit them especially early in their career and are also often out of reach for educators. Besides the scientific staff also technical and administrative staff should be trained to a certain extend in approaches which can improve their workflow (e.g., version control, using markdown documents, communication via instant messaging services). This can also serve to ease interactions between scientific, administrative and technical staff, since it allows them to all interact on par with respect to the tools used and allows the creation of workflows that can overarch multiple domains of the employees work life. Data stewards and data librarians in the libraries of the Helmholtz Centers play vital networking roles in this regard. The required amount of skills and knowledge to keep up with the best practices and ever modernizing technology keeps steadily increasing and current efforts will not be sufficient in the long run. Dedicated Research Software Engineers are in increasing demand, which will continue to grow. Switching to online education has been a challenge for many educators and organizers. Currently, most could establish a working modus operandi with room for improvements. TEACH provided a much needed opportunity to exchange best practises and didactic approaches as well as evaluate some commonly used tools. Online teaching is here to stay. It is harder to do right when compared to in-person teaching but offers great boons with regards to work-life balance and can enable a more self-directed learning. Along with the technical aspects the didactic approaches are forced to evolve as well, which is expected to also be reflected in the way in-person workshops will be held in the future. Evaluation of organizational aspectsThe organization of TEACH mainly was mainly done by the respective authors. Further support was provided by HMC which provided a GatherTown space that could support up to 100 participants at the same time. An Indico instance provided by HIFIS was used for event registration, participant- and contribution management. This is also where all materials of the contributions can be found.Communication within the organizers group was facilitated via Mattermost which is accessible for all members of Helmholtz via Helmholtz AAI.The timetable was split into 90-minute blocks with half-hour breaks between them (one full hour for the lunch break). This organizational approach was chosen to combat the, by now well-known, effect of Zoom-fatigue, which leads to a strong deterioration in mental focus when exposed to long video conference calls.Choice of platformGatherTown is an unusual platform in the sense that it maps participants onto avatars in a virtual space which mirrors some experiences from real live (e.g., being able to move around, getting close to someone to establish a conversation, being able to speak and listen directly to persons in ones vicinity or from a stage) to this virtual setting. It takes a gamified approach to interaction and video conferencing, reminding some of an old-school computer game.External resources like posters and websites can be linked direktly onto objects in the virtual space, allowing for easy interaction by the participants.It was made sure that organizers were visible among the participants, easy to reach and a in-platform helpdesk was provided in case participants experienced issues. The overall stability of the conference platform was very good and occasional issues stemmed from the internet connection on the participants side.A preparation event was held to give contributors the opportunity to get to know the platform and help them with planning their contributions.Reception and FeedbackThe rather informal and broad style of the event was well appreciated by the participants and contributors. The selection of topic was perceived as interesting, which was dimished somewhat by the tight schedule. The conference was considered by some to not be sufficiently long to address such a complex topic.A majority of participants stated that they enjoyed GatherTown as a new, fresh and interactive approach. Most participants quickly caught on to the unfamiliar controls and used the self-determined movement option to explore the various spaces and items within. The posters were quickly discovered and provided good conversation starters.While the somewhat playful visuals appealed to most, individual opinions do disagree with the style and presentation. It was noted that GatherTown as a service is hosted by a company in the United States. An open-source alternative is available in the product WorkAdventure which could be self-hosted by an instance in Helmholtz. It was stated that multiple parties would prefer such kind of video conferencing system for informal work settings or workshops. At the time of writing, HIFIS has taken first steps to evaluate the feasibility of providing a platform of this kind to the Helmholtz community.Lessons learnedThe organizers have extracted several action items from the feedback (see also Reception and Feedback below): Do not hold such an event near the end of the year. Multiple participants noted that they had to cut their visits short due to tight schedules. A possible repetition for the event will be scheduled for autumn in the future. Seperate the tracks more clearly to allow participants an easier choice concerning their interests. Keep the overall broad scope of conference though. Have contributions run in parallel. Due to the fully packed schedule some interesting discussion had to be cut short which should not limit such a creative and communicative event. Overlapping talks on different stages can give singular events more room to unfold and allow contributors zo interact more with the participants. Also plan more time for the handover between contributions. Plan explicit networking sessions. Networking happened often in the breaks between contributions, defeating their purpose as periods of rest to give participants time to recouperate. As communication and networking turned out to be of utmost importance, it should be more in the spotlight in future events. Not all contributors could participate in the preparation event which made the planning less predictable for them. For future iterations the organizers will have to interact closer with contributors to ensure they can utilize the provided platforms full potential and have a better insight wich interactions the participants can be expected to be familiar with. Allowing for a longer period for registration and contributions should be planned to allow contributors to get to know their participants better beforehand. Advertisement of the TEACH was considered insufficient, with many participants learning about it by chance. Building up stronger communication networks beforehand is vital.ThanksThe organizers of the TEACH would like to thank all contributors and participants without whom this would have been a rather dull affair.Thanks also go out to all our colleagues in HIDA, HIFIS and HMC who keep the services running upon which the event was built, who gave valuable input and feedback and helped out with the thousand small tasks that such an event entails." } , { "title" : "Mattermost Major Release 6 available", "url" : "/announcement/2022/01/14/mattermost-6-available/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Software Release", "date" : "2022-01-14 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Whats NewSince January 14th, 2022, theMattermost service in theHelmholtz Cloud appearsin new splendor equipped with two new main features.Mattermost now comes withchannels,boards andplaybooksintegrated into one single application.The global navigation was redesigned providing Mattermost with a new look and feel.All details and new features are described in the Mattermost release posts. https://mattermost.com/blog/mattermost-v6-0-is-now-available/ https://mattermost.com/blog/mattermost-v6-1-is-now-available/Enhanced DocumentationWe also took the opportunity to make it easier to get startedby extending the documentation.The brand-new getting started guide helps you to quickly get in touch with theservice and the specifics of the installation.We hope it helps to allow new colleagues and users to quickly get familiarwith Mattermost.The most recent changes are now described in the Changelog. Getting Started Guide ChangelogTry it OutHave you ever been annoyed by the unstructured views of the various topicsin channels?Try out Collapsed Reply Threadsby activating it in your user settings.Comments and SuggestionsIf you have suggestions or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Contact us! " } , { "title" : "HIFIS Survey 2021 Report", "url" : "/news/2021/12/20/survey-report/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2021-12-20 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Why a survey?HIFIS provides numerous IT services for Helmholtz and collaboration partners, ranging from cloud and technology services to education, consulting, and community building.From users of these services, we obtain feedback on the quality and potential future developments via various channels.On top of that, we are especially interested in obtaining information from colleagues in Helmholtz that are not already closely related to HIFIS services.We would like to know more on users needs and wishes, and maybe organisational bottlenecks, so we can address these in our future service portfolio.With this motivation in mind, we surveyed a randomly selected subset of employees of the participating Helmholtz centres (15 of 18 queried centres plus Head Office took part) and asked them to anonymously report on their usage and practices of IT services in their field of work, also on software development practices, if that applied for the questioned user.ResultsWe were able to obtained responses from 15 Helmholtz centres and the Head Office.A total of 594 participants responded to the HIFIS Survey 2021 between May and August 2021.After filtering for inconsistent and too incomplete responses, a total of 411 responses were analyzed.Approximately 55% of them were from researchers, the remaining fraction was distributed between Administrative, Infrastructure and IT staff.All six research areas were represented.Results are presented and discussed in an analysis report that is available here.Data and Analysis RepositoriesThe data and the complete analysis pipeline as well as the report sources are available publicly.You are invited to check the data and/or do your own analyses.If you happen to find new interesting results, wed appreciate if you tell us! The data set, excluding free text answers, is provided here: https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud/hifis/overall/surveys/survey-2021/data The analysis scripts and report sources are located here: https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud/hifis/overall/surveys/survey-2021/analysis The analysis backend is built on the HIFIS Surveyval Framework, which can be found here: https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud/hifis/overall/surveys/hifis-surveyvalWrite us if you are interested on details for these.Further analysisBased on the primary analysis summarised in the report, it can already be stated that furtherinformation can likely be derived for specific sub-groups in additional analyses.This may yield useful insights on how to shape HIFIS services towards these groups. Stay tuned! Comments and SuggestionsIf you have suggestions or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Contact us! " } , { "title" : "20 Helmholtz Cloud Services", "url" : "/news/2021/12/16/CloudPortal/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2021-12-16 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "20 Helmholtz Cloud Services availableIn the recent weeks, 10 additional services were brought online. With this increase, the number of services available has more than doubled over the course of the year.The complete Helmholtz Cloud Service Catalogue in the Helmholtz Cloud Portal now comprises a total of 20 services provided by seven Helmholtz Centres. A broad spectrum of service categories around the entire scientific process is covered.10 new Helmholtz Cloud Services Compute Projects by Jlich HAICORE by Jlich HIFIS Events by DESY JSC Data Projects by Jlich JupyterHub by DESY Jupyter on HAICORE by KIT LimeSurvey by DKFZ LimeSurvey by HMGU notes@DESY by DESY Singularity by JlichUpcoming ServicesThe portfolio is continuously being updated. Next upcoming services will presumably be: Rancher managed Kubernetes by DESY Redmine by HMGU Singularity (on HAICORE) by KITComments and SuggestionsIf you have suggestions or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Contact us! Changelog 2025-05-06 The LimeSurvey by HMGU is withdrawn. Please use LimeSurvey by DKFZ." } , { "title" : "Process Framework for Helmholtz Cloud Service Portfolio", "url" : "/milestone/2021/11/29/Process-Framework-Cloud/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2021-11-29 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Process Framework for Helmholtz Cloud Service PortfolioThe Process Framework for Helmholtz Cloud Service Portfolio is now available in version 1.0! It focuses on the explanation of the processes regarding the Service Portfolio Management for Helmholtz Cloud, giving an overview of which processes exist, how they interconnect, which roles are involved in each process and what is included in each process step.This Process Framework serves as a guide to understand how Service Portfolio Management for Helmholtz Cloud works.Information about Helmholtz CloudIn the Helmholtz Cloud, members of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres provide selected IT-Services for joint use.The Service Portfolio covers the whole scientific process and offers Helmholtz employees and their project partners a federated community cloud with uniform access for them to conduct and support excellent science. Read more!Comments and SuggestionsIf you have suggestions or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Contact us! " } , { "title" : "Software Spotlights in Helmholtz", "url" : "/news/2021/11/24/Software-Spotlights/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2021-11-24 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Helmholtz Software SpotlightsTheHIFIS Software Clusterand theHelmholtz Research Software Forumfoster Research Software Development throughout Helmholtz.The aim is to increase quality, visibility and sustainability of Research Software Engineering in Helmholtz.We queried all Helmholtz Centres and Research Communities to present their most relevant software projects that represent top success stories of Reseach Software Engineering in Helmholtz.To this day, we received approx. 90 proposals from all research fields.Write us if you are interested on details for these.Presentation on HIFIS Software Community PagesIn a continuous series, we are going to present an increasing number of these software projects on ourHIFIS Software Community pages.The first set of project presentations has just gone online.Have a look and feel free to give us feedback. Stay tuned! Comments and SuggestionsIf you have suggestions or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Contact us! " } , { "title" : "Release of Helmholtz Cloud Portal", "url" : "/milestone/2021/11/17/CloudPortal/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2021-11-17 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Helmholtz Cloud PortalThe production version of the Helmholtz Cloud Portal is released and will be continuously developed from now on. With some new features and a stable performance from the beginning, the beta phase can now be finished. The Portal allows harmonized access to all Helmholtz Cloud services. It contains all necessary information to access the available services.Features The new search function and filter options help to find a suitable service. The availability of the service is tested automatically and is visible in the service card. The service description contains all main information such as support, service level and limitations. User comments are welcome in the new free text field and will help to continuously improve the usability of the portal.Helmholtz Cloud ServicesThe Helmholtz Cloud Portal mediates the users access to all Helmholtz Cloud Services. The portfolio is continuously being updated. The current status can be found here.Next upcoming services will presumably be: LimeSurvey by HMGU Events Management platform by DESY (already usable via direct link events.hifis.net) Rancher managed Kubernetes by DESY JupyterHub by DESYInformation about Helmholtz CloudIn the Helmholtz Cloud, members of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres provide selected IT-Services for joint use.The Service Portfolio covers the whole scientific process and offers Helmholtz employees and their project partners a federated community cloud with uniform access for them to conduct and support excellent science. Read more!Comments and SuggestionsIf you have suggestions or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Contact us! Changelog 2025-05-06 The LimeSurvey by HMGU is withdrawn. Please use LimeSurvey by DKFZ." } , { "title" : "Helmholtz AAI full presentation in 75. DFN Betriebstagung", "url" : "/news/2021/10/22/helmholtz-aai-full-presentation-in-dfn-meeting/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz ID", "date" : "2021-10-22 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Helmholtz AAI in DFNAfter a brief pitch in the previous meeting, Helmholtz AAI is being presented in full breadth in the 75. DFN Betriebstagung. The presentation slides can be viewed here. Sources for the same are accessible at the Helmholtz Gitlab.DetailsThe presentation intends to spark an open discussion on its specialty of introducing a proxy component, allowing better scalability in federations with numerous participants.A further point of interest is the future perspective of Helmholtz AAI and its interconnection to AARC,DFN,and federations(NFDI,EGI,EUDAT,EOSC,GANT, ).LinksFind more detailed information on: Helmholtz AAI documentation Helmholtz AAI usage statistics Overview on connected services on different integration levels" } , { "title" : "HIFIS Transfer Service (updated)", "url" : "/use-case/2021/10/20/use-case-hts/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2021-10-20 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "What is it about?The HIFIS Transfer Service (HTS) is envisioned to be a core service in the HIFIS Backbone enabling Helmholtz members to easily share large data sets between Helmholtz centres.Get to know it! (Video)Have a look at this brief Introduction Video on how to use webFTS!What has been doneHTS began as a pilot service in mid-2020 and CERNs FTS3 was chosen as transfer management middleware together with the graphical, web based frontend WebFTS.In order to enable Helmholtz centres participation in HTS, a storage endpoint capable of being controlled by FTS wasconceptualized and implementedby the end of 2020.The ubiquitous Apache webserver httpd was chosen as an endpoint due to its modular design and familiarity for many IT administrators. The endpoint can be deployed easily and equipped with backend storage of the administrators choice.The configuration of the Apache enables it to interface with FTS3.Transfer performanceFirst tests of HTS showed that transfers between connected centres are very feasible and the systems interoperate seamlessly with the Helmholtz AAI. The transfers could be executed with a bandwidth of 80 - 120 MB/s, thus making it possible to transfer 1 TB worth of data in less than four hours without the need for further user interaction.For more information on HTS performance, you may also refer to the presentations given in recentISGC andEGI conferences.HTS for Helmholtz AIColleagues from theHZDR andDESYwere among the first to use HTS for the transfer and sharing of datasets in the context of the Helmholtz AI platform.Other centres have already shown interest in establishing endpoints for the participation in HTS and will thus enable more and more researchers to easily share data sets.How-toFor submitting transfers between known endpoints, you can visit webFTS, log in with Helmholtz AAI and submit your transfers via the Submit a transfer. Simply enter the URLs of both endpoints, select the files you want to transfer and click on the arrow for the corresponding transfer direction.You can then monitor your jobs under My jobs and see when they are completed.We will also supply a small video demonstration for using HTS with webFTS in the very near future.Technical instructions for setting up an endpoint for HTS can be found here in our Technical Documentation. A pre-configured version that can be deployed easily is available as a Docker image for either standalone or Kubernetes deployments in this gitlab repository. In case an administrator wants to set up the endpoint on their own, installation and configuration instructions are available in another repository.The road aheadCurrently, implementation details of the webserver are refined and some new features are added byKIT andDESY in a joint effort to make the experience even smoother.We also plan on adding another data management layer that makes policy-driven tranfers possible in order to share and/or synchronize datasets automatically between designated participants in cross-centre collaborations.This will make HTS a complete solution for federated data management.Interested? Need help? Comments and Suggestions?If you are interested in the HTS itself, want to set up an endpoint at your centre or need support for submitting transfers, please do not hesitate to contact us: Contact us! Changelog 2021-10-20 Added link to introduction video" } , { "title" : "Helmholtz Resonator Podcast on HIFIS", "url" : "/news/2021/10/18/podcast/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2021-10-18 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The PodcastHIFIS has been given opportunity to present its scope and status at the Helmholtz Resonator Podcast. This free Podcast focuses on all kinds of research and related activities in Helmholtz.The podcast appears monthly and is in German. Feel free to tune in anytime! Content of this podcast episode: All you want to know about HIFISIn this episode of the podcast,Uwe Jandt (HIFIS Coordination) andCarina Haupt (HIFIS Software Services)talk about cloud, education and consulting servicesprovided by HIFIS to the Helmholtz research community.Further topics cover the fostering of good practices in Resarch Software Engineering (RSE),open works yet to be done for HIFIS, as well asthe close relationship to the scientific Incubator platforms e.g. with respect to scientific metadata management ,and many more!Listen or DownloadThis interview on HIFIS can be played or downloaded hereat the Resonator page.Comments and SuggestionsIf you have suggestions or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Contact us! " } , { "title" : "DESY Sync & Share service available to Helmholtz", "url" : "/news/2021/09/09/desy-syncnshare/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2021-09-09 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "DESY Sync &amp; ShareDESY contributes its Sync &amp; Share Service to the Helmholtz Cloud, for usage by Helmholtz and collaborators! The service, based on Nextcloud Enterprise, is an online storage service, to get easy and fast access to all of your stored data.DESY has been offering Sync &amp; Share services since 2013.Features Access your data on the web:Save your own data in DESY Sync &amp; Share and access it from everywhere via web browser. Synchronize your data:Store all your data fully synced on all your devices to work smoothly and barrier-free. Integrate your cloud data in your desktop environment:Mount DESY Sync &amp; Share on your desktop via WebDav Drive. Work on shared documents collaboratively:The OnlyOffice environment allows joint work on Office documents and other formats. DESY Sync and Share uses the dCache storage system to store your data in a highly resilient and redundant manner, while offering principally unlimited storage capacity. Additional features, like collaborative calendar, may be made available upon request.Refer to DESY Service Documentation for full documentation and FAQs.Usage ConditionsVisit the Helmholtz Cloud Portal at helmholtz.cloud to access the service and to check usage details.In brief, individual users from Helmholtz (with IdP connected to Helmholtz AAI) can use the service straightaway.User groups from Helmholtz need to briefly apply for usage by sending a request to support.Again: See Cloud Portal for details!Access using Helmholtz AAINo additional accounts or passwords are required, as the access is mediated through the Helmholtz AAI.Using this infrastructure, you and all colleagues can use your home institutions login to use the Sync &amp; Share service seamlessly.Furthermore, group management is performed through the AAI as well. For a detailed tutorial on how the basic access works, have a look here! If you have successfully applied for a group, you may also refer here for group management in the AAI.Further services in Helmholtz CloudUntil end 2021, multiple more Helmholtz Cloud services are expected to be added.Stay tuned to not miss any!Comments and SuggestionsIf you have questions need assistance, please do not hesitate to contact. Contact us! " } , { "title" : "Plony enables online application for new Cloud Services", "url" : "/news/2021/09/02/plony-online/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2021-09-02 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "We are happy to announce that the Application Form for potential Helmholtz Cloud Services is now online available in Plony!The application of a new cloud service is the first step of the entire Helmholtz cloud service portfolio management. Plony will be extended continuously to cover further process steps. Check out at plony.helmholtz.cloud .Register your Services for Helmholtz CloudThis means that from now on, as a service provicer you can hand in your services for Helmholtz Cloud at any time!You find an instruction on the Application Form on the landing page of Plony.Features of Plony in general and Application Form specifically: Connected to Helmholtz AAI simply login with the credentials of your home institution. Flexible in use you can start filling your Application Form, save it and continue whenever you want without loosing information already typed in. Guiding through selection criteria exclusion criteria are built into the Application form and validation functionality allows you to check whether you fulfill all required criteria. Transparency in every status using the overview My Services you can see all your applications sorted by status. To improve transparency about applications within your Helmholtz center, you can even see sent applications filled out by colleagues from your Helmholtz center.As soon as you sent your application to HIFIS, we will check it and give you feedback: Either there are some questions/things need to be clarified and were giving the application back to you, or everything is fine and your service is added to the Helmholtz Cloud Service Portfolio.In this case we will ask you to give us some more information by filling out the service canvas.Next StepsWe are planning to implement the service canvas in Plony next as soon as it is available, you can give all information on your service via Plony.Comments and SuggestionsIf you have questions need assistance, please do not hesitate to contact.Thank you in advance for handing in your applications and thereby extending our Helmholtz Cloud Service Portfolio! Contact us! " } , { "title" : "Helmholtz AAI supports PUNCH4NFDI", "url" : "/news/2021/08/24/support-punch4nfdi/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2021-08-24 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Support for PUNCH4NFDIThe Helmholtz AAI supports PUNCH4NFDI by providing AAI components.PUNCH4NFDI is the NFDI consortium of particle, astro-, astroparticle, hadron and nuclear physics.It is one of 19 funded NFDI consortiums.In the Helmholtz AAI, PUNCH4NFDI has its own branded endpoint for user authentication to services.The user management is done jointly with the Helmholtz AAI.This allows the consortium to exploit an AAI without repeating the evolution of an identity management on their own.It offers a working solution on a strongly connected AAI, which follows already the recommendations and guidelines for participating in the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).The Helmholtz AAI supports multiple communities beyond the Helmholtz Association, which strengthens the Helmholtz AAI in the operation with other community or research infrastructure AAIs.Comments? Feedback?If you need assistance or want to give feedback, please contact us at support@hifis.net.Changelog 2022-02-23 This article was originally posted on aai.helmholtz.de and has been slightly reformatted for this site." } , { "title" : "New Guidelines for Helmholtz AAI Participants", "url" : "/news/2021/08/19/new-guidelines/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz ID", "date" : "2021-08-19 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Updated Helmholtz AAI Documentation with guidelinesWe updated the Helmholtz AAI documentation available at hifis.net/aai/doc. Have a look!Besides a fancy new theme that allows improved navigation, we also included tutorials and guidelines for numerous Helmholtz AAI participants: End Users Group Managers aka VO Managers: How to register a group/VO How to manage your groups Service Providers Identity ProvidersMore infosFurther pages include information on: Connected Organisations, especially Helmholtz Centres Currently registered groups/VOs Consumed and provided Attributes Assurance Information and more!Having problems? Missing anything?If you need assistance or want to give feedback, please contact us at support@hifis.net." } , { "title" : "Update of the HIFIS Workshop Program 2021", "url" : "/announcement/2021/06/30/updated-workshop-program/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Workshop, Research Software", "date" : "2021-06-30 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "We are happy to announce the updated HIFIS Workshop Program 2021.The workshops cover various research software development related topics such as Git, GitLab, Python programming, team software development and research software publication.As usual, you can find all workshops on the HIFIS events page.The registration usually opens 2 to 3 weeks before the workshop. The exact dates are given on the individual workshop sites.We are looking forward to see you in one of our next workshops!Cannot find exactly the workshop you are looking for? Talk to us directly: support@hifis.net support.hifis.net " } , { "title" : "The Earth and Environment DataHub use nubes", "url" : "/use-case/2021/06/27/UseCase_nubes/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2021-06-27 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The Earth and Environment DataHub use nubes, a Helmholtz Cloud Sync+Share ServiceThe Earth and Environment DataHubwas one of the first project groups to use nubes as a sync+share service of the Helmholtz Cloud.nubes provides a central sharing platform for our DataHub Team with more than 100 researchers,IT-experts and stakeholders across 7 Helmholtz Centres.With its simple user management and Helmholtz-wide login,it is an essential element towards an interlinked research and collaboration infrastructure for the DataHub and beyond.says Sabine Barthlott, DataHub manager.nubes by Helmholtz-Zentrum BerlinShare files and documents Helmholtz-wide without additional passwords,links or login data: With the Helmholtz AAI,using the Sync&amp;Share services in the Helmholtz Cloud becomes easier than ever.The bureaucratic and technical hurdles are low for users.This is ensured by the agreements that HIFIS is currently organising at a higher level.nubes became a pilot service of the Helmholtz Cloud in summer 2020.Since then, the number of users increase constantly.nubes is a sync+share service based on Nextcloud.Here, group folders are made available on a project basis.Unlike many other sync&amp;share cloud services,the data belongs to a project group instead of a single person -an advantage that can quickly become essential.Thus, it is no surprise that more and more Helmholtz-wide projects and platforms are using nubes.A prominent example is the Earth and Environment DataHub.The Earth and Environment DataHubThe Earth and Environment DataHub has three decentralised Hubs (ATMO, MARE, TERRA) that form an interconnectedbase structure and are also interlinked by well-defined working groups.The creation and sustainable operation of the DataHub as a FAIR-ready infrastructure provides data science inEarth and Environment a solid foundation for new insights.Interested? Need help? Comments and Suggestions?If you are interested in using nubes as a Sync+Share service for your Helmholtz project,please do not hesitate to contact us: Contact us! " } , { "title" : "Helmholtz ID / AAI login to Helmholtz Cloud Services", "url" : "/news/2021/06/23/how-to-helmholtz-aai/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz ID", "date" : "2021-06-23 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Easy login via your username at your home institute with the Helmholtz ID / AAIClick-by-Click TutorialLike for all HIFIS and Helmholtz Cloud Services, you can use your home institutions login to use the service seamlessly.This is managed via the Helmholtz ID / AAI (Authentication and Authorisation Infrastructure).Open the service in this example the HIFIS Event Management Platform in your browser.Do so by locating it in the Helmholtz Cloud Portal and clicking on Go to service, ordirect access in the browser via https://events.hifis.net.Click on Login at the top right.In some cases, you need to additionally click on Helmholtz ID / AAI.This step is mostly skipped.Select your home institution, i.e. the institution where you already have your home account.You can scroll down or use filtering, e.g. helmholtz or desy.The example is about DESY.You have to find your own Helmholtz Centre or institution.Cant find your institution or it is not supported?As a fallback, a login from ORCID, Github or Google can be performed.Select it accordingly.Provide your username, passphrase of your home institution. There is no new password or username required.Accept data transmissions from your home institutions identity provider (IdP) to Helmholtz AAI, and further to events.hifis.net.Register at Helmholtz ID / AAI, if you log in the first time. Click on Register. Please check your name and mail address. Read and accept the AAI usage policies. You may choose to remember your decision, so you wont be bothered again. If you later decide otherwise, you can revoke consent and delete stored data here. Click on Submit.Continue with normal log-in and enjoy access to the Helmholtz Cloud Service(s)!Having problems with login to a Cloud Service?If you have persisting problems, please contact us at support@hifis.net, providing: The exact service (and possibly sub-page) you want to access, The exact error your receive, The URL / address of the error page, The time point of your (failed) login attempt.Changelog 2022-12-13 Removed some outdated or irrelevant information, some formulation fixes. 2024-05-03 Shorten intro text and remove accordion. 2024-09-27 Add Helmholtz ID at beginning. 2025-05-19 Updated some links to Helmholtz Cloud Portal." } , { "title" : "Easy Diagram creation in Gitlab", "url" : "/tutorial/tips/2021/06/02/easy-diagram-creation-in-gitlab/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2021-06-02 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Recently, the Helmholtz-wide software development platform (Gitlab) has been extended with the ability to create diagrams from textual descriptions. This post will help you getting started with this new feature.What is it about and where can it be applied?Gitlab is perfect for colloborative work on codes, scripts and other shared files.Now you can also create virtually all sorts of diagrams and sketches directly in Gitlab,both allowing to quickly create plots, as well ascollaboratively build and maintain complex graphs.All graphs are built from simple scripts directly in Gitlab using a plugin named Kroki.Such scripts can be used in any place on the Helmholtz-wide Gitlabwhere Markdown is supported: Markdown documents inside repositories Comments Issues Merge requests Milestones Snippets (the snippet must be named with a .md extension) Wiki pages Click here for examples in Gitlab!Quick-Start ExampleLet us jump right in with an example by creating a sequence diagram, using the common Unified Modeling Language (UML).Put this content describing the diagram in any of the itemslisted above.12345678910111213141516171819202122```plantuml@startumlparticipant UserUser -&gt; A: DoWorkactivate AA -&gt; B: &lt;&lt; createRequest &gt;&gt;activate BB -&gt; C: DoWorkactivate CC --&gt; B: WorkDonedestroy CB --&gt; A: RequestCreateddeactivate BA -&gt; User: Donedeactivate A@enduml```This description is then converted into this sequence diagram.How Does That Work?In the background a tool called Kroki is doing the magic.It takes the textual description and converts it into an image.The example shown above is using PlantUML to createthe diagram of our choice (see line 1).So all you need to do is to create the textual description of your diagram andput it into GitLab Markdown.When viewing the content, in the background we will make sure that you arepresented an image of your diagram description.Step-By-Step GuideIn this example our goal is to create a visual representation of JSON data.Lets take this example JSON data. Show JSON data 12345678910111213141516171819202122{ "firstName": "John", "lastName": "Smith", "age": 28, "address": { "streetAddress": "Bautzner Landstr. 400", "city": "Dresden", "state": "Saxony", "postalCode": "01328" }, "offices": [ { "building": 512, "room": 1234 }, { "building": 312, "room": 3 } ], "departments": []} We will use PlantUML to display the JSON data.At first, we need to tell GitLab that we want to create a diagram usingPlantUML.This is why we create a Markdown code block using PlantUML for syntax highlighting.123```plantuml```The PlantUML documentation tells us how such avisual representation can be created.In this case you need to embed the JSON data into a block starting with@startjson and ending with @endjson.1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526```plantuml@startjson{ "firstName": "John", "lastName": "Smith", "age": 28, "address": { "streetAddress": "Bautzner Landstr. 400", "city": "Dresden", "state": "Saxony", "postalCode": "01328" }, "offices": [ { "building": 512, "room": 1234 }, { "building": 312, "room": 3 } ], "departments": []}@endjson```You will be presented an image as shown below.Gantt DiagramPlantUML also supports Gantt diagrams: Show code 12345678910111213141516```plantuml@startganttprintscale weeklyProject starts the 1st of July 2021[Literature Review] lasts 4 weeks[Literature Review] is 100% completedthen [Run Experiments] lasts 12 weeks[Run Experiments] is 70% completed-- Phase Two --then [Data Analysis] lasts 8 weeks[Data Analysis] is 0% completedthen [Write Publication] lasts 6 weeks[Write Publication] is 0% completed@endgantt``` More in-depth information on the Gantt diagram syntax is available in theofficial PlantUML documentation.What Else Can Be Done?The new feature is not limited to using PlantUML.The new integration gives you access to more than that.It supports, among others, Vega,C4 with PlantUML,GraphViz orBlockDiag.For a complete list please refer to the officiallist of supported diagram types and formats.VegaWord CloudThe following wordcloud is generated from themission statement of the Helmholtz Associationusing Vega. Show code 1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738394041424344454647484950515253545556575859606162636465666768697071727374757677787980818283```vega{"$schema": "https://vega.github.io/schema/vega/v5.json","description": "A word cloud visualization depicting the mission statement of Helmholtz.","width": 800,"height": 400,"padding": 0,"data": [ { "name": "table", "values": [ "We contribute to solving the major challenges facing society, science and the economy by conducting top-level research in strategic programmes within our six research fields: Energy, Earth &amp; Environment, Health, Aeronautics, Space and Transport, Matter, and Information. We research highly complex systems using our large-scale devices and infrastructure, cooperating closely with national and international partners. We contribute to shaping our future by combining research and technology development with perspectives for innovative application and provisions in tomorrow's world. We attract and promote the best young talents, offering a unique research environment and general support throughout all career stages.", "The Helmholtz Association performs cutting-edge research which contributes substantially to solving the grand challenges of science, society and industry. Helmholtz Association scientists focus on researching the highly-complex systems which determine human life and the environment, for example: ensuring that society remains mobile, ensuring that society has a reliable energy supply, ensuring that future generations live in a secure ecosystem, and developing treatments for previously incurable diseases.", "The Helmholtz Association performs cutting-edge research which contributes substantially to solving the grand challenges of science, society and industry. Helmholtz Association scientists focus on researching the highly-complex systems which determine human life and the environment, for example: ensuring that society remains mobile, ensuring that society has a reliable energy supply, ensuring that future generations live in a secure ecosystem, and developing treatments for previously incurable diseases.", "The activities of the Helmholtz Association focus on securing the long-term foundations of human life and on creating the technological basis for a competitive economy. Our potential, as an Association, to achieve these goals is due to the outstanding scientists working at our 18 major research centres, a high-performance infrastructure and modern research management.", "Our scientists develop national research programmes for each of these fields and international experts review these programmes. These expert evaluations form the basis of the programme-oriented funding (POF) which finances to Helmholtz Association research.", "Within the six research fields, Helmholtz scientists cooperate with each other and with external partners - working across disciplines, organisations and national borders. Indeed, the being part of the Helmholtz Association means making concerted research effort in which networks form the key to inquiring thought and action. Concerted research is efficient and flexible. The Helmholtz Association uses this research to create an effective basis for shaping the future." ], "transform": [ { "type": "countpattern", "field": "data", "case": "upper", "pattern": "[&#92;&#92;w']{3,}", "stopwords": "(i|me|my|myself|we|us|our|ours|ourselves|you|your|yours|yourself|yourselves|he|him|his|himself|she|her|hers|herself|it|its|itself|they|them|their|theirs|themselves|what|which|who|whom|whose|this|that|these|those|am|is|are|was|were|be|been|being|have|has|had|having|do|does|did|doing|will|would|should|can|could|ought|i'm|you're|he's|she's|it's|we're|they're|i've|you've|we've|they've|i'd|you'd|he'd|she'd|we'd|they'd|i'll|you'll|he'll|she'll|we'll|they'll|isn't|aren't|wasn't|weren't|hasn't|haven't|hadn't|doesn't|don't|didn't|won't|wouldn't|shan't|shouldn't|can't|cannot|couldn't|mustn't|let's|that's|who's|what's|here's|there's|when's|where's|why's|how's|a|an|the|and|but|if|or|because|as|until|while|of|at|by|for|with|about|against|between|into|through|during|before|after|above|below|to|from|up|upon|down|in|out|on|off|over|under|again|further|then|once|here|there|when|where|why|how|all|any|both|each|few|more|most|other|some|such|no|nor|not|only|own|same|so|than|too|very|say|says|said|shall)" }, { "type": "formula", "as": "angle", "expr": "[-45, 0, 45][~~(random() * 3)]" }, { "type": "formula", "as": "weight", "expr": "if(datum.text=='VEGA', 600, 300)" } ] }],"scales": [ { "name": "color", "type": "ordinal", "domain": {"data": "table", "field": "text"}, "range": ["#005aa0", "#8cb423", "#5a696e"] }],"marks": [ { "type": "text", "from": {"data": "table"}, "encode": { "enter": { "text": {"field": "text"}, "align": {"value": "center"}, "baseline": {"value": "alphabetic"}, "fill": {"scale": "color", "field": "text"} }, "update": { "fillOpacity": {"value": 1} }, "hover": { "fillOpacity": {"value": 0.5} } }, "transform": [ { "type": "wordcloud", "size": [800, 400], "text": {"field": "text"}, "rotate": {"field": "datum.angle"}, "font": "Helvetica Neue, Arial", "fontSize": {"field": "datum.count"}, "fontWeight": {"field": "datum.weight"}, "fontSizeRange": [12, 56], "padding": 2 } ] }]}``` Show rendered plot Bar Chart Show code 123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150151152153154155156157158159160161162163164```vega{ "$schema": "https://vega.github.io/schema/vega/v5.json", "description": "A nested bar chart example, with bars grouped by category.", "width": 300, "padding": 5, "autosize": "pad", "signals": [ { "name": "rangeStep", "value": 20, "bind": {"input": "range", "min": 5, "max": 50, "step": 1} }, { "name": "innerPadding", "value": 0.1, "bind": {"input": "range", "min": 0, "max": 0.7, "step": 0.01} }, { "name": "outerPadding", "value": 0.2, "bind": {"input": "range", "min": 0, "max": 0.4, "step": 0.01} }, { "name": "height", "update": "trellisExtent[1]" } ], "data": [ { "name": "tuples", "values": [ {"a": 0, "b": "a", "c": 6.3}, {"a": 0, "b": "a", "c": 4.2}, {"a": 0, "b": "b", "c": 6.8}, {"a": 0, "b": "c", "c": 5.1}, {"a": 1, "b": "b", "c": 4.4}, {"a": 2, "b": "b", "c": 3.5}, {"a": 2, "b": "c", "c": 6.2} ], "transform": [ { "type": "aggregate", "groupby": ["a", "b"], "fields": ["c"], "ops": ["average"], "as": ["c"] } ] }, { "name": "trellis", "source": "tuples", "transform": [ { "type": "aggregate", "groupby": ["a"] }, { "type": "formula", "as": "span", "expr": "rangeStep * bandspace(datum.count, innerPadding, outerPadding)" }, { "type": "stack", "field": "span" }, { "type": "extent", "field": "y1", "signal": "trellisExtent" } ] } ], "scales": [ { "name": "xscale", "domain": {"data": "tuples", "field": "c"}, "nice": true, "zero": true, "round": true, "range": "width" }, { "name": "color", "type": "ordinal", "range": "category", "domain": {"data": "trellis", "field": "a"} } ], "axes": [ { "orient": "bottom", "scale": "xscale", "domain": true } ], "marks": [ { "type": "group", "from": { "data": "trellis", "facet": { "name": "faceted_tuples", "data": "tuples", "groupby": "a" } }, "encode": { "enter": { "x": {"value": 0}, "width": {"signal": "width"} }, "update": { "y": {"field": "y0"}, "y2": {"field": "y1"} } }, "scales": [ { "name": "yscale", "type": "band", "paddingInner": {"signal": "innerPadding"}, "paddingOuter": {"signal": "outerPadding"}, "round": true, "domain": {"data": "faceted_tuples", "field": "b"}, "range": {"step": {"signal": "rangeStep"}} } ], "axes": [ { "orient": "left", "scale": "yscale", "ticks": false, "domain": false, "labelPadding": 4 } ], "marks": [ { "type": "rect", "from": {"data": "faceted_tuples"}, "encode": { "enter": { "x": {"value": 0}, "x2": {"scale": "xscale", "field": "c"}, "fill": {"scale": "color", "field": "a"}, "strokeWidth": {"value": 2} }, "update": { "y": {"scale": "yscale", "field": "b"}, "height": {"scale": "yscale", "band": 1}, "stroke": {"value": null}, "zindex": {"value": 0} }, "hover": { "stroke": {"value": "firebrick"}, "zindex": {"value": 1} } } } ] } ]}``` Show rendered plot Taken from https://vega.github.io/vega/examples/nested-bar-chart/.C4 with PlantUML Show code 1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738394041424344454647484950515253```plantuml@startuml "techtribesjs"!include https://raw.githubusercontent.com/plantuml-stdlib/C4-PlantUML/master/C4_Container.puml' uncomment the following line and comment the first to use locally' !include C4_Container.pumlLAYOUT_TOP_DOWN()'LAYOUT_AS_SKETCH()LAYOUT_WITH_LEGEND()Person_Ext(anonymous_user, "Anonymous User")Person(aggregated_user, "Aggregated User")Person(administration_user, "Administration User")System_Boundary(c1, "techtribes.js"){ Container(web_app, "Web Application", "Java, Spring MVC, Tomcat 7.x", "Allows users to view people, tribes, content, events, jobs, etc. from the local tech, digital and IT sector") ContainerDb(rel_db, "Relational Database", "MySQL 5.5.x", "Stores people, tribes, tribe membership, talks, events, jobs, badges, GitHub repos, etc.") Container(filesystem, "File System", "FAT32", "Stores search indexes") ContainerDb(nosql, "NoSQL Data Store", "MongoDB 2.2.x", "Stores from RSS/Atom feeds (blog posts) and tweets") Container(updater, "Updater", "Java 7 Console App", "Updates profiles, tweets, GitHub repos and content on a scheduled basis")}System_Ext(twitter, "Twitter")System_Ext(github, "GitHub")System_Ext(blogs, "Blogs")Rel(anonymous_user, web_app, "Uses", "HTTPS")Rel(aggregated_user, web_app, "Uses", "HTTPS")Rel(administration_user, web_app, "Uses", "HTTPS")Rel(web_app, rel_db, "Reads from and writes to", "SQL/JDBC, port 3306")Rel(web_app, filesystem, "Reads from")Rel(web_app, nosql, "Reads from", "MongoDB wire protocol, port 27017")Rel_U(updater, rel_db, "Reads from and writes data to", "SQL/JDBC, port 3306")Rel_U(updater, filesystem, "Writes to")Rel_U(updater, nosql, "Reads from and writes to", "MongoDB wire protocol, port 27017")Rel(updater, twitter, "Gets profile information and tweets from", "HTTPS")Rel(updater, github, "Gets information about public code repositories from", "HTTPS")Rel(updater, blogs, "Gets content using RSS and Atom feeds from", "HTTP")Lay_R(rel_db, filesystem)@enduml``` Show rendered plot Taken from https://github.com/plantuml-stdlib/C4-PlantUML.GraphViz Show code 1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526```graphvizdigraph G { concentrate=True; rankdir=TB; node [shape=record]; 140087530674552 [label="title: InputLayer&#92;n|{input:|output:}|{{[(?, ?)]}|{[(? , ?)]}}"]; 140087537895856 [label="body: InputLayer&#92;n|{input:|output:}|{{[(?, ?)]}|{[(?, ?)]}}"]; 140087531105640 [label="embedding_2: Embedding&#92;n|{input:|output:}|{{(?, ?)}|{ (?, ?, 64)}}"]; 140087530711024 [label="embedding_3: Embedding&#92;n|{input:|output:}|{{(?, ?)}|{ (?, ?, 64)}}"]; 140087537980360 [label="lstm_2: LSTM&#92;n|{input:|output:}|{{(?, ?, 64)}|{(?, 128)}}"]; 140087531256464 [label="lstm_3: LSTM&#92;n|{input:|output:}|{{(?, ?, 64)}|{(?, 32) }}"]; 140087531106200 [label="tags: InputLayer&#92;n|{input:|output:}|{{[(?, 12)]}|{[(? , 12)]}}"]; 140087530348048 [label="concatenate_1: Concatenate&#92;n|{input:|output:}|{{[(?, 128), (?, 32), (?, 12)]}|{(?, 172)}}"]; 140087530347992 [label="priority: Dense&#92;n|{input:|output:}|{{(?, 172)}|{(?, 1) }}"]; 140087530711304 [label="department: Dense&#92;n|{input:|output:}|{{(?, 172)}|{(?, 4)}}"]; 140087530674552 -&gt; 140087531105640; 140087537895856 -&gt; 140087530711024; 140087531105640 -&gt; 140087537980360; 140087530711024 -&gt; 140087531256464; 140087537980360 -&gt; 140087530348048; 140087531256464 -&gt; 140087530348048; 140087531106200 -&gt; 140087530348048; 140087530348048 -&gt; 140087530347992; 140087530348048 -&gt; 140087530711304;}``` Show rendered plot Taken from https://graphviz.org/Gallery/directed/neural-network.html.BlockDiag Show code 123456```blockdiagblockdiag { A -&gt; B -&gt; C -&gt; D; A -&gt; E -&gt; F -&gt; G;}``` Show rendered plot Taken from http://blockdiag.com/en/blockdiag/examples.html.DeploymentThe service is provided by HIFIS Software and is hosted entirely on HZDRservers.It does not share any data with external providers.As usual, the deployment can be reproduced via the correspondingproject - only accessible for employees within Helmholtz.Comments and SuggestionsIf you have suggestions, questions, or queries, please dont hesitate to write us. Contact us! " } , { "title" : "Policies for Research Software", "url" : "/news/2021/05/19/software-policies-workshop/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Workshop", "date" : "2021-05-19 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "At the workshop Policies for Research Software held on May 6, 2021,over 100 participants from Helmholtz centers showed great interest.The intended target group (primarily Policy makers, software development teamleaders e.g. from data centers, infrastructure units, science management,libraries, law and technology transfer or scientific software communities)was represented in full breadth.This made it possible to initiate a productive exchange of ideas followingWolfgang Marquardts welcoming address and the keynote speeches in fourbreakout sessions. Whiteboard of one of the parallel sessions.Workshop MaterialThe results were documented on virtual whiteboards.All presentation slides and the result of the virtual whiteboards are madeavailable in Nubes upon request.Future Exchange ProcessAll interested Helmholtz stakeholders are very welcome to actively participatein the exchange process following the workshop to collaboratively create achecklist for the development and introduction of a policy in the centers.Therefore, a communication channel is introduced.We encourage you to join. Click here to join the Mattermost chat.The Research Software Forum is looking forward to a productive exchange with you!Comments and SuggestionsIf you have suggestions, questions, or queries, please dont hesitate to write us. Contact us! " } , { "title" : "HIFIS Homepages unified", "url" : "/news/2021/05/05/unified-homepage/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2021-05-05 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The HIFIS pages have been re-united! Yay! After some time of living separately, the former software.hifis.net and hifis.net homepages have been merged to one, as they should be. All HIFIS services - covering software, cloud, backbone and overarching services, are now being presented on one unified page. Check it out!Central elements of the new pageAll details, documents and explanations on HIFIS are accessible from hifis.net, with some being directly accessible under the following shortlinks: hifis.net/services All HIFIS Services in a nutshell. hifis.net/events HIFIS Events, including Courses and Community Events. hifis.net/news HIFIS News and Announcements. hifis.net/publications Publications of HIFIS. hifis.net/roadmap HIFIS Roadmap. hifis.net/doc HIFIS Technical and Adminstrative Documentation.Forwarding of old software.hifis.net linksAll links to the former software.hifis.net page are being redirected to the new site, so dont fear to end up in missing links all the way.However, you are encouraged to update any dangling links to the new site, when possible.Stay tuned!This site will be continuously updated. We will add anything thats new on topics like New Services provided, Use Cases of Services, Frequently Asked Questions, any many more!To never miss any updates on HIFIS, we invite you to: Subscribe to our Newsletter Subscribe to our News Feed (RSS) Comments and SuggestionsIf you have suggestions, questions, or queries, please dont hesitate to write us. Contact us! " } , { "title" : "HIFIS Transfer Service: Sharing large data sets", "url" : "/news/2021/05/05/hifis-transfer-service/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2021-05-05 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Large Data Transfer for HelmholtzThe HIFIS Transfer Service (HTS) enables the users at the Helmholtz centres to easily share large data sets in collaborations.How is this implemented?To achieve this, WebFTS is used as graphical frontend.It enables the user to commission data transfers with CERNs backend service FTS3.FTS3 controls transfers between an active and a passive endpoint at the involved centres.The main advantage of using FTS3 compared to commonly used FTP or SCP based transfers is that no active involvement by the user is needed after commissioning the transfer. Hence, users can schedule the transfer, e.g. overnight, and have the data ready for use later.What are the preconditions to use HTS?In order to participate in HTS, a centre needs to: be connected to Helmholtz AAI (see list), install a dedicated endpoint that is capable of communicating with FTS3 either actively or passively, and of course, provide sufficiently large, performant and available storage to which the endpoint has access.At the time of writing, HIFIS offers a passive endpoint solution in form of an Apache webserver for installation at a centre.Configuration and installation instructions can be found in the Technical Documentation.An active endpoint that can be used as a relay point between two passive endpoints is also available at DESY.How to use HTS?If the preconditions are fulfilled, you need to do the following steps to use HTS: know the URLs of the endpoints you want to use (available from the centre if they are participating in HTS), access WebFTS in your browser, log in via Helmholtz AAI (upper left corner), click on Submit a transfer, enter the URLs of the endpoints between you want to transfer data, select the data you want to transfer on one endpoint, click on one of the arrows between the directory views according to the direction of the transfer.After submitting, you should see a banner stating that your transfer has been submitted successfully. You can check the transfer status by clicking on My jobs.SupportIf you want to set up data transfers for your needs, or in case of any questions and queries, please dont hesitate to write us. Contact us! " } , { "title" : "Announcing the HIFIS Event Management Service", "url" : "/news/2021/04/27/announce-hifis-event-platform/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2021-04-27 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "TLDR: HIFIS Events is now online at https://events.hifis.net and can be used by all in Helmholtz - Yay!What is this about?When we started organizing events in the scope of HIFIS (mostly workshops) it became clear that we needed a single event organization service that can be used across all of Helmholtz.It quickly became apparent that Indico would be the best-fitting solution for this purpose.We had not yet decided at this point who would host the service and be responsible for maintaining it, but due to the urgency of the matter, a decision was made to set up an intermediate solution first and clarify the remaining questions later.Now all these open points have been dealt with and we could finally put a proper solution in place for all Helmholtz members to enjoy carefully maintained by our esteemed colleagues at the DESY.What is new?We have taken the liberty to reorganize the group structure to better cope with the huge variety of events that take place within the Helmholtz universe.Broadly speaking, we grouped them into three categories: Research field-specific: Events that cross centre boundaries and which are mainly aimed at the research community in general (conferences for example); Platform-specific: Events that originate from one of the many Helmholtz platforms and can be either internal or aimed at the broader Helmholtz audience (Our workshops come to mind); Centre-specific: Events which are hosted at one of the centres for predominantly internal affairs.There is also a Test category which you can freely use to experiment with event setups.If you are missing a fitting category or can not decide, feel free to contact the HIFIS support and we will be happy to help you out.What about the users and user accounts?Login to the Events platform is done via Helmholtz AAI. We are working on shortening the workflow; currently you need to click on Login, Keycloak/Helmholtz AAI, and again Helmholtz AAI. Then you can select your identity provider / institution. This works for most Helmholtz centres and sometimes for centres outside of Helmholtz.If this does not work, you can authenticate via Social providers, e.g. Github, ORCID, Google.Contact us if anything fails.We have transferred all user accounts (including reservations). If you already had a user account and used a Helmholtz e-mail address to register, you can now log in via the Helmholtz AAI.On your first visit via the AAI, you will then be informed that you account will be connected to the AAI login.If you plan to maintain your rights to create events or upload data, please log in via Helmholtz AAI as soon as possible and connect your former local account.Note that the creation of new local/Indico accounts is deactivated.What about current events?All events, past and current have been transferred including all associated files and registrations.If you are managing an event we recommend to check if everything still is as it should be.What about the links I saved earlier?We created a redirection from the old to the new instance, so all links are still valid.However, this will only be the case until August 01, 2021, so please remember to update your bookmarks, by replacing the old URL hifis-events.hzdr.de by the new events.hifis.net.Who to call?Ghostbusters!If you have any inquiries, you can reach the HIFIS support team via a web-form or write us an e-mail." } , { "title" : "Helmholtz AAI Update in the context of AARC, EOSC, NFDI", "url" : "/news/2021/04/14/helmholtz-aai-in-nfdi-meeting/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz ID", "date" : "2021-04-14 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Update on Helmholtz AAISee here for an updated presentation on the role of Helmholtz AAI in the context of AARC, EOSC, and NFDI.GoalsWith this, youll be able to Understand what AAI can do Including the VO Concept Understand what AAI can not do Understand the general architecture EOSC AAI Helmholtz AAI Your AAI Bottomline Do not build your own AAI! you are likely to repeat stone, bronze, and iron-age Some communities are already organised i.e. they run their own community AAI (which is fine) Users always live in the context of their community AAI Makes it difficult to cooperate across community borders But: Users can be members of multiple communities" } , { "title" : "Helmholtz Cloud and Cloud Portal (beta) online", "url" : "/news/2021/03/29/helmholtz-cloud-beta/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2021-03-29 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Helmholtz Cloud (beta)The first Helmholtz Cloud services have been published and are accessible via the new Cloud Portal.Check out the new services!Our Services cover many popular software solutions: Gitlab DevOps platform JupyterHub Server for Jupyter Notebooks Mattermost Chat Service Nextcloud Sync&amp;Share Platform OpenStack Cloud Computing Platform Zammad Ticketing SystemFurther services are being integrated continuously.Note that this is a preliminary/pilot version of the Helmholtz Cloud and Cloud Portal.Be also aware that not all services are accessible to all users; please check service details.Access using Helmholtz AAIUsers from almost all Helmholtz centres can use these services by logging in with their home institutions username and passphrase.This is achieved based on the Helmholtz Authentication and Authorisation Infrastructure (AAI) established in 2020.Once logged in to one service, you may notice that you will gain immediate access to some of the other services without repeated login.Welcome to Single-Sign On (SSO), another feature of Helmholtz AAI!Non-Helmholtz usersHelmholtz AAI supports authentication using a social account. Currently, ORCID, Google and GitHub are supported. This allows non-Helmholtz users to use our services.Non-Helmholtz users cannot use Helmholtz services automatically. They need to be authorised to use a service by joining a Virtual Organization (VO). As a Helmholtz employee, you may request a VO and invite the other participants to join. Once your VO has been established, you will need to negotiate with service providers to support your VO.Please check the Guideline for VO Administrators on how to do this.Service selection and further integrationThe provided services are part of the Initial Service Portfolio that had been announced earlier.More services will be integrated soon!To not miss any updates on this and other HIFIS progress: Subscribe to HIFIS Announcement letter " } , { "title" : "Results of the first Software Survey", "url" : "/news/2021/03/26/survey-results/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2021-03-26 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Analysis of First HIFIS Software SurveyData from 467 respondents of the HIFIS Survey 2020 were analyzed to give an overview of research software developers at Helmholtz and their day-to-day work. While software development plays a crucial role in all six research domains, only about half of the respondents are satisfied with the support at their centers. Results of this survey will help us to better understand how HIFIS Software Services could improve this situation.Detailed ResultsThe results of the HIFIS Software survey 2020 are published in four postsexamining the survey from four different perspectives: A Community Perspective A Consulting Perspective Programming, Continuous Integration and Version Control System A Technology PerspectiveUpcoming Second HIFIS surveyHIFIS is preparing a Helmholtz-wide survey, which will focus on theusage and user requirements in the area of Cloud services in the context ofresearch software development.This survey builds on the experiences that the HIFIS Software Cluster hasalready made with a survey at the end of 2019/beginning of 2020,and at the same time broadens the perspective.To not miss any updates on this and other HIFIS progress: Subscribe to HIFIS Announcement letter" } , { "title" : "Helmholtz AAI in 74. DFN Betriebstagung", "url" : "/news/2021/03/23/helmholtz-aai-in-dfn-meeting/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz ID", "date" : "2021-03-23 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "DFN BetriebstagungHelmholtz AAI is being briefly presented at the 74. DFN Betriebstagung.Click here for the presentation slides.Future venueIn fall 2021, Helmholtz AAI will be presented in longer form at the upcoming DFN venue. Dont miss that opportunity to learn more about it!DetailsSee here for some detailed information as mentioned in the presentation. AAI usage statistics: https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud/hifis/overall/kpi/kpi-plots-ci/-/blob/master/gallery/gallery_plots/aai.md Pilot Services: https://hifis.net/doc/cloud-services/ Supported Virtual Organisations: https://hifis.net/doc/helmholtz-aai/list-of-vos/ Connected Helmholtz Centres: https://hifis.net/doc/helmholtz-aai/list-of-connected-organisations/ Documentation: https://hifis.net/doc/helmholtz-aai/Changelog 2023-10-16: Updated Links." } , { "title" : "Support of multiple namespaces in entitlement", "url" : "/news/2021/03/22/support-of-multiple-namespaces/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz ID", "date" : "2021-03-22 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Multiple namespacesThe Helmholtz AAI supports the usage of multiple namespaces in entitlements. For now, VO membership information can be created using different namespaces.For details, see documentation in https://hifis.net/doc/backbone-aai/urn-registry/" } , { "title" : "Helmholtz GitLab Available", "url" : "/news/2021/02/09/helmholtz-gitlab/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2021-02-09 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Helmholtz GitLab availableThe HIFIS Software team is happy to announce the general availability of theHelmholtz GitLab which can be used free-of-chargeby anybody within Helmholtz and their partners.It is hosted by HIFIS Software entirely on HZDR servers, jointly created byUFZ and HZDR.With the general availability of the Helmholtz Cloud, the service will beavailable as a fully integrated Hemholtz Cloud Service and will follow thegiven regulations.How to access?Visit https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud and login via theHelmholtz AAI.Your account will automatically be provisioned.What do I get?The service is running the Open Source version of GitLab. It allows you to Host code in repositories with Git version control, Implement project management with an Issue Tracker,Merge Requests or Issue Boards, Use the provided shared runners for built-in Continuous Integration, Host your Docker images using the Container Registry, Share your documentation or static websites with Pages or Share private or public software packages for a variety of commonpackage managers, e.g. Conan (C++) or PyPI (Python). Want to get started with Git and GitLab? Follow this link for aquick-start introduction.Technical DetailsWe aim to be as open and transparent as possible while hosting the service.Therefore, we decided to manage the service via Ansible and to make the source codegenerally available. Thus, we allow you to reproduce, validate and understandthe deployment of the service via this project togetherwith the published Ansible roles. In-depth Software Consulting HIFIS Software offers free-of-charge workshops and consulting to research groups within the Helmholtz umbrella. You can read more about what we offer on our services page. If you work within the Helmholtz Association, and think that something like this would be useful to you, fill in our consultation request form. " } , { "title" : "16 of 18 Helmholtz centres plus Head Office connected", "url" : "/news/2021/02/09/connected-centres-update-including-hgs/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz ID", "date" : "2021-02-09 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Connected centresAfter a burst in late 2020, there are meanwhile 16 out of 18 Helmholtz centres, plus the Helmholtz Head Office, connected to the Helmholtz AAI, thus allowing most of Helmholtz to join the EduGAIN community.This implies that all Identity Providers (IdP) provide sufficient attributes about their users and there are actually active users already registered in the AAI.We look forward to many new users from the newly connected centers to use our pilot services and the upcoming Helmholtz Cloud services!" } , { "title" : "Welcoming more than 1000 users from almost all Helmholtz", "url" : "/news/2021/01/26/1000-users/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz ID", "date" : "2021-01-26 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "More than 1000 usersWe welcome more than 1000 users in Helmholtz AAI. These users originate from almost all Helmholtz centres.Thank you for using Helmholtz AAI and our pilot services!AAI high-level usage statisticsThe statistics of Helmholtz AAI usage can be found in this Gitlab Project: https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud/hifis/communication/service-usage-plotsSee also the following plot on Number of connected Helmholtz centres AAI-connected services Registered end users Registered Virtual Organisations (VO)" } , { "title" : "HIFIS Survey 2020: A Community Perspective", "url" : "/report/2021/01/21/survey-results-community/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Survey, Community", "date" : "2021-01-21 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Data from 467 respondents of the HIFIS Survey 2020 were analyzed to give an overview of research software developers at Helmholtz and their day-to-day work. While software development plays a crucial role in all six research domains, only about half of the respondents are satisfied with the support at their centers. Results of this survey will help us to better understand how HIFIS Software Services could improve this situation.Survey outreachIn the beginning of 2020, the HIFIS Software Survey was conducted to learn about current software development practices at Helmholtz and to assess the demand for specific services to support researchers in their day-to-day work. For the community team, it was particularly important to get a better grasp of who develops software and to better understand their needs for technological and non-technological support.Our approach to the data was to draw a picture of the typical research software developer, to evaluate the support currently provided and to identify additional challenges that should be addressed in our future work.Seventeen of the 19 Helmholtz centers and 3 external researchers participated in this survey, providing 467 individual responses. With about 42.000 employees within Helmholtz we can say that at least 1% are concerned with software development (and also found the time to complete our survey - thank you &lt;3). Here is an overview of each centers contribution to our survey and the relative number of Helmholtz employees per center:As we can, we reached most Helmholtz centers except for two and received responses from each of the six research domains. Compared to their relative headcount, some centers contributed over-proportionately to the HIFIS survey.Well done, DKFZ!Research software made by HelmholtzNow, lets have a look who stands behind the research software made by Helmholtz:The median software developer in our survey has 8 years of research experience and 9 years of software development experience;spends 49.5% of the working time on software development; and uses 3 different programming languages at work.The most used languages are Python (76.7%), C++ (45.6%), and R (28.3%) - for details see this blog post on programming languages.Software is typically developed in a team with 2-5 other developers for a user base of 2-10 persons.These results support what has been suspected earlier, namely, that software development is fundamental to researchers work. Indeed, the more time survey participants spent on research related work, the more experienced they were in terms of software development as shown by the figure below. The question which role software development plays in research could then be answered: an important one!Given the strong link between software development and research, we also wanted to know whether researchers felt sufficiently supported at their research centers regarding software development and training.The answer was a classic Jein. While half (50.8%) of the respondents seemed satisfied with the current state, the other half of the respondents (49.2%) reported that they needed more support. Clearly, we wanted to know which kind of support they needed. So we asked them. To find out which support activities they were most interested in and which services we should focus on in the future, we first let them choose from a list of predefined services.As shown in the figure above, training (68.7%), tools (58.1%) and consultation on best practices (52.5%) were chosen by the majority of respondents.In order to get a more complete picture of what could be improved, we also included a few open response questions asking respondents about their wishes and suggestions for a good software development support and their preferred kind of learning. Word and code frequency analysis gave a fairly clear picture of the respondents needs:As expected, basic and advanced training courses; consulting offerings; and a centrally provided, easily accessible infrastructure were at the top of the wish list. Support on software licensing was mentioned as a particularly importanttopic. An additional aspect, that was not directly addressed by our survey, was the recognition and regulation of sustainable and open source development.It was frequently mentioned by respondents that they experienced a lack of awareness for best practices in software development among both colleagues and superiors. Providing official guidelines and best practice guides was seen as a basic condition to facilitate software development, while increasing social and professional recognition was discussed as a significant motivator to put such guidelines into use.Sustainable Software PracticesNow, lets have a look where we currently stand regarding sustainable software development:To get a first overview to what extent best practices of sustainable software development are already established in the Helmholtz Association, our survey included questions about researchers sharing and publishing their own software as well as citing the software of others.Results show that most respondents share their code regularly with the own research group, sometimes with their research organization or research community, but never with the general public.They publish their code regularly on internal platforms or public platforms like GitHub but never on a research repository or a software package index.Code comments, README files and installation instructions are regularly provided by most respondents; user manuals, requirement specification, technical documentation, and release notes sometimes; whereas contributor guides and developer guides are almost never provided. Considering the many uncertainties regarding software licenses described in the free text section, it is not surprising that almost 20% of the respondents stated that they usually do not license their code.Finally, we wanted to know whether respondents reference software in research publications - yes, 82.0% do using the name (78.7%), link (72.6%) or doi (54.8%) of the software - and what they do to make it easier to cite their software in a research publication. Surprisingly, only 45.0% take care of the citability of their software, of which the vast majority (96.6%) uses a citation hint in the README file and a few respondents (11.3%) use a separate citation file.OutlookIn addition to providing infrastructure and formal training or consultation in different areas of software development, it is one goal of HIFIS Software Services is to support the building of a strong community that promotes and commits to common standards of sustainable software development and to help to improve the re-usability, maintainability, andextendability of research software. As this survey shows, we are on the right track (more or less) but we are not there yet.It seems in particular that more work is needed in regard to software licensing. Moreover, we would like to see the communication and knowledge exchange across Helmholtz centers improved. So, join us for one of the next Hacky Hour sessions and share your code, your story, your expertise, or your opinion because:Sharing is caring!" } , { "title" : "Constituting General Assembly of EOSC Association", "url" : "/news/2020/12/17/eosc-general-assembly/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2020-12-17 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "EOSC Association General AssemblyIn the constituting General Assembly of the EOSC association, the first President and Directors have been elected.PresidentKarel Luyben (TU Delft) has been elected as president with 119 out of 139 votes.Board of DirectorsThe Board of Directors consists of the following eight members:For 3 year period Marialuisa Lavitrano (UNIMIB), Italy Suzanne Demouchel (CNRS), France Klaus Tochtermann (ZBW), GermanyFor 2 year period Sarah Jones (GANT) Ignacio Blanquer (UPV), SpainFor 1 year period Wilhelm Widmark (SU), Sweden Bob Jones (CERN) Ronan Byrne (HEAnet), Ireland" } , { "title" : "HIFIS Survey 2020: Consulting", "url" : "/report/2020/12/16/survey-results-consulting/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2020-12-16 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "IntroductionAt the beginning of 2020, the HIFIS Software team initiated a survey exploring the approaches of researchers within the Helmholtz Association regarding software development.This blog post explores the familiarity and usage of different tools by research groups,and discusses the applications of these results to the consulting that HIFIS offers.Software PracticesIn software development, there are many good practices that help developers to produce codemore quickly,with more confidence in the results,and that can be read by a wider group of people.These might include common coding styles, pair programming, and continuous integration/deployment.However, not all best practices make sense all of the time,and some practices may not be particularly relevant to research software engineering.In the 2020 survey, we gave respondents a list of 17 best practices, and,for each option, asked them to choose if they used this techniqueregularly,sometimes,never,or if they had not heard of this technique.For each of these techniques, we were then able to calculate the percentages of peoplewho were familiar with a technique,those who had actually used it,and those who used it on a regular basis.The following graph shows the result of this analysis.A plot of familiarity, usage, and regular usage for different development practices.The first most obvious result from this,speaking at a broad level,is that respondents are generally familiar with the different techniques and practices suggested.In fact, for each of the techniques given,a majority of the people who answered the question were familiar with that technique.This suggests that these respondents are generally already aware of development practices that could help them.The second interesting result here is the lack of a clear relationship between familiarity and regular usage.We might suspect that the more well-known a technique is, the more regular usage it will get.However, this is fairly clearly not the case for many of the techniques in the dataset that we have obtained.This could be because many of these techniques are not equally applicable.Over 90% of respondents were aware of code reviews as a development technique for improving code quality,but just over a quarter of them regularly put that technique into practice.However, code reviews require multiple developers,and we know that many of the participants in this survey work alone, or with at most one other person,making code reviews fairly impractical.Alternatively, this could be because the techniques mentioned are not all equally easy to apply.Applying a common code style is a simple change that can often be made with little effortby running a tool like autopep8 or Black across the codebase.However, setting up continuous integration (CI) for a project can be more complicated -it often involves writing code in a different language, and will generally require an understanding of the way different CI platforms work.From the perspective of the Consulting team,this second set of techniques may give us insights into where we can support developers in Helmholtz best.These are techniques that often have significant benefits when they are implemented(being able to automatically compile code, run tests, and validate formatting)but require more knowledge to implement(the precise syntax that GitLab or GitHub use to define a CI job).In these cases, we would be able to step in and provide initial support to get a team started,giving them the tools and understanding that they need to go further on their own.Testing PracticesAs part of the survey, we also asked about participants usages and familiarity with different testing techniques,using the same form of question as above.Similar analysis as before yields the following graph:A plot of familiarity, usage, and regular usage for different testing practices.Here we see similar conclusions to the ones we drew before:for each technique, a majority of people who answered this question were familiar with that technique,and many techniques are well-known but not often used, and vice versa.The previous explanations for these observations also seem to apply here.For example, performance testing is generally only required when performance becomes an issue.Likewise, usability testing will often not apply to a lot of research scripts,where the functionality of a piece of software is generally more important than the way it is used.Similarly, some of these techniques are complicated to set up, and may require assistance and support to implement.For example, static code analysis can have a lot of value in preventing bugs from appearing by identifying common programming mistakes.Tools that can support this include mypy which provides static types for Python,or linters such as Pylint which offer a variety of relevant hints.Setting these tools up can be complicated for initial projects,as a lot of code may already exist in the codebase that is not compliant with these tools.This code will then need to be corrected, or workarounds will need to be found for code where a cleanup would be too much effort for too little gain.LimitationsThere are a few limitations with this analysis.First and foremost, the survey had a relatively small number of participants, with many of them not completing the survey fully.In addition, we cannot be sure how well the survey was targeted,and so the participants may represent certain demographics within the Helmholtz Association more than others.For example, the familiarity of respondents with many of the techniques discussed here indicate a relatively high competency level,so these results may not be representative of researchers who are less comfortable with coding.There are also limitations in terms of the conclusions that we can draw from this.I have suggested two reasons(lack of applicability and difficulty of application)for the variance in familiarity and regular usage between different techniques,but for each individual technique it is not possible to determine which reason is stronger,or indeed if these are the most common reasons at all.To solve this, we would need to do further analysis to validate our assumptions(which is difficult with this data with a small sample size, where cross-analysis is impractical)or else do further surveys.ConclusionThe questions asked produced some interesting results,which may help us to identify ways that the consulting team can better support researchers at the Helmholtz Association.Specifically, the result that familiarity with a technique does not necessarily imply use of a techniquesuggests that consultations may be a valuable way of supporting researchers who know what they want to achieve, but do not have the time or ability to achieve it.There are limitations to this survey, which unfortunately affect our ability to draw more detailed conclusions,but the experiences drawn from creating and analysing this dataset will play a role in creating the 2021 survey." } , { "title" : "HIFIS Survey 2020: A Technology Perspective", "url" : "/report/2020/11/27/survey-technology/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Survey, Technology", "date" : "2020-11-27 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Beginning of 2020 the HIFIS Software team initiated a software surveytargeting employees of the whole Helmholtz Association in which 467 participantscould be considered for the analysis.The figure below depicts how strongly the different Helmholtz research fields are represented in this survey.With the results of the survey we want to understand, how we as HIFIS SoftwareServices can best support your every day life as a research software developer.In this blog post we will examine the results from a technology perspectiveand will on the one hand give an overview of the status quo of the softwareengineering process of the participants, and on the other hand try to identifyspecific measures.Version ControlOne of the basic requirements for developing sustainable and high-qualityresearch software is the usage of a version control system (VCS).On the market there exist multiple competitors, distributed version controlsystems like Git or Mercurial and centralized version control systems likeSVN.In accordance with the trends shown in analysis done by Stackoverflow, weexpected Git to be the most popular tool within Helmholtz.Trend of Stackoverflow questions per month. Created via Stackoverflow Trendson 2020-10-15.The participants of the survey have answered to the multiple-choice questionabout which VCSs they use as shown in the figure below.A similar diagram as above has already been evaluated in a relatedblog post on results from the survey analysis.Here, based on these descriptions we only would like to draw conclusions from a technological point of view.Only roughly 10% of the participants claim that they do not use VCSswhile developing their research software.These results indicate that the awareness is high among the participantsthat the usage of version control systems is an important aspect insustainable software development.In order to unravel that a bit more, we identified a trend in the figure belowthat the use of VCSs increase the wider research software developers sharetheir source code in terms of categories like within their research group,research organization, research field or even general public.Hence, there might be a relationship between the broadness of codeshare and usage of VCSs.If this trend holds true then it illustrates that version controlsystems are indeed mandatory tools to collaborate with otherdevelopers.The responses to the survey are then grouped into the six Helmholtz researchfields: Aeronautics, Space and Transport Energy Earth and Environment Health Matter Key TechnologiesIn the research field Aeronautics, Space and Transport SVN seems to be more widely spread compared to other research fields but also the portion of developers who do not use version control is lowest among theparticipants of this research field. On the one hand, given the collected data about the amount of VCSs questionsasked on Stackoverflow over time introduced earlier this most probably gives anindication that there is a significant amount of comparably older repositoriesthat use SVN and that this research field might have a longer tradition ofusing VCSs.On the other hand, this shows that the use of VCSs in this researchfield today is more prevalent compared to other Helmholtz research fields.From the data it is also possible to compare the usage of version controlsystems with the team size participants usually develop software in.The result is shown in the figure below:It is clearly visible that the amount of participants who claim to not use anykind of version control decreases with increasing team size.This insight is actually very valuable.This illustration suggests a relationship between team size and the use of VCSs.One reason for increasing use of VCSs with growing team size might be that VCSsmake collaboration more comfortable and that researchers are aware of this fact.Whether the use of VCSs has actually already become a de-facto standard in research software will be further investigated (e.g. in our next survey).On the other hand from the participants who claim to develop software mostlyon their own 20% specify to not use version control at all.This is something we as HIFIS Software Services would like to see change inthe future.For us, it is important to make people aware that using version control is amandatory requirement for software development projects of any scale.This requires us to make the entry hurdle to using version control systems aslow as possible.This means that every software developer in Helmholtz must haveaccess to a suitable and easy-to-use infrastructure to enable this basicrequirement.Therefore, HIFIS Software Services will offer a GitLab instance that isusable by every employee of the Helmholtz Association free of charge.Software Development PlatformsUsing version control systems can be considered the entry-point to a world ofplatforms that build even more around this basic requirement.Even if you can typically use a version control system completely localas well, it really starts paying off when combining version control with onlineplatforms like e.g. GitLab, GitHub or Bitbucket.On the one hand this opens up your project for collaboration but also givesyou access to a whole ecosystem of other extremely useful tools like issue tracking, merge requests, CI/CD or code reviews.This is why we were also eager to know which software development platformsthe participants use in their every-day life.The results show that among the participants the most widely used platformsare GitHub.com and self-hosted GitLab instances followed by GitLab.com.Thus, about 54% of the participants claim to use GitHub.com, 49% use self-hostedGitLab instances and about 25% of the participants specify to use GitLab.com.About 13% claim to not use any of the platforms.This value is in a similar range to the participants who specified to not useversion control systems.Continuous IntegrationContinuous Integration (CI) is referred to as the practice of merging codechanges into a shared mainline several times a day.A typical workflow would incorporate the automatic building of a software,the automatic execution of unit tests and finally, the automatic deployment ofartifacts, e.g the documentation or compiled binaries.The last step is also referred to as Continuous Deployment (CD).On the market, there exist multiple tools that support this kind of softwaredevelopment process.Some of the tools available at the time of this survey were GitLab CI, Jenkins,Travis or CircleCI.The results of the survey show a pretty diverse situation for the usage of CIservices by the participants.On the one hand, a portion of 53% of the participants claim to not use CI services at all.Among the participants who declared to use CI services, the most commonly usedtechnologies were GitLab CI (29%), Jenkins (16%) and Travis CI (13%).Due to the fact that many Helmholtz centers host their own GitLab instanceswhich also allows to use GitLab CI, we expected GitLab CI to be the mostpopular tool among the participants of the survey.Jenkins is also a tool that can be self-hosted and thus, is also popular andavailable in different centers.Due to the popularity of GitHub, especially for Open Source projects,it is not surprising that also Travis CI is widely chosen accordingto the survey responses.At the time of creating the survey, GitHub Actions was not yet widely availableon the market.This explains, why this service does not show up in the list of chosen tools.We as HIFIS Software Services would like to see a rise in the overall usage of CI/CD in the daily software development process.It offers the chance to automate repeating tasks and introduces automatedquality checks for code changes before they get merged into the mainline.Therefore, we want to ensure that every Helmholtz researcher regardless oftheir affiliation has seamless access to general purpose resources for CI/CD.This is why the provided GitLab instance will be equipped with scalableresources for CI/CD.With this offer, in combination with proper education, training andconsultation we hope to see a rise of the general usage of automationtechnologies in research software engineering." } , { "title" : "HIFIS Survey 2020: Programming, CI and VCS", "url" : "/report/2020/11/27/survey-results-language-vcs/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2020-11-27 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "IntroductionIn the beginning of 2020 the HIFIS team conducted a survey among Helmholtzscientists with the goals of learning more about the current practicesconcerning research software development and identifying future challenges.This blog post will present a glimpse into the surveys results and our takeon the gathered data.Specifically, we will take a look at the distribution of programming languagesacross the different research fields as well as the utilization ofVersion Control Systems (VCS) in the same context.Last, a short insight into the prevalence of variousContinuous Integration (CI) systems will be given to round out this blogpost.Programming LanguagesWe asked the survey participants which programming languages they regularlyused for writing research software.The following heatmap displays the relative usage of the most predominant programming languages for each research fieldAll presented numbers are the relative usage of a given language in a givenfield.They might not always add up to exactly 1.00 per field or per language due tomultiple factors: Some participants did not answer both questions.These answers are not represented in the plot. Languages that had not at least a 5% share in at least one field wereomitted to focus on the most prominent ones and make the graphic easier toread.What can We Learn?The first thing that catches the eye is that Python seems to be very dominantin every research field.We have to take this appearance with a slight grain of salt since the survey didnot distinguish between the outdated, but generally popular, Python 2 andthe current Python 3.The popularity of the language amongst researchers is not very surprising:They are well suited for quickly creating small scale scripts, combined withan extensive choice of libraries for many use cases.Consequently, our education and training efforts will continue to provideoffers regarding programming in Python and create appropriate courses andmaterials to further the knowledge and best practices in this language amongstscientists and research software developers.Regarding consultations we expect the team to receive requests regarding theporting of older Python 2 applications to Python 3, as well as supportrequests for dealing with the variance of virtual environments and packagemanagement for this language.A second language often selected was C++ which often is a popular choice inhigh performance computing and larger applications.This indicates a potential demand for supporting this language in the future aswell, especially in the context of training as well as consulting.Notable further mentions would be the the strong presence of the statisticslanguage R in the Health and Earth and Environment research fields,which implies the opportunity for education and consulting being tailored andadvertised more towards these areas.Version Control systemsSimilarly to the question above, a second question was analyzed, concerning theusage of Version Control Systems (VCS) amongst the participants related tospecific fields of research.The strong prevalence of Git is apparent at first glance.As a runner-up there are still some projects out there based on SVN forversion control, which - together with a few mentions of CVS - might be anindicator for older, longer living projects.The amount of projects not using any version control at all is comparativelylow, which points toward the usage of VCS being an established step in settingup projects across all research fields.From an education perspective it appears to be the right way to continue tofocus on basic and advanced Git-courses and promote version control as one ofthe standard practices in every scientists toolbox.It can be expected that the consulting team might face requests for help withmigrating projects from SVN or CVS to Git in the future.Continuous IntegrationAs a third question we wanted to know which Continuous Integration (CI)services the participants use to automate tasks surrounding their projects.This, again, was a multiple choice question and the following plot shows therelative distribution of the given answers:One very prominent outcome is that over half of the participants did claim tonot use any CI at all.Several possible reasons for this finding come to mind: The question was not clear enough and participants who actually use CI werenot aware of that fact. Participants are not aware that CI exists. Participants do not see any potential benefit of CI for their projects. Participants do not know how to set up and use CI.Given that practically any project can benefit from employingContinuous Integration services by automating at least the mundane managementtasks like license checking, documentation generation, style checks, etc. allfour given reasons can be assumed to be a lack in awareness and education.Further, the plot reveals that the currently used CI solutions are (indescending order of percentage) GitLab CI which holds over a quarter of allshares, Jenkins and Travis CI with all other services being barelyrepresented.Building on the insights from this analysis, three actions clearly stand out toimprove CI usage across all projects: The education team will have to increase their portfolio and offer morecourses centered around CI usage. The popularity of GitLab CI will likely increase the demand to migrateother projects to this system. It will fall to the consulting branch to beprepared to deal with such requests. The technology team has already begun to offer pre-made recipes for CIpipelines and has an incentive to grow the collection of ready-to-use solutionsfor popular scenarios.Further insights on the usage of Continuous Integration platforms can be gained from another blog postdiscussing the survey analysis from a technology perspective.ConclusionThanks to the participants of the HIFIS survey in 2020 it was possible to gaina first glimpse into the status quo of research software engineering within theHelmholtz centers. With this data, the needs of the scientists could be assessedfrom a birds-eye perspective and it is possible to determine concrete steps tooffer better support for the scientists at Helmholtz." } , { "title" : "Helmholtz AAI Policies finalised", "url" : "/news/2020/11/20/helmholtz-aai-policies/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz ID", "date" : "2020-11-20 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Policies for Helmholtz AAIThe policies for the Helmholtz Authentication and Authorisation Infrastructure (AAI) have been finalised and approved by the HIFIS Coordination Board. They apply for every participant using the Helmholtz AAI.The structure of the policies was aligned with the AARC Policy DevelopmentKit, so that the policies arecompatible with major infrastructures, such as WLCG and EOSC.All policies and How-to are documented in the HIFIS/Helmholtz AAI Technical documentation at https://hifis.net/policiesBrief overviewSpecific policies are provided for different types of participants: Infrastructure Management Infrastructure Security Contact Identity Provider Virtual Organisation (VO) Management SP-IdP Proxy Service Providers End users" } , { "title" : "HIFIS Annual Meeting 2020: Wrap-up and materials", "url" : "/news/2020/10/30/hifis-meeting-wrapup/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2020-10-30 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Second All-Hands HIFIS meetingOn Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd October 2020, the second All-Hands HIFIS Meeting took place. Originally planned as a face-to-face event, the event was re-organized due to current developments and carried out as a two-day online video conference. Numerous members from all Helmholtz institutions were presented with a tightly planned and informative lecture programme.Materials and PresentationsSee here for the detailed time plan as well as all presentation materials.Day 1Focus of the first day was on information about the current developments in the field of Helmholtz Authentication and Authorization Infrastructure (AAI) and about the Helmholtz Cloud Service selection process. The audience learned first-hand which services are being integrated and offered in the first version of the Helmholtz Cloud.Subsequently, the audience was informed about the current developments in the area of HIFIS Software Services and further education in the use of scientific software development and publication.In five breakout sessions, participants were able to exchange views on questions such as How does a federation of several Sync &amp; Share services work or How will user requirements be incorporated into service portfolio management. In the summary that followed, the results of the breakout sessions were presented in a bundled form and discussed in the plenum.Day 2The second day was dedicated to a number of special topics: The day started with a presentation on the current status of developments in the backbone working group, which aims to connect all Helmholtz institutions with a dedicated Helmholtz Backbone. Based on this, the HIFIS file transfer service was presented, which will realize a secure and fast data transfer between the institutions.In the presentation Consulting and Technology Services the participants were informed about the experiences in terms of individual support in software development.The second part of the day was characterized by the presentation of the activities of the groups Service Integration and technical platform. A demonstration of an example workflow, which included several Helmholtz institutions, clearly showcased what is already possible. The second day was concluded with a demonstration of the current status of the Helmholtz Cloud service portal and a concluding plenary discussion.FeedbackThe response to the two-day online meeting can be described as highly concentrated and constructively. The participants found the lectures consistently exciting and very informative. They were given a comprehensive and complete overview of the numerous developments in HIFIS." } , { "title" : "Preparing HIFIS Annual Meeting Oct 21-22 - Schedule and Registration", "url" : "/announcement/2020/10/15/hifis-meeting/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2020-10-15 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "HIFIS Meeting 2020 is coming!From Oct 21-22, we are going to hold our second all-HIFIS meeting. It will be held as video conference.Over the course of two half days, we will report on the progress of HIFIS, discuss ongoing work packages and also seek to incorporate new ideas, thoughts and queries from non-HIFIS colleagues in Helmholtz.Time plan Meeting times: Wed, Oct 21 13:30-17:00 and Thu, Oct 22 09:00-13:00 max. Until 15:45, we will start with high level presentations on the status-quo of HIFIS. After that, well move towards more technical and open discussions on ongoing works and further developments. For details on access, time plan and contributions, see our Indico page. Registration is encouraged, especially if you want to take part in the Open Topic discussions (see below). You are free to join whenever you are interested in certain topics.Open TopicsWe want to allow inclusion of ideas and thoughts of colleagues outside HIFIS. Thus we will hold discussion / brainstorming sessions on HIFIS-related topics provided from colleagues in Helmholtz. A detailed view on the topics and breakout sessions can be found here. In case you want to take part in these discussion sessions, we ask you to register to facilitate distribution of participants.Further informationContactIn case anything breaks, you can directly contact the organization team.You are further invited to register here for the HIFIS announcement letter.MiscThis post is an update of the initial announcement of 2020-09-28.This all-HIFIS meeting is the second of its kind, after the HIFIS Conference 2019. Click here for the presentations of 2019." } , { "title" : "Selected Services for Initial Helmholtz Cloud Service Portfolio", "url" : "/news/2020/10/13/initial-service-portfolio/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2020-10-13 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The selection process for the initial Helmholtz Cloud service portfolio has been successfully completed.At the end of this process, 38 services offered by nine Helmholtz Centers were selected. Considering that some services are provided by several centers, the initial service portfolio includes 21 different services.The Initial Service PortfolioIn summary, the following services form the initial service portfolio of the Helmholtz Cloud: Services Service Provider Main Service Category OpenStack Jlich, Jlich (HDF), KIT, DKFZ Infrastructure Service Storage (HDF) Jlich, DESY Infrastructure Service HAICORE (HAICU, HIP) KIT, Jlich Infrastructure Service Singularity KIT, Jlich Infrastructure Service Docker DESY Infrastructure Service GPU Compute Service Jlich, HZDR Infrastructure Service AWI Marketplace AWI Infrastructure Service GitLab HZDR, KIT, Jlich, GEOMAR Science/Community Service JupyterHub Jlich, DESY, DKFZ, HMGU Science/Community Service B2Share (Invenio) Jlich Science/Community Service JupyterHub Notebooks on HPC KIT Science/Community Service ODV AWI Science/Community Service RODARE HZDR Science/Community Service Ocean and Climate Sensor Management AWI Science/Community Service Rocket.Chat Jlich Collaboration Service Zammad HZDR Collaboration Service Mattermost HZDR Collaboration Service Nextcloud (OnlyOffice) KIT, HZB, DESY Collaboration Service LimeSurvey HMGU, DKFZ Collaboration Service Redmine HZDR, HMGU Collaboration Service ShareLaTex HZDR Collaboration Service Service integration of the initial service portfolioThe points obtained in the service selection process determine the ranking for service integration. The ranking roughly reflects the time required by the service providers as necessary preparation time (service readiness) for the services. A short preparation time was weighted comparatively high in the initial service portfolio; this weighting will be adjusted in future service selections.The next step is to establish a roadmap for the service integration. Our goal is to have the first services available on the Technical Platform (pilot version) by the end of the year.Further development of the service portfolioIn parallel to the integration of the initial service portfolio, those services that have achieved a lower score in the service selection process will be reassessed. The reason for low scores was often that services require a time-consuming preparation before they can be offered in the Helmholtz Cloud. In some cases, not all necessary information about the services were available, or internal processes within the center delayed a short-term provision. Read more in the Technical DocumentationChangelog 2025-05-06 The LimeSurvey by HMGU is withdrawn. Please use LimeSurvey by DKFZ." } , { "title" : "Docker for Science (Part 3)", "url" : "/tutorial/2020/09/29/getting-started-with-docker-3/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Software Consulting, Docker", "date" : "2020-09-29 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " This post is part of a short blog series on using Docker for scientific applications.My aim is to explain the motivation behind Docker,show you how it works,and offer an insight into the different ways that you might want to use it in different research contexts. Quick links: Part 1 (Getting Started with Docker) Part 2 (A Dockerfile Walkthrough) Part 3 (Using Docker in Practical Situations) You are here! After working through the previous two parts, the next big question is: What now?Weve downloaded other peoples Docker images, and weve created our own Docker image how do we get other people to download, and do something useful with, our Docker image?Likewise, how do we use our Docker image in a wider set of circumstances, for example on HPC systems, or a shared team VM?This post is more specific to looking at scientific applications,so well look mainly at using GitLab and Singularity for these purposes,as these are the most commonly-used tools in scientific computing.Sharing Docker ImagesThe first problem is how to move Docker images from one computer to another,so that they can be shared between members of a team, or even between one team and another.Over the last two posts, I mentioned Docker Hub, the main Docker container registry.This is both the source of all official Docker images (hello-world, python, etc),as well as the host of a number of unofficial, third-party images (jupyter/scipy-notebook, rocker/shiny)1.If youre working with truly open-source code, and want to share that with the wider Docker ecosystem,you can create an account and upload images here in the same way that you might host Python packages on PyPI.However, in practice, a lot of scientific programming is hosted internally via your institutions own Git host,and most scientific applications are fairly specific,and probably not of huge use outside the purpose that they were developed for.For this purpose, a number of git-hosting tools (such as GitLab and GitHub) also include per-project Docker registries.This means that you can build and save your Docker images in the same place that you keep your code.For the purposes of this post, Ill assume the use of GitLab, because is one of the most common options in Helmholtz institutions2.When enabled by your administrator, GitLab projects include a private container registry for each project.You can set it up for your project by going to Settings &gt; General &gt; Visibility, project features, permissions.This will enable a Packages and Registries &gt; Container Registry option in the project sidebar, which will take you to an empty page,because you probably dont have any images stored yet.How do you store an image here?Lets start off by doing it manually, and then do it properly by which I mean get it to happen automatically.If you want to follow along, create a new private repository that you can use as a sandbox,and push the code from the previous post to play around with.Saving Images The Manual ProcessIn the top-right corner of this Container Registry page, there is a button that says CLI Commands.This will walk us through the main steps of getting the image that we generated earlier into this registry.The first command it gives us is docker login, followed by an URL for the local registry.Copying this into your terminal, and pressing enter, will either use your GitLab SSH key (if youre using one),or it will ask for your username and password for your GitLab account.If you can set up SSH for your GitLab account, please do so this means your password does not need to be stored on disk!You can find more details out [here](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ssh/README.html,or in the documentation for your local GitLab instance.Once weve logged in, we can move to the next step.The suggestion given by GitLab is a command to build the image,but we already built our image while we were learning about Dockerfiles in the previous post.However, the project name used by GitLab is different to the one we used then why?Well, in GitLab at least, the name of your image is a combination of the project name, and the group or user who owns that project.For example, if your username is user123, and you create a project called docker-test inside your personal area in GitLab,your image will be called user123/docker-test.In addition, Docker requires that if you use a registry that isnt the main Docker registry, you specify that registry as part of the image name.So, in this case, youll actually need to name your image &lt;registry-url&gt;/user123/docker-test,where &lt;registry-url&gt; is whatever you used to log in in the previous step.This isnt a problem at all we can just run the build again, and because of Dockers clever caching mechanism,we shouldnt even need to wait for the build to happen again.We can just run the command that GitLab gave us in our project directory, and we get the renamed tag for free.The final step is to push the image for this, we simply use the docker push command, giving it the image name that we just used.When this is done, we should be able to refresh the container registry page, and see our image sitting there,with a little note that says 1 Tag.Clicking on the image will show that tag it should be the latest tag that Docker always defaults to if none is specified.To upload a different tag, just specify it at the end of the image name for example: registry.hzdr.de/user123/docker-test:my-tag.Hopefully, its clear that the manual process here isnt too complicated we login, we do the build as we did in the previous post, and we add a push command as well.The most complicated part is the name, but we can get this from GitLab.However, three manual commands may well be three more commands than we actually need how does the automatic process compare, and is it simpler?Saving Images The Automatic ProcessIn GitLab, we can use CI Pipelines to make things happen automatically when we update our code.Often, this will be building our project,running a linter or typechecker (e.g. mypy),or running any automatic tests associated with the project.GitLab makes it fairly easy to use these pipelines to build and upload images to the container registry,and the HIFIS team have created some templates that can be used to make this completely simple.To use pipelines, a project needs to have a file in it called .gitlab-ci.yml, which defines a series of Jobs that need to be executed.In the base project directory, create this file, and type the following into it:12345678910111213141516171819include: # include the HIFIS Docker template, so that we can extend the predefined jobs there - "https://gitlab.com/hifis/templates/gitlab-ci/-/raw/master/templates/docker.yml"stages: - build # =&gt; build the dockerfile - release # =&gt; upload images to the repositorydocker-build: extends: .docker-build stage: build# this will update the `latest` tag every time the master branch changesrelease-latest: extends: .docker-tag-latest stage: release needs: - job: docker-build artifacts: trueThis creates a pipeline with two jobs, one which builds the docker image, and one which uploads it to the registry.If you push this to the master branch and click on the CI/CD &gt; Pipelines tab in your GitLab project,you should already be able to see the pipeline being executed.The documentation for this template is available here.Sharing ImagesHaving an image in a registry is one thing, but sharing it with other people is another.Private GitLab projects will also have private registries,which means that anyone else who wants to access the registry will need to log in to GitLab via Docker(as we did in the manual saving process)and have sufficient privileges in the team.However, there is another route.GitLab also provides access tokens that can be given to people to allow them the ability to pull images from Docker,but not to make other changes.They dont even need to have a GitLab account!In a projects settings, under Settings &gt; Access Tokens, there is a page where you can create tokens to share with other people.These tokens are randomly-generated passwords that are linked to a particular project, that specify exactly what a person is able to access.For the purposes of sharing a Docker image, the read_registry permission is enough this will allow the bearer of the token to access the registry, but not push new images there, or access other project features.To create an access token, give the token a name to describe what its being used for,select the relevant permissions that you want to grant3,and optionally give an expiry date, if you know that the token will only be needed until a certain time.In response, GitLab will provide a string of letters, digits, and other special characters,which can be copied and sent to the people who need to use it.To use this token, use the docker login command with your normal GitLab username, and the token provided.For more information, see the documentation here.Docker for HPC (High Performance Computing)Once youve got a Docker image that you can build and run on your computer, it makes sense to look for more useful places to run this image.In research software, its common to run programs on an HPC, or High Performance Computing system.This is a shared cluster of high-performance servers, often equipped with GPUs, managed centrally by a research institutewhere users can run their programs for longer periods of time (several hours, or even days) without having to keep their own computers running.Generally, the user will log on, schedule a job, and then be notified when their job has finished running so they can view the results.Unfortunately, for very good reasons, HPC administrators are often very reluctant to install Docker on their systems.One of the side-effects of the way that Docker worksis that it is generally possible for a Docker image running on a server to gain administrator access on that parent server,essentially breaking out of the container.This makes the administrators job much more difficult in terms of locking down each users processes and isolating them from each other.As a result, its generally not a good idea to run Docker in this way.However, surprisingly, Docker isnt the only way to run Docker images.There are a number of other tools used to do containerisation,and one tool particularly that is both designed to run on HPC systems,and can interoperate with Docker, meaning you can usually just run your Docker image just like normal.This tool is called Singularity.It is actually a complete containerisation tool in its own right,with its own format for defining containers,and its own way of running containers4.More importantly, it knows how to convert other container formats (including Docker) into its own .sif format.In addition, it runs as the current user it doesnt require any magical higher privileges like Docker.(This is a trade-off, but for the purposes of scientific applications, its usually a reasonable one to make.)If you want to install Singularity and try it out yourself,you will need a Linux machine and a Go compiler, along with a few other dependencies.You can find the full instructions here.Running Singularity on an HPC system will also depend on how exactly that HPC system has been set up,but it will generally involve requesting a job, and running the singularity command as part of that job,with the desired resources.One of the key questions when using a private registry such as GitLab (see above),is how to log in to that registry.Interactively, Singularity provides a docker-login flag when pulling containers.In addition, its possible to use SSH keys for authentication in certain circumstances.Docker in The WildSo far, weve generally assumed that the Docker containers being created are wrapping up whole programs for use on the command line.However, there are also situations where you might want to send a whole environment to other people,so that they have access to a variety of useful tools.If youve used GitLab CI (and some other similar systems), this is how it works.When GitLab runs a job in a pipeline, it creates a fresh Docker container for that job.That way, the environment is (mostly) freshly-created for each job, which means that individual jobs are isolated.It also means that the environment can be anything that the user wants or needs.By default, this will probably be some sort of simple Linux environment,like a recent Ubuntu release, or something similar.However, if a CI job needs specific tools, it may well be simpler to find a Docker image that already has those tools installed,than to go through the process of reinstalling those tools every time the job runs.For example, for a CI job that builds a LaTeX document, it may be easiest to use a pre-built installation such asaergus/latex.In fact, in GitLab, its even possible to use the registries from other projects to access custom images,and use those custom images in jobs in other projects.Its even possible to use jobs to create images to use in other jobs, if thats something that you really need.ConclusionHere, as they say, endeth the lesson.Over the course of these three blog posts,weve talked about the purpose of Docker,and how it can be used to package applications and their dependencies up in convenient way;weve got started with Docker, and learned how to run Docker containers on our system;weve walked through how to create our own Docker containers using a Dockerfile;and finally, in this post,weve talked about some of the ways that we can use Docker practically for scientific software development.Docker can often be a hammer when all you need is a screwdriver very forceful, and itll probably get the job done,but sometimes a more precise tool is ideal.The motivating example for this blog series was the complexity of Python project development,where trying to remember which packages are installed, and which packages are needed by a particular project,can cause a lot of issues when sharing that project with others.For this case alone, Docker can be useful, but you may want to consider a package manager such as Poetry,which can manage dependencies and virtual Python environments in a much simpler way.However, when different tools, languages, and package management needs come together,using Docker can often be a good way to make sure that the system really is well-defined,for example by ensuring that the right system packages are always installed,as well as the right Python packages,or the right R or Julia software.If you feel like dependency management for your project is becoming too complex,and youre not sure what packages need to exist, or how to build it on any computer other than your own,then hopefully this approach of building a Docker container step-by-step can help.However, if you would like more support for your project,HIFIS offers a consulting service, which is free-of-charge, and available for any Helmholtz-affiliated groups and projects.Consultants like myself can come and discuss the issues that you are facing,and explore ways of solving them in the way that is most appropriate to your team.For more details about this, see the Get In Touch box below. Get In Touch HIFIS offers free-of-charge workshops and consulting to research groups within the Helmholtz umbrella. You can read more about what we offer on our services page. If you work for a Helmholtz-affilliated institution, and think that something like this would be useful to you, send us an e-mail at support@hifis.net, or fill in our consultation request form. Footnotes Notice that all third-party images have two parts a group/maintainer name (e.g. jupyter),and a specific image name (e.g. scipy-notebook).This is the main way that you can tell the difference between official and third-party images.&#8617; Unfortunately, the second-most common code hosting option at Helmholtz, BitBucket, doesnt include a container registry.You can check with your local administrators if they have a tool like Artifactory or JFrog available.Alternatively, part of the evolution of the HIFIS project is to provide code hosting infrastructure across the whole Helmholtz community,which will include access to package and container registries,so please keep an eye out for more HIFIS news on this blog!&#8617; Selecting which permissions to grant is an interesting question of security design that we shouldnt go into too much here,but a general guideline is everything needed to do the job required, and not a step more.That is, give only the permissions that are actually needed right now, not permissions that might be useful at some point. This probably doesnt matter so much in the scientific world, where open research is increasingly important,but its a good principle when dealing with computers in general.Consider a badly-written tool (they do exist ) that is designed to clean up images that arent needed any more.One mistake in the filter for deciding which images arent needed any more,and this sort of tool could rampage through all the registries that it is connected to, deleting everything it can see.(This sort of thing happens more often than you would think - seethis bug andthis bug andthis bug andthis bug all just from one small rm command!)By limiting the access scope to read-only, we can limit how much these sorts of problems affect us.At least until we decide to run this particularly (thankfully fictional) clean-up tool ourselves,and make the same mistake&#8617; It has its own container system?And its more suited to scientific applications?Why are these blog posts about Docker then why not just go straight to this clearly more convenient tool? Two reasons:Firstly, Docker is way more popular than Singularity, or indeed any other similar tool.This means more documentation,more starter images to base our own changes on,more people to find and fix bugs in the software,and more support in third-party tools like GitLab.Secondly, Singularity only runs on Linux,and the installation process involves cloning the latest source code,installing a compiler for the Go programming language,and compiling the whole project ourselves. Given that Singularity can run Docker images,we can use Docker in the knowledge that we can also get the advantages of Singularity later on.&#8617; " } , { "title" : "Docker for Science (Part 2)", "url" : "/tutorial/2020/09/25/getting-started-with-docker-2/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Software Consulting, Docker", "date" : "2020-09-25 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " This post is part of a short blog series on using Docker for scientific applications.My aim is to explain the motivation behind Docker,show you how it works,and offer an insight into the different ways that you might want to use it in different research contexts. Quick links: Part 1 (Getting Started with Docker) Part 2 (A Dockerfile Walkthrough) You are here! Part 3 (Using Docker in Practical Situations) An Example DockerfileLets get straight to business:Heres what an example Dockerfile for a simple Python project might look like.(The comments are added to make it easier to reference later in this post.)1234567891011121314# (1)FROM python:3.8.5# (2)WORKDIR /opt/my-project# (3)COPY . /opt/my-project# (4)RUN pip install -r requirements.txt# (5)ENTRYPOINT [ "python3", "main.py" ]Building Our Example ProjectFirst lets figure out how to turn this Dockerfile into a container that we can run.The first step is to get the code you can find it in this repository so you can clone it and follow along.The first step to getting this ready to run is docker build.To build an image, you need a Dockerfile, a name for the image, and a context.The Dockerfile is what tells Docker how to build the image,the name is what Docker will use to reference this image later (e.g. python or hello-world),and the context is the set of files from your file system that Docker will have access to when it tries to build the project.Usually the context is the project directory (usually also the directory where the build command is run from).Likewise, by convention, a Dockerfile is generally called Dockerfile (with no extension),and lives in the projects root directory.If this isnt the case, there are additional flags to pass to docker build that specify where it is located.The name is given with the -t flag, also specifying any tags that you want to provide (as always, these default to :latest).The -t flag can be provided multiple times, so you can tag one build with multiple tags,for example if your current build should belong to both the latest tag, and a fixed tag for this release version.Having cloned the example repository, you can run this build process like this:123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839$ # builds the file at ./Dockerfile, with the current working directory as the context,$ # with the name `my-analyser`.$ docker build -t my-analyser .Sending build context to Docker daemon 20.48kBStep 1/5 : FROM python:3.8.53.8.5: Pulling from library/pythond6ff36c9ec48: Pull complete c958d65b3090: Pull complete edaf0a6b092f: Pull complete 80931cf68816: Pull complete 7dc5581457b1: Pull complete 87013dc371d5: Pull complete dbb5b2d86fe3: Pull complete 4cb6f1e38c2d: Pull complete 0b3d7b2fc317: Pull complete Digest: sha256:4c62d8c5ef331e485143c7a664fd6deeea4595ac17008ef5c10cc470d259e39fStatus: Downloaded newer image for python:3.8.5 ---&gt; 62aa40094bb1Step 2/5 : WORKDIR /opt/my-projectRemoving intermediate container 3e718c528a63 ---&gt; f6845bcf9e20Step 3/5 : COPY . /opt/my-project ---&gt; 8977a9a29d1cStep 4/5 : RUN pip install -r requirements.txt ---&gt; Running in 8da06d6427d0Collecting numpy==1.19.1 Downloading numpy-1.19.1-cp38-cp38-manylinux2010_x86_64.whl (14.5 MB)Collecting click==7.1.2 Downloading click-7.1.2-py2.py3-none-any.whl (82 kB)Installing collected packages: numpy, clickSuccessfully installed click-7.1.2 numpy-1.19.1Removing intermediate container 8da06d6427d0 ---&gt; ba22084bd57eStep 5/5 : ENTRYPOINT [ "python3", "main.py" ] ---&gt; Running in d1c9dc9bc09fRemoving intermediate container d1c9dc9bc09f ---&gt; d12d76ae371bSuccessfully built d12d76ae371bSuccessfully tagged my-analyser:latestThere are a few things to notice here.Firstly, Docker sends the build context (thats the . part) to the Docker daemon.Well discuss the role of the Docker daemon a bit in the next post, but for now, the daemon is the process that actually does the work here.After that, we start going through the steps defined in the Dockerfile(youll notice the five steps each match up to the five commands).Well go through what each command is actually doing in a moment,although it might be interesting to get an idea for what each line is doing before reading onwards.Before we explore the individual commands, however, we should figure out how to actually run this compiled image.The Python script that were running is a fairly simple one it has two commands, one to tell us how many items of data weve got, and another to give us the average values from that data.We can run it like this:12345678910111213141516$ docker run my-analyserUsage: main.py [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...Options: --help Show this message and exit.Commands: analyse-data count-datapoints$ docker run my-analyser count-datapointsMy Custom Applicationdatapoint count = 100$ docker run my-analyser analyse-dataMy Custom Applicationheight = 1.707529904338weight = 76.956408654431This is very similar to the hello-world container that we ran,except without any need to download anything (because the container has already been built on our system).Well look at transfering the container to other computers in the next post,but, in principle, this is all we need to do to get a completely self-sufficient container containing all the codethat we need to run our project.For now, lets go through the Dockerfile step-by-step and clarify what each command given there is doing.Step-by-step Through The DockerfileThe first thing (1) a Dockerfile needs is a parent image.In our case, were using one of the pre-built Python images.This is an official image provided by Docker that starts with a basic Debian Linux installation,and installs Python on top of it.We can also specify the exact version that we want (here we use 3.8.5).There are a large number of these pre-built official images available,for tools such asPython,R,and Julia.There are also unofficial images that often bring together a variety of scientific computing tools for convenience.For example, the Jupyter Notebooks team have a wide selection of different images with support for different setups.Alternatively, most Linux distributions, including Ubuntu and Debian1, are available as parent images.You may need to do more work to get these set up(for example, youll need to manually install Python first)but you also have more flexibility to get things set up exactly how you want.Once weve got our base image, we want to make this image our own.Each of the commands in this file adds a new layer on top of the previous one.The first command we use (2) is fairly simple it just sets the current working directory.Its a bit like running cd to get to the directory you want to start working in.Here, we set it to /opt/my-project.It doesnt really matter what we use here,but I recommend /opt/&lt;project-name&gt; as a reasonable default.The next step (3) is to add our own code to the image.The image that were building will be (mostly)2 isolated from the computer that we run it from,so if we want our code to be built into this project, we need to explicitly put it there.The COPY command is the way to do that.It creates a new layer that contains files from our local system (.) in the location in the image that we specify (/opt/my-project).At this point, we have a python project inside a Docker image.However, our project probably has some third-party dependencies that will also need to be installed.As I pointed out before, the Docker container that were aiming for is isolated from the computer that we will run it from,which also means that any dependencies that we need must also be installed inside the container.The RUN (4) command allows us to run arbitrary commands inside the container.After running the command, Docker then creates a new layer with the changes that were made by the command that we ran.Here, we run the pip command to install all of our dependencies3.We load the dependencies from a file called requirements.txt if youre not so used to this system, this is a way of defining dependencies in a reproducible way,so that any future user can look through a project and see exactly what the will need to run it.Its important to emphasize that Docker doesnt need to replace requirements.txt, CMake, or other dependency management tools.Rather, Docker can work together with these and other tools to help provide additional reproducibility guarantees.The final part of our Dockerfile is the ENTRYPOINT command (5).Part of the idea of Docker is that each Docker container does one thing, and it does it well.(You might recognise the UNIX philosophy here.)As a result, a Docker container should generally contain one application,and only the dependencies that that application needs to run.The ENTRYPOINT command, along with the CMD command tells Docker which application should run.The difference between the ENTRYPOINT and CMD is a bit subtle, but it roughly comes down to how you use the docker run command.When we ran it in the previous post, we generally used the default commands set by the containers for hello-world, the default command was the executable that printed out the welcome message,while in python, the default command was the Python REPL.However, its possible to overwrite this command from the docker run command.For example, we can run the Python container to jump straight into a bash shell, skipping the Python process completely:12$ docker run -it python:3.8.5 bash # note the addition of 'bash' here to specify a different command to runroot@f30676215731:/# This ability to replace the default command comes from using CMD.In the Python Dockerfile, there is a line that looks like CMD python, which essentially tells Dockerif nobody has a better plan, just run the Python executable.On the other hand, the arguments to ENTRYPOINT will just be put before whatever this command ends up being.(It is possible to override this as well, but its not as common.)For example, consider the following Dockerfile:12345678FROM ubuntu:20.04# using `echo` allows us to "debug" what arguments get# passed to the ENTRYPOINT commandENTRYPOINT [ "echo" ]# this command can be overriddenCMD [ "Hello, World" ]When we run this container, we get the following options:12345$ docker run echotest # should print the default value CMD valueHello, World$ docker run echotest override arguments # should print the overidden argumentsoverride arguments$ docker run -it --entrypoint bash echotest # overrides the entrypointAs a rule, I would recommend using ENTRYPOINT when building a container for a custom application,and CMD when youre building a container that you expect to be a base layer,or an environment in which you expect people to run a lot of other commands.In our case, using ENTRYPOINT allows us to add subcommands to the main.py script that can be run easily from the command line,as demonstrate in the opening examples.If wed used CMD instead of ENTRYPOINT,then running docker run my-analyser count-datapoints would have just tried to run the count-entrypoints command in the system,which doesnt exist, and would have caused an error.Next: Part 3 Practical Applications in ScienceIn this second of three parts, weve looked at an example project with an example Dockerfile.We explored how to build and run this Dockerfile,and we explored some of the most important commands needed to set up the Dockerfile for a project.In the final part, I want to explore some of the different ways that someone might use Docker as part of research.For example,how to distribute Docker containers to other places,how to run Docker containers on HPC systems,building Docker via Continuous Integration,and other places where you might see Docker being used.View part three here. Get In Touch HIFIS offers free-of-charge workshops and consulting to research groups within the Helmholtz umbrella. You can read more about what we offer on our services page. If you work for a Helmholtz-affiliated institution, and think that something like this would be useful to you, send us an e-mail at support@hifis.net, or fill in our consultation request form. Footnotes If youre look deeper into Docker, you might notice that a distribution called Alpine Linux crops up a lot.This is an alternative distribution that is specifically designed to be as light as possible.This can save a lot of space in docker images, but it also comes with some additional complexities.I recommend starting with a Debian-based distribution, particularly for Python-based projects,and then switching to Alpine Linux later if you find that your docker images are getting too large to handle.&#8617; Mostly is an important caveat here!To usefully run a Docker container, we need to send some input in and get some sort of output out this is mostly handled with command-line arguments and the console output of whatever runs inside Docker.However, for some applications (less so scientific ones),we will also want to access a service running inside the container, e.g. a webserver.Alternatively, we may want to access files inside the container while running it,or even allow the container to access files from the parent computer thats running it.These things can all be enabled using different arguments to the docker run command. Ill talk a little bit more about some specifics here in the final part of this series,where Ill also mention tools like Singularity (that youre more likely to run into on HPC systems),and explain some of the limitations of these tools a bit more clearly.&#8617; If you have a lot of different Python projects,you might (rightly!) ask why I havent used something like virtualenv to isolate the Python environment.The answer is that, in this case, its not really necessary.The Docker image that we build will have isolation built-in and not only for Python, but for all our other dependencies too.&#8617; " } , { "title" : "Docker For Science (Part 1)", "url" : "/tutorial/2020/09/23/getting-started-with-docker-1/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Helmholtz Software Consulting, Docker", "date" : "2020-09-23 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : " This post is part of a short blog series on using Docker for scientific applications.My aim is to explain the motivation behind Docker,show you how it works,and offer an insight into the different ways that you might want to use it in different research contexts. Quick links: Part 1 (Getting Started with Docker) You are here! Part 2 (A Dockerfile Walkthrough) Part 3 (Using Docker in Practical Situations) Understanding Docker probably wont solve all of your problems,but it can be a really useful tool when trying to build reproducible software that will run almost anywhere.Unfortunately, a lot of existing tutorials are aimed primarily at web developers, backend engineers, or cloud DevOps teams,which is a pity, because Docker can be useful in much wider contexts.This series explains what Docker is, how to use it practically, and where it might be useful in the context of scientific research.What is Docker?One of the key challenges in modern research is how to achieve reproducibility.Interestingly, this is also a big interest for software development.If I write some code, it should work on my machine(I mean, I hope it does!)but how do I guarantee that it will work on anyone elses?Similarly, when writing code to analyse data, it is important that it produces the correct result,not just when you run the code multiple times with the same input data,but also when someone else runs the code on a different computer.The complexity of Python environments, as explained by XKCD (Comic by Randall Munroe CC BY-NC 2.5)One of the common ways that software developers have traditionally tried to solve this problem is using virtual machines (or VMs).The idea is that on your computer, youve probably got different versions of dependencies that will all interact in different messy ways,not to mention the complexity of packaging in languages like Python and C.However, if you have a VM, you can standardise things a bit more easily.You can specify which packages are installed, and what versions, and what operating system everything is running on in the first place.Everyone in your group can reproduce each others work, because youre all running it in the same place.The problem occurs when a reviewer comes along, who probably wont have access to your specific VM.You either need to give them the exact instructions about how to setup your VM correctly(and can you remember the precise instructions you used then, and what versions all your dependencies were at?)or you need to copy the whole operating system (and all of the files in it) out of your VM, into a new VM for the reviewer.Docker is both of those solutions at the same time.Docker thinks of a computer as an image, which is a bundle of layers.The bottom layer is a computer with almost nothing on it1.The top layer is a computer with an operating system, all your dependencies, and your code, compiled and ready to run.All the layers between those two points are the individual steps that you need to perform to get your computer in the right state to run your code.Each step defines the changes between it and the next layer,with each of these steps being written down in a file called a Dockerfile.Moreover, once all of these layers have been built on one computer, they can be shared with other people,meaning that you can always share your exact setup with anyone else who needs to run and review the code.When these layers are bundled together, we call that an image.Finally, to run the image, Docker transforms it into a container,and runs that container as if it were running inside a virtual machine2.Setting Up DockerSetting up Docker will look different between different operating systems.This is to cover certain cross-platform issues.Basically, as a general rule, in any given operating system, its only possible to run containers that also use that same operating system.(Linux on Linux, Windows on Windows, etc.)3Obviously this is very impractical, given that most pre-built and base layers available for Docker are built for Linux.As a result, for Windows and MacOS, Docker provides a tool called Docker Desktop,which includes a virtual machine to basically paper over the differences between Linux and the host operating system4.It also provides a number of other tools for more advanced Docker usage that we wont go into now.For Linux, you will need to install Docker Engine this is essentially just the core part of Docker that runs containers.The installation instructions for Mac, Windows, and Linux are available at the Get Docker page if you want to follow along with the rest of these commands, feel free to complete those installation instructions, and then come back here. N.B. On most Linux distributions, you will need to also follow the post-installation steps(linked at the bottom of the installation page and here)in order to run the docker command without sudo as a non-root user.If youre getting errors about invalid permissions when running any of the following commands, this is probably the issue you are facing.Running Our First Docker ContainerThe first step with any new programming language is the Hello World program what does Hello World look like on Docker?1234567891011$ docker run hello-worldUnable to find image 'hello-world:latest' locallylatest: Pulling from library/hello-world0e03bdcc26d7: Pull completeDigest: sha256:7f0a9f93b4aa3022c3a4c147a449bf11e0941a1fd0bf4a8e6c9408b2600777c5Status: Downloaded newer image for hello-world:latestHello from Docker!This message shows that your installation appears to be working correctly.-text snipped for convenience-The first thing we get when we run this docker command is a series of messages about what Docker is doing to run the hello-world container. First, Docker tries (and fails) to search the computer that its running on for an already cached copy of a container called hello-world:latest.The :latest part is called the tag, and roughly corresponds to the version of the relevant software that is installed on this container.When no tag is specified, Docker defaults to latest, which is usually the most recent build of a container. Because it cant find the image, it pulls the image from an external repository in this case, Docker Hub.The hello-world container is actually part of the standard library of official Docker images, which is where the library/ part comes from.Normally, if we were to host our own images on Docker Hub, wed need to include a user or organisation namespace (e.g. helmholtz/...). The line beginning with a set of random numbers and digits means that Docker is downloading a layer.(The numbers and digits are an identifier for the file being downloaded.)On slower computers, you might see a loading bar appear here while the actual download takes place. The next two lines (Digest and Status) are simply updates to say that everything has been downloaded and that Docker is ready to run the image.The digest is a unique identifier for this exact image which will never be updated,which can be useful if you want to be completely certain that youll never accidentally update something. Finally, a message is printed (this is the Hello from Docker! section).This explains a bit about what has just happened, and confirms that everything was successful.Running Our Second Docker ContainerThe Hello World operation runs, but it doesnt actually do much useful lets try running something more interesting and useful.Part of our original motivation for this exercise was managing the chaos of different ways of installing Python and its dependencies,so lets see if we can get a container up and running with Python.The first step is generally to find a Python base image.Thankfully, as part of the set of officially maintained images, Docker provides some Python images for us to use.This includes images for different versions of Python.Whereas last time, we used the default latest tag, this time we can try explicitly using the 3.8.5 tag to set the Python version.However, if we try running this, well run into a bit of an issue:123456789101112131415$ docker run python:3.8.5Unable to find image 'python:3.8.5' locally3.8.5: Pulling from library/pythond6ff36c9ec48: Pull complete c958d65b3090: Pull complete edaf0a6b092f: Pull complete 80931cf68816: Pull complete 7dc5581457b1: Pull complete 87013dc371d5: Pull complete dbb5b2d86fe3: Pull complete 4cb6f1e38c2d: Pull complete c2df8846f270: Pull complete Digest: sha256:bc765f71aaa90648de6cfa356ec201d50549031a244f48f8f477f386517c5d1bStatus: Downloaded newer image for python:3.8.5$If you run this, youll immediately see that there are a lot more layers that need to be downloaded and extracted this makes sense, as Python is a much more complicated piece of software than just print a Hello World message!Youll also see that instead of latest, the tag is 3.8.5, so we can be sure what version we are using.However, when we ran this image, the docker command immediately exited, and were back to where we started.Weve downloaded something but what does that something actually do?By default, when Docker runs a container, it just prints the output of that container it doesnt send any user input into that container.However, the default Python command is a REPL it require some sort of input to do something with.To allow us to send terminal input in and out, we can use the -it flags, like this:12345$ docker run -it python:3.8.5Python 3.8.5 (default, Sep 1 2020, 18:44:24)[GCC 8.3.0] on linuxType "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.&gt;&gt;&gt; That looks better!Feel free to play around and convince yourself that this is a working, standard Python installation.Pressing Ctrl+D will exit the terminal and close the container.Its worth noting that the second time we ran this command, there was no information about pulling layers or downloading images.This is because Docker caches this sort of information locally.Running Our Second Docker Container (Again!)All Docker containers have a command that runs as the main process in that container.With the Hello World container, that command was a small binary that prints out a welcome message.With Python, the command was the standard python executable.What if we want to run a different command in the same container?For example, say we have a Python container, and were using the Python interpreter.Is there a way that we can open a shell on that container so that we can run commands like pip to install dependencies?The first thing we need to do is deal with a problem that were about to run into.When the main process in a container exits(the Hello World command has printed all it needs to print, or the Python interpreter has been exited)the whole container is closed.This is mostly useful(when the main process exits, we probably dont need the container any more)but it does mean that we need to think a bit about how were going to interact with the running container.Firstly, lets create a new container, but give it a special name (here my-python-container).12345$ docker run --name my-python-container -it python:3.8.5Python 3.8.5 (default, Sep 1 2020, 18:44:24)[GCC 8.3.0] on linuxType "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.&gt;&gt;&gt; Now, opening a second terminal (and not closing the Python process in the first terminal),we can use the docker exec command to run a second command inside the same container, as long as we know the name.In this case, we can use bash as the second command, and from there we can pip install whatever we want.12$ docker exec my-python-container bashroot@f30676215731:/# pip install numpyPressing Ctrl-D in this second terminal will close bash and bring us out of this new container.We could also have directly run docker exec my-python-container pip install numpy in this case, because we only wanted to run one command inside the container, it would have had the same effect.However, opening up a bash terminal inside the container is a very useful ability,because its then possible to root around inside the container and examine whats going on often helpful for debugging!Next: Part 2 A Dockerfile WalkthroughIn this post, I explained a bit about how Docker works, and how to use Docker to run Python(and many other tools!)in an isolated environment on your computer.All the images that we used in this post were created by others and hosted on Docker Hub.In the next post, Im going to explain how to create your own image, containing your own application code,by going line-by-line through an example Dockerfile.By creating an image in this way, we can clearly define the instructions needed to setup, install, and run our code,making our development process much more reproducible.View part two here. Get In Touch HIFIS offers free-of-charge workshops and consulting to research groups within the Helmholtz umbrella. If you work for a Helmholtz-affiliated institution, and think that this would be useful to you, send us an e-mail at support@hifis.net, or fill in our consultation request form. Footnotes This is a bit of a simplification.The canonical base image (scratch) is a zero-byte empty layer,but, if you were able to explore inside it,youd find that there is still enough of an operating system for things like files to exist, and to run certain programs.This is because Docker images arent separate virtual machines the operating system that you can see is actually the operating system of the computer thats running Docker.This is a concept called containerisation or OS-level Virtualisation, and how it works is very much beyond the scope of this blog post!&#8617; The differences between layers, images, and containers is not always obvious, and I had to look it up a lot while writing this post.Most of the time, its possible to think of layers and images being the same thing, and containers being the way that you run the final layer.However, this isnt technically accurate, and can cause some confusion when exploring container IDs, image IDs, and layer IDs.If you want to explore this more, I recommend reading Sofija Simics post here,followed by Nigel Browns post here. Please remember that none of the above information is necessary to truly use and understand Docker the main reason that I ran into these questions was when trying to get a completely solid understanding of what different IDs referred to while writing this post.Most of the time, these specifics are completely transparent to the user.&#8617; Why?As I mentioned in the previous footnote,containerisation isnt about creating new virtual machines its about running a mostly-sandboxed version of an operating system inside the parent operating system(this is the containerisation concept).Because its still running inside the same operating system as before, you cant switch between Linux and Windows.&#8617; Note that you can also use Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) instead of a true virtual machine.&#8617; " } , { "title" : "HIFIS Pages and Helpdesk launched", "url" : "/news/2020/09/16/hifis-homepage-helpdesk/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2020-09-16 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Homepage and DocumentationThe HIFIS homepage as well as the HIFIS Documentation have been restructured and relaunched.The new workflow uses best-practices continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) workflow to streamline collaborative contribution to the homepage and the documentation. The workflows are based on Jekyll and MkDocs.The corresponding repositories are hosted in Gitlab at HZDR and are publicly accessible. You can find themhere for the HIFIS homepage andhere for the HIFIS Documentation.HIFIS HelpdeskAlong with the relaunch of the homepage, the new HIFIS-wide helpdesk has started, accessible via direct link and/or directly via email at support@hifis.net.With this, you can contact the HIFIS team through a unique and reliable communication channel.Newsletters and News FeedAlso, you are invited to subscribe for our Announcement letter newsletter@hifis.net to never miss any upcoming events:You can do this either by clicking on this link and sending a subscription mail or by subscribing here - you can also unsubscribe here.To stay updated on general HIFIS news, you are further invited to check out our RSS news feed - besides, of course, regularly checking our website and News Section! Comments or Suggestions? Feel free to contact us. " } , { "title" : "Start of Helmholtz VPN", "url" : "/news/2020/09/01/VPN/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2020-09-01 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Coordinated by DESY, HIFIS fostered a service agreement with the German National Research and Education Network (DFN) on operating a a Helmholtz-wide Virtual Private Network (Helmholtz Backbone). The VPN shall cover the majority of Helmholtz centres. Currently 14 centres have agreed on the contract.Besides DESY, these are: AWI, GEOMAR, KIT, GSI, UFZ, HZB, GFZ, HZI, DKFZ, HZDR, hereon (formerly HZG), MDC, and HMGU (Deutsches Forschungszentrum fr Gesundheit und Umwelt, Neuherberg).FZJ is fostering a separate agreement, in coordination with the other centres.By September, the first pilot VPN installations are being set-up between DESY, DKFZ, KIT, and HZDR.By January 2021, it is expected to have the first production Virtual Private Network (Helmholtz Backbone) connections running (see HIFIS Roadmap). Comments or Suggestions? Feel free to contact us. " } , { "title" : "Introducing: Consulting Services", "url" : "/announcement/2020/08/19/introducing-consulting/", "category" : "", "tags" : "General, HIFIS Consulting", "date" : "2020-08-19 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Consulting ServicesAs programming and coding increasingly become important tools in the scientists toolbox,it also becomes increasingly common to run into bigger software issues.Issues like: How do I get this old library to run on our new HPC cluster? How do I release my simulation tool so that it can be reviewed along with the rest of my paper? How can I track my code, dependencies, and data so that I can be sure that people can use this project even after Ive finished working with it?HIFIS Software Consulting Services offers free-of-charge consulting services to all research groups within the Helmholtz umbrella.Our aim is to provide software development experts who can answer questions and provide support for all topics in the areas of research and software.Case in PointWhen I joined the HIFIS team, one of my first consultation projects was at HZDR,with a group whose code would only run on one particular server that they could not continue maintaining.By the end of our involvement, we had: Set up CMake to manage the projects dependencies; Set up their project (via Gitlab) to automatically build the code every time the team made a change, so that they could see quickly if something was breaking; Made the software run on the HZDR-wide HPC infrastructure; Documented the installation process so that future team members would know how to get started quickly.In other cases, weve been able tolook into data protection issues for a team setting up a website for their project,and advise a spin-off company on technology choices.Get StartedIf any of this sounds like something that might help you or your project, get in touch!HIFIS Consulting is free, and available to any group or team that falls under the Helmholtz umbrella.All you need to do is fill out the form on our consulting page,and we will be in touch as soon as possible. Get In Touch If you work for a Helmholtz-affilliated institution, and think that something like this would be useful to you, send us an e-mail at support@hifis.net, or fill in our consultation request form. " } , { "title" : "Last steps towards initial service portfolio", "url" : "/news/2020/08/10/sp-last-iteration/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2020-08-10 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Starting with over 100 services as candidates for the upcoming Helmholtz Cloud, we had to define transparent and objective criteria to make the services comparable. We established a service selection process consisting of three iterations to shrink the service candidate list to a handable size. Now we are conducting the 3rd and last iteration of the service selection in which each remaining service is documented with detailed information.Using this information the final score of each service can be calculated. The score will give priority on which services will be integrated into Helmholtz Cloud first." } , { "title" : "HZI-HIFIS collaboration for Coronavirus Surveys", "url" : "/news/use-case/2020/08/03/HZI/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2020-08-03 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) builds a platform collecting methodologies and results of coronavirus antibody studies. In cooperation with HIFIS and led by scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), the project LEOSS.sero-survey is being implemented.The LEOSS.sero-survey platformThe envisioned platform offers research groups the possibility to jointly evaluate anonymised data from various studies of different origins. This helps to increase statistical significance and study robustness. The approach drives the need for a commonly accessible data management. Virtual resources of the Helmholtz Association can be used for that. In this context, a data management system is being provided as a pilot project within HIFIS by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB).Invitation for contributionInterested researchers and centers are invited to participate in the LEOSS.sero-survey. Please visit the SeroHub Portal for further information and getting started. Read more" } , { "title" : "Project Calls for HIP and HMC", "url" : "/news/2020/07/31/hip-hmc-calls/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2020-07-31 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Two of our fellow Helmholtz Incubator platforms (HMC and HIP) recently announced their project calls.Make sure to not miss the respective deadlines in September and October!Helmholtz Imaging PlatformThe Helmholtz Imaging Platform (HIP) published their first call to facilitate innovative approaches focusing on imaging problems arising in all Helmholtz research areas.Full information on the call can be found on HIPs overview page.Application deadline is 11 September, 2020.Helmholtz Metadata CollaborationFurther, the Helmholtz Metadata Collaboration (HMC) platformput out their first call for HMC projects.This call aims for applications addressing practical challenges in the field of metadata generation and data enrichment.Application deadline is 14th October, 2020. Comments or Suggestions? Feel free to contact us. " } , { "title" : "Helmholtz AAI online", "url" : "/news/2020/07/24/helmholtz-aai/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2020-07-24 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The blueprint for the new official Helmholtz-wide Authentication and Authorization Infrastructure (Helmholtz AAI), derived from former HDF AAI, is now online and available for services and identity providers via login.helmholtz.de and the respectivedevelopment instance.It was drafted by FZJ and KIT, and is compatible to the AARC blueprint.The establishment of such Helmholtz-wide AAI service is an organizational and technological key component to allow common access to IT services.Based on this infrastructure, cloud services, e.g. for data management, collaboration andscientific work are partially already in use as prototypes and will go into production by end of 2020.The full establishment of such federated IT infrastructure in Helmholtz will allowcloser partnering to European IT and research communitiessuch as EGI and EOSC. Comments or Suggestions? Feel free to contact us. " } , { "title" : "Superschnelles AI-Rechensystem für HAICORE", "url" : "/de/news/2020/07/08/haicore-kit/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2020-07-08 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Am KIT wurde ein superschnelles Computersystem frHemholtz Artificial Intelligence (AI) Forschung installiert. Dies ist der erste Standort in Europa, an dem das mit InfiniBand verbundene NVIDIA DGX A100 AI-System in Betrieb genommen wurde, finanziert aus der Helmholtz AI Computing Resources Initiative (HAICORE). Der gemeinsame Zugang zu diesen Kapazitten wird ber den von HIFIS angebotenen AAI-Dienst hergestellt. Weitere Informationen" } , { "title" : "Super-fast AI Computing System for HAICORE", "url" : "/news/2020/07/08/haicore-kit/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2020-07-08 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "A super-fast computer system dedicated to Helmholtz artificial intelligence (AI) research has been installed at KIT. This is the first location in Europe to put the InfiniBand connected NVIDIA DGX A100 AI system into operation, funded from the Helmholtz AI Computing Resources Initiative (HAICORE). Common access to these capacities is established using the AAI service offered by HIFIS. Read more" } , { "title" : "Guidelines for Collaborative Notetaking", "url" : "/guidelines/2020/06/26/guidelines-for-collaborative-notetaking/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2020-06-26 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "ScopeWere talking about CodiMD, HackMD, Google Docs, Office365,OnlyOffice, Dropbox Paper, Polynote, Quip, Notejoy, ShareLaTeX,Overleaf and other services supporting note-taking and working at documentsin one place together with remote team members either at the same time orasynchronously.TaskYoure responsible for leading a group of people who work distributed in ateam - or you support someone who is. Before or after various occasions suchas meetings and presentations, the event requires agendas, meeting minutes,notes, document drafts or even complete and final documents to enabletransparency, simplify decision-making and increase the performance of yourteam.SituationYou are going to run an in-person meeting or more likely a conference call.You need to keep the get-together on track with an agenda and you need to keepa record of reported states, discussed issues, agreements and decisions,upcoming tasks and other results.ChallengeYou are the one in charge of taking the notes - quick and precise, withadditions from, and the consent of, all participants - and you are in charge ofmaking actionable notes available for everyone immediately after the meeting.However, being in charge does not mean that you have to work out the notes alone.Instead, all participants are invited - or better even, obliged - to not onlyfollow the note taking directly but also to contribute when misunderstandings,misinterpretations, delays in record keeping and other obstacles hinder thesuccess of a joint meeting.ApproachSet up a document in advance which is accessible for all participants.It should contain the agenda with references to the relevant material.This includes information on collaborative note-taking, how to prepare andwhat is expected from the participants by providing a set of rules for thenote-taking process.Additionally, reserve a time slot in the beginning of the conference to makesure to get everyone on board and communicate who is in charge of the final notes,or at least of curating the collaborative notes.OptionsBelow are a few suggestions that might make it into the set of rules for yourteam to make everyone feel comfortable and more productive during a meetingwhile collaboratively taking notes or while collaboratively writing a documenttogether. Select a tool meeting your needsWhen selecting a web-based tool for collaborative note-taking offered by acloud service provider you should know the expectations of the meetingparticipants, collaborators and other stakeholders, especially in terms of thelook and feel, the functionalities, and their suitability in the intendedworkflow.Furthermore, security - including authentication and authorization - as wellas data protection are non-functional requirements one should have in mindwhen sensitive content or personal data will be stored in these documents. Set-up the document in advanceBefore the meeting, prepare the document to be used for collaborative note-taking:include the intended agenda with topics, times and timeframes as well asresponsibilities and expected results. If required, refer to related documentsand other sources to allow preparation for the participants in advance and tohave everything at hand.Leave space close to each agenda item thus indicating the place to facilitateinline note-taking in the agenda so that the document automatically becomes themeeting minutes with contributions from everyone attending the meeting. Set-up a reusable templateIf the prepared document has worked in the meeting, consider the creation of atemplate to allow an efficient preparation for regular meetings. Allow access and share the documentDepending on the options of the cloud service provider for giving othersaccess to the document, you may set different access levels, e.g., fullediting, tracked editing, commenting, or read-access only.You might give access to the public, or to specific individuals who need tohave an account with the service provider. While giving access to specificpeople protects the document from access by others, publicly accessibledocuments can be factually protected by sharing the URL address of thedocument with specific people only.However, even if a long and cryptic string within the URL offers limitedprotection, public documents can still be found by chance or on purposethrough URL guessing with automated requests.So, in any case, remind participants not to share further the URL in case ofconfidential or sensitive content, or do not allow access to the public andgive individual access permissions, if possible. Make yourself comfortable with the note-taking toolOnce you have access to a document used for collaborative note-taking, openit and explore the behaviour of and functions available in the tool with thepermissions given to you. Make yourself comfortable with the note-taking itselfEffective note-taking requires effort and simultaneous interaction with the notes.Stay focused during the meeting, pay close attention and actively participate.This helps optimize the results from the meeting.So make yourself comfortable with each of the note-taking phases - they allrequire a different behaviour of individuals and the group of collaboratorsin certain stages of a meeting and of the note-taking. Double-check information about youCheck if your name and your affiliation are entered correctly in therespective field so that the host and others know who you are, can addressyou by name, and identify your contributions and comments in the document. Introduce the note-taking processCollaborative note-taking requires a certain amount of discipline.Everyone should be aware of the intended process for taking notes together.So a quick recap of rules in the beginning of a meeting helps everyone tocontribute to the note-taking process. This includes to name the responsibleperson, ask everyone else to contribute, and outline how to contribute byrepeating the relevant rules from this list. Take notes, contribute and followIf you dont speak, either listen and take notes in your own words toparaphrase what you understand, or, if you dont write, follow other peoplesnotes, review them, and comment them according to how you have understoodthe subject matter. Provide immediate feedback and clarify discrepanciesWhen you identify different understandings while taking notes together withothers, then dont feel shy and speak up to clarify them directly in themeeting and keep track of the clarified understanding in the notes immediately.Speaking up could mean adding a comment in the notes to be taken up bythe host or other participants to clarify. Also, take up comments of othersand clarify different views, either by correcting, e.g. typos or misspellings,by commenting, or by chatting in the note-taking tool, or - if this doesntsolve a different understanding - by initiating a short discussion directlyin the meeting. Ask information and questions for further discussionIf necessary, add further information not yet discussed or add questions to bediscussed so that these information can be taken up by the host in the furtherdiscussion of the meeting. Stay structured and organizedTake notes for important, relevant, and non-trivial information, fordecisions, for tasks, upcoming events and anything else that will be of anyhelp personally for you at a later point of time thus allowing you to retraceand understand what was reported, discussed, and decided - and why.Write in phrases, not complete sentences, use bullet points and lists wherepossible, and develop a consistent system of abbreviations and symbolstogether with the others to save time as you take notes. Earmark and highlight take-home messagesThe use of key words and colours are options to label and emphasize specificitems that are important for the group and easy to spot throughout the document.Often this is group-specific and must be negotiated within a team beforehand,so that everyone deals with it in the same way.Take cues to apply labels, e.g. task, todo or decision, keep priorities,e.g. important or postpone, define deadlines, e.g. by giving dates,define responsibilities, e.g. by naming persons, and use highlighters and colours,e.g. to indicate key ideas, changes in concepts or links between information.Use these earmarks and highlights at the end of the meeting to go through andwrap-up the important take-home messages. If necessary, allow for some timeto work on the notes or discuss them again in the meeting until all agreewith the notes which represent your results. Finalise the notesReserve time to finish the notes immediately after the conference call orin-person meeting when discussions, results and other things said can beremembered more easily.Finish bullet points that may have been left incomplete or misleading.Order items if necessary. Double-check wording, spelling and grammar. Share the notes and ask for correctionsFinally, share the polished version of the document with all participantsproviding a fixed time frame for possible feedback, corrections, and comments.Provide a clear procedure for adding changes and comments so that they can betraced subsequently. Accept final contributions, freeze and share the documentIntegrate subsequently provided feedback, corrections, and comments, finalisethe document, and make the final version available for the target group afterfreezing the document so that no changes can be applied further on.Freezing a document can be realised by creating a separate PDF version of thedocument and integrating an appropriate comment or reference to the finalversion in the original note-taking document.In any case and if possible, freezing a document should additionally berealised by withdrawing permissions for editing the original document in theweb-based tool for collaborative note-taking offered by the cloud service provider. These recommendations have been created in collaboration withStephan Druskat (DLR), Bernadette Fritzsch (AWI), Maryna Bondarava (HMGU) andThomas Schnicke (UFZ). Comments or Suggestions? Feel free to contact us. " } , { "title" : "Coding, Cookies, COVID-19", "url" : "/report/2020/06/11/HackyHour/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Hacky Hour", "date" : "2020-06-11 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "What the hack is a Hacky Hour?There are different answers to this question. An excellent one was provided by Amanda Miotto.We were forced by current events to find another.In the original idea, a Hacky Hour is an informal meet-up for scientists to discuss research software and tools.It also serves to get answers to technical questions in a cozy caf-like environment.Inspired by this, a similar event was being planned within HIFIS. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic we needed to adapt this concept a little bit.Instead of a face-to-face get-together with cookies and coffee (or tea), we set-up a virtual meeting via Jitsi. But when one door closes, another door opens: This virtual format allowed us to bring together researchers from different Helmholtz centers in a joint meet-up. The HIFIS Hacky Hour was born.Why did we need a Hacky Hour?Most areas of software development build on a strong community, for example FOSS or forums like Stack Overflow.Within the Helmholtz Association, however, opportunities to exchange experience with other researchers and research software engineers about software related topics are rather rare.In particular in view of the current home office situation, we had the feeling that there was an increased need for sharing ideas, socializing, and support with individual software projects.To fill this gap and to improve the situation, we adapted the Hacky Hour idea and organized a (bi-)weekly virtual meeting.How exactly did we organize the Hacky Hour?Previous attempts to establish one quickly evolved into a mini-lecture-series. This approach died off rather quickly.But the idea of a Hacky Hour survived.In this earlier approach certain topics (chosen by the organizers) did not raise much interest, so we tried a more community-driven approach: While the first topic ideas were suggested by us and a random one was picked for the first meeting, in the following sessions possible topics were collected in a CodiMD-like pad. In this pad, participants could add their topic suggestions and vote for the next topic at the end of each Hacky Hour. The upcoming topic was chosen by the last meetings participants (or randomly if there was no vote), ensuring that people were interested in the next sessions topic. We then came together to discuss the topic and tried to answer questions that were raised by participants as a hive mind. By engaging participants in answering questions and in the planning of the next session, we try to avoid a simple helpdesk-situation.First impressionsWhen we set up the first meeting rather spontaneously taking an impromptu approach, we had no expectations (or practical experience) at all. It was reasoned that if nobody showed up, it would not have been a big waste of effort. All we had to do was setting up a virtual meeting room and e-mailing invitations to thousands of researchers (which is currently pretty cheap and time efficient).And surprise: Of about 1500 e-mail recipients nine persons (whoa - an unexpectedly great response!) showed up for the first meeting to discuss the topic Public Money Public Code." } , { "title" : "HIFIS im EGI Newsletter", "url" : "/de/news/2020/06/08/hifis-in-the-egi-newsletter/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2020-06-08 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Helmholtz Federated IT Services - Promoting IT based science at all levels,so lautet der Titel unseres Artikels, der im Newsletter unserer Freunde von derEGI-Foundation erschienen ist.In dem EGI-Newsletter geben wir einen berblick ber die neue HIFIS-Plattform. Weiterlesen" } , { "title" : "HIFIS in the EGI newsletters", "url" : "/news/2020/06/08/hifis-in-the-egi-newsletter/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2020-06-08 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Helmholtz Federated IT Services - Promoting IT based science at all levels,is the title of our article that appeared in the newsletter of our friends from the EGI Federation. In the EGI Newsletters, we give an overview of thenew HIFIS platform. Read more" } , { "title" : "HIFIS Software Helpdesk launched", "url" : "/announcement/2020/06/01/helpdesk-launch/", "category" : "", "tags" : "General, Support", "date" : "2020-06-01 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "We are happy to announce the launch of the HIFIS Software Helpdesk - the place whereyour user requests for HIFIS Software Services are handled by our distributedteam.The helpdesk solution is based on the open source helpdesk/customersupport system Zammad. You need more support for your scientific software project? You have software related questions you want answered? You are looking for a specific workshop? You cant find exactly what youre looking for?Let us know and create a ticket in our shiny new helpdesk orsend an email to support@hifis.net, which willresult in the same.Tickets arent sent to one individual person, but to the whole team.They are then forwarded to the most relevant expert and will stay open untilthey are resolved.Do I need to create an account for the helpdesk?No, since the helpdesk is registered within the Helmholtz Authentication andAuthorization Infrastructure (AAI) you can simply sign in using your personalaccess data of your home institution or even your personal GitHubaccount.All you have to do is to use the respective login button for the HelmholtzAAI sign-in method on the login page." } , { "title" : "HIFIS Scientific Advisory Board: First Feedback Report", "url" : "/news/2020/05/27/sab-summary/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2020-05-27 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "First SAB reportIn April 2020, the HIFIS Scientific Advisory Board gathered in a video conference to discuss the progress of HIFIS and provide advice. Comments and suggestions were compiled in a comprehensive report.SummaryThe Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of the newly established platform Helmholtz Federated IT Services (HIFIS) held its constitutive meeting as a virtual conference on April 29, 2020. The HIFIS annual platform report 2019 and platform proposal were provided beforehand, as well as presentation slides and materials on the cloud service selection after the meeting.During the meeting, Helmholtz representatives and HIFIS members held presentations providing insight on ambitions and actual progress of HIFIS in the context of Helmholtz and the European research landscape. These presentations interchanged with open discussion sessions of all participants. Minutes of the discussion have been provided to the SAB members a few days after the meeting.The SAB members were given additional opportunity to provide written feedback within approx. oneweek after the meeting, allowing to assemble this collective feedback report. There were many positive comments and reactions in regard to HIFIS and its progress.Specific points to highlight Positioning of HIFIS as a platform, not a project. The presentations were refreshing in that they were from a scientific users perspective and not overly focused on technical specifications. HIFIS has a flexible architecture that anticipates specific systems being integrated and also decommissioned or replaced. The emphasis is on building a sustainable resource that works well for researchers. This perspective and positioning should continue, although some experts would enjoy additional specifications for review. Integration with other platforms. HIFISs utility grows exponentially as it is integrated withother scientific platforms. This work is necessary, needed, and should be prioritized. Integration into the proposal process. Related to the point above, it is recommended thatHIFIS will be given improved visibility and insight in the proposal process of Helmholtz platform projects they hope to integrate with. The benefits of coordination and early knowledge can reap numerous benefits. For example, even without requiring new work, the HIFIS team could factor in the technology and data choices of funded projects on the AI andimaging platforms, so HIFIS is better aligned to serve or integrate in later. Collaboration with international initiatives. Both HIFIS as a groundbreaking platform and the Helmholtz Association have much to share with the international scientific community. As well, by connecting with international initiatives, especially European ones, HIFIS may find other work to build upon, that will increase capacity for additional work. Specific feedback given by six experts from the SAB are given in full detail in the following sections.Full ReportSpecific feedback given by six experts from the SAB are given in full detail in the full report.Changelog 2023-07-11: Updated link to report" } , { "title" : "Guidelines for Video Conferencing", "url" : "/guidelines/2020/05/15/guidelines-for-video-conferencing/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2020-05-15 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "ScopeWere talking about DFNconf, Skype, Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams,Cisco WebEx, Adobe Connect, Zoom, Jitsi Meet, BlueJeans,GoToMeeting, StarLeaf, Lifesize, Fuze and other services that you mayhave heard of supporting online meetings.TaskYoure either responsible for a team, a project, or any other measure - or yousupport someone who is.Regular and extraordinary meetings with the persons involved are part of yourmanagerial routine to lead a group of individuals distributed across space andtime.SituationYou are going to run a conference call with remote team members to get or keepthings going - either by phone, or more likely, with a digital tool for videoconferencing.Some participants may be in a hurry, may have other burning issues to takecare of, or may have experience with unsatisfying virtual meetings.However, everyone has to coordinate with each other.ChallengeYou are the one in charge of making this call a success by means of thateveryone is happy with a smooth performance of the call itself and issatisfied with the outcome, preferably actionable results having a practicalvalue.Using a video conferencing tool shall not hamper an effective meeting andshould be used to make the virtual get-together as efficient as possible whenparticipants are not at the same place.ApproachWhen you set-up an agenda, refer to a netiquette and best practices that coversa set of rules to make you and your team/group/colleagues feel comfortable andenable a productive environment in the meeting.OptionsBelow are a few suggestions that might make it into the set of your rules tomake you feel comfortable in a virtual meeting, and the others too.Equipment Use a headset or at least headphones or external speakers made for conferencingUsing speakers close to your ears or speakers that are made for conferencingavoid feedback of spoken words. Use an external microphone or an external camera paired with a room microphoneInternal microphones and internal cameras, especially of older computers,might be no fun for the other participants due to a limited quality ofrecorded sound and video signals. Use a modern computer or mobile deviceConferences tools, especially those supporting video, require hardware supportthat often is underestimated.Computers and mobile devices with modern technology are capable of handlingmodern video conferences.Older devices may lead to problems sooner or later. Connection Use a high-speed Internet connectionPreferably use a wired connection, stay close to a wifi device, or find afixed place with a reliable mobile network.Avoid low-bandwidth connections shared with others streaming Netflix,downloading files or video chatting at the same time. Close your VPN connectionVPN connections route your communication through an additional transmissionnode becoming a potential bottleneck when everyone is doing the same.Disconnecting from VPN and similar connections reduces the risk of aslowed down internet connection. Shut down any other programs connected to the networkNormally many other tools run in the background that might interfere withthe bandwidth necessary to participate in a high-quality video conference.So whenever you experience problems with the connection consider this optiontoo. Stop other devices streaming music or moviesTools on other devices may hamper your bandwidth, too,when in use at the same time.So close apps and programs for the time of the video conference even ifyour kids dont like it. Conferencing tool Use an up-to-date browser or applicationMake sure to use a browser supported by the provider of the conferencingservice and double-check that updates are not too far behind.Installing the application offered by the service provider may help,too, to stay up-to-date. Third party tools are an option but need a closer look since some of themmiss the required maintenance. Make yourself comfortable with the conferencing softwareWhether used in a browser or as an application, the conference tool of choicemight have a huge range of functionality, a very own behaviour, andmany settings. This needs to be understood.So make yourself comfortable in advance to understand the behaviour andturn-on/off functionality on-demand. Master relevant settings of your operating systemConference tools offer lots of functionality and configurations.However, some of the important ones are anchored in operating systems suchas Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X or a Linux distribution. Specifically,enabling and calibrating your microphone and speakers with the tools of youroperating system should become routine shortly before a virtual meeting.A quick double-check testing the input level and volume might help to spotproblems, too, e.g. caused by blocking bluetooth connections. Location Find a great location and working placeUse, and reserve if necessary, a quiet location instead of a busy caf,the public transit, or the canteen.It helps you to stay focused, to keep unexpected disturbances out of theconference call, and to comfortably make use of working devices so thatfollowing media presented and working at documents either alone orcollaboratively is fun. Prepare your locationClose the doors and preferably windows too keep traffic and constructionnoise, squeaky public transport and police sirens out of the conversation.Keep dogs and other pets out of your room to avoid unexpected disturbingsounds. Set-up your cameraPlace the camera close to the screen or at least ensure that you look at thecamera, not the screen, when talking.Provide space between your body and the background and reduce back-lightningby turning your computer and the conference equipment so youre side-litor front-lit. Pre-arrangements Send out an agenda in advanceSend a crisp agenda with topics, times and timeframes plus responsibilitiesand expected results and if required refer to related documents andother sources to allow preparation for the participants in advance andto have everything at hand in the video conference. Send dial-in informationSend dial-in details preferably together with the agenda.Sometimes it is needed to add alternatives to switch immediately in case ofanticipated connection errors.Have in mind that this information is used often by participants whencreating calendar entries. Send a reminderSend a reminder with dial-in details again in the morning or shortly beforethe conference call so that participants dont waste time searching ine-mails from days ago. The first minutes Open earlyOpen the conference room five to ten minutes before the virtual meetingactually starts, if you are the host. Enter earlyEnter the conference room a few minutes before the virtual meeting actuallystarts, if you are a participant, to test that your equipment works asexpected - its okay then to leave the scene, grab a coffee and show up intime again when the meeting finally starts. Say HiUnmute your microphone, switch-on video and say hello, your name andaffiliation when entering the conference room to test audio and video qualityand let the host and others know that you are here. Mute your microphoneMute your microphone after the welcome procedure and whenever you do not speak.It reduces disturbances either coming from a noise background environment orcoming from your keyboard while typing. Turn off your cameraKeep your camera turned on as long as you and the others feel comfortable.However, turning off the camera improves the audio quality considerably.Removing the video signal saves bandwidth which then is available for theaudio signal.Depending on the rules, turning on the camera might be understood also asholding up your hand and, therefore, is a sign that you have a comment orwant to say something at next. Look out for an additional text channelOpen the chat window of the conference room, have a look at it, and use ityourself to share important information, e.g. when problems with thecommunication occur or when locations to ressources have to be shared. Double-check information about youCheck if your name is entered correctly in the respective field so that thehost and others know who you are, have a help to address you by name,and identify your contributions either when talking or typing in attached. Stop playing with effectsConference tools offer options for visual and other effects that,unfortunately, consume computational resources that might be missingfor the call itself.Blurring the background in the video is a useful option but already has beenidentified as the root of lags in video and audio signals.So if not necessary do not use effects in a professional call. Chairing Introduce the rulesAfter saying Hi when starting the conference, the host shall iterate quicklythe selected conventions to follow, how to implement them in the conferencingtool, and ask if there are any questions.Participants take part in other video conferences, too, with slightlydifferent rules and different tools.So a quick recap helps all to run a smooth virtual meeting. Check participationThe host should quickly go through the participants list in the conferencetool by saying names and institutions so that everyone knows who isparticipating.Also name the persons and institutions missing to make everyone aware thatparticular discussions and decisions may miss relevant stakeholders.It also helps to keep these persons or groups up-to-date afterwards.Hosts should also ask the group if they missed naming someone eitherparticipating or being absent. Implement the rulesEveryone is invited to participate actively but the host is asked to chairthe virtual meeting and thus provides orientation similar to a paneldiscussion or an evening talk show.The host should name the one person who is up to speak next.Participants follow what is said and use the functionality of the conferencetool to signal that they have a comment or want to add something important,e.g. either by turning on their camera or by dropping a line in the chat.The host then picks up these hand signs, ensures a clear order who isnext, and thus steers an organized discussion in the context of the agenda. Participating Focus on the conferenceFollowing topics and discussions in a video conference is not that easy,especially when held in a different language than your mother tongue,when disturbed by a bad audio quality, and run for a longer time.Additionally, humans are fairly bad at multitasking.So give your full and undivided attention. Speak with normal toneSpeak as you normally do with someone sitting across.Modern computers have decent microphones.Theyre usually pretty good at picking up your voice,which means you dont have to shout at your camera for other people to hear you.Just speak normally, and as long as there isnt too much background noise,people will hear you. Toggle your microphone when neededUnmute your microphone when you want to say something and mute it again onceyou are finished, you may do the same with the camera,its okay to toggle both all the time. Turn off the cameraWhen experiencing audio problems then removing the video signal savesbandwidth that improves the overall audio quality.So turning off your camera and additionally turning off the received videosignal of others improves the audio quality considerably. These recommendations have been created in collaboration withTom Kwasnitschka (GEOMAR), Patrick Preuster (FZJ), Benjamin Rost (DZNE),Carsten Schirnick (GEOMAR), Mario Strefler (KIT) and Tobias Vogt (HZDR). Comments or Suggestions? Feel free to contact us. " } , { "title" : "Guidelines for Chatting", "url" : "/guidelines/2020/05/15/guidelines-for-chatting/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2020-05-15 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "ScopeWere talking about Slack, Mattermost, Matrix, Rocket Chat, Jabber,XMPP, ICQ, and other services supporting direct communication with remoteteam members either at the same time or asynchronously.TaskYoure responsible for leading a group of people who work distributed in a team.Besides email, chat can be a useful tool to coordinate your collaboration.SituationYou and your team cannot communicate directly with each other due to space ortime constraints.Therefore you want to give your team a possibility to exchange informationeasily and without problems.In order for this exchange to be goal-oriented and fruitful,a suitable tool and a set of rules must be discussed and set up.ChallengeEveryone is invited to participate actively while following rules that havebeen negotiated and agreed upon by all team members thus enabling a smoothcommunication and avoiding misunderstandings.ApproachWhenever you choose and set up a chat system you should as well implement anetiquette and best practices for you and your team members from the start.OptionsBelow are a few suggestions that might make it into the set of rules for yourteam to make everyone feel comfortable and more productive when using the chat. Define the purposeBe clear what can be communicated via chat in your team.Chat does not completely replace email, but helps sufficiently keeping youremail inbox organized and communication regarding specific issues or topicsbetter inline - with a chat tool.For example, do not share bits and pieces by email, use the chat instead. Propose chat roomsMake sure to create different chat rooms for different topics in case yourteam is involved in various activities and interests in different constellations.However, avoid cluttered communication, e.g. originating from too many chat rooms. Offer space for socializingBesides topical chat rooms, offer a town hall or campfire for off-topicconversations.Keep off-topic conversation appropriate for your professional setting andlimit the amount.Also use it to chat with only three or five of the team, e.g. to find a timeto meet and to avoid the creation of additional chat rooms in any combinationpossible.Other team members will appreciate it to see that their peers are alive evenif the chat isnt something they are directly involved in.You even may use it to send out a ping each morning to let others knowthat they are not alone. Foster direct chat communicationBeyond chat rooms with three or more team members you might foster directcommunication for asking and answering quick questions, sharing immediateinformation, getting in touch to arrange voice or video calls at a latertime, or clarifying and discussing facts in a lively back and forthcommunication without phoning each other. Define response times and urgencyClarify what the acceptable and expected response time is.A direct chat might be urgent in some cases whereas a chat room most likelyis not.So make clear statements and agreements on the response time to be expected -if there are any to be expected. Set a status messageInclude details in your chat profile you want others to see thus giving themmore information about what you are up to, where you are and whether youare available.It helps others to identify if you cannot reply quickly, e.g. when attendinga meeting, or if you are not available in person, e.g. when being inhome office.Also, be aware of the status messages of your peers. Respect the working methods of your peersend chats only to relevant people or to the relevant room.Use chats only for short conversations so you do not take too much time awayfrom the people on the other end. Dont be distracting -if a status message indicates that your peer is away or busy you maypostpone the communication or send an email instead.Also, take care to get not distracted by chats from your work you currentlyfocus at - find a routine to come around from time to time. Stay structured and organizedStay on topic and keep the conversation short.Send consolidated messages, avoid sending several messages in quick succession.Reply only to messages directed at you or reply if you are able to contributemeaningfully.Use threads to organize discussions by replying to a specific message,if possible. Be friendly and invitingStart with a short greeting or seek permission.Reply quickly or communicate that you cannot, e.g. by using a status message.End conversations with a short closing and a thank you, when appropriate. Be sensitiveBe particularly cautious about joking, humorous comments, and sharingpersonal information - things may come across differently than expectedwhen not talking in person.Also, never write anything you wouldnt say aloud. Be aware of the limitations of written communicationNever send bad news via chat or negative feedback.Do not use chat for emotionally loaded topics.A face-to-face communication or a talk in person includes nonverbal behaviors -e.g. the gestures and eye contact you make, your posture, and your toneand pitch of voice.These wordless signals cannot be given and received in a chat and limit thecommunication.Emojis were introduced to help in this regard for private chats but shouldbe used wisely in professional chat communications. Be mindful of spelling, formatting, and other mechanicsCheck your wording and spelling and possible mistakes produced by autocorrection.Be appropriate with emojis, all caps and exclamation marks.Be careful with abbreviations and communicate clearly - use enough words to makeyour message understandable to all chat participants and avoid slang. Use encryption for sensitive and personal informationKeep an eye on data privacy and protection.Never share sensitive or confidential information in unsecured chats orinfrastructure of which you are not sure it is operated within your legalconstraints, e.g. outside the EU.If there is a possibility that you share sensitive or personal informationvia chat - the probability is high if you do more than share cat videos -make sure that you use end-to-end encryption for your chat,or point-to-point, if it is a requirement that your infrastructureprovider can listen in.Many clients have plugins for encryption with PGP, for direct communicationbetween two users with OTR, or for group chat with OMEMO. Stick with other communication channelsIf communication started through a different channel than chat, stick with it!When changing communication channels in-between then a communication breaksapart and others will be lost.For example, dont change meeting times or venues in a chat, use the mediumoriginally used to set up the meeting. These recommendations have been created in collaboration withMaryna Bondarava (HMGU), Patrick Preuster (FZJ), Carsten Schirnick (GEOMAR) andMario Strefler (KIT). Comments or Suggestions? Feel free to contact us. " } , { "title" : "Experience Report: Machine Learning Hackathon at GFZ", "url" : "/report/2020/04/20/ML-hackathon/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Hackathon", "date" : "2020-04-20 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The Machine Learning (ML) Group of the GFZ was lucky that one of the last events that happened in person was our machine learning hackathon.It was held on March 5th, 2020 and organized by the ML Interest Group that formed at GFZ in 2019.The group mainly consists of researchers from different domain of Earth sciences, having common interests in ML state of the art techniques and tools.The hackathon idea came through a survey we conducted among its members.Okay, now you might be wondering how we set it up.Before I give you the details, I want you to keep in mind that it was our first time hosting a hackathon.We had a list of wishes: 1. We wanted it to be family friendly and flexible 2. Our members cover experience ranges from beginner to advanced, so we wanted to be inclusive of everyone 3. We also wanted the hackathon to be a one day event.Once we had clarified our wish list, we needed to focus on how to make it happen. Our goal was to find a set of interesting ML problems that benefit our participants and are still feasible to be addressed within the hackathons time-frame.So we approached participants to submit problems themselves. Keeping in mind our participants mixed experience levels from novices to experts, we then selected submitted challenges that were suitable to all of them.The first hackathon challenge was a shearing problem in tectonics given a time series dataset for seismic activities.The participants where free to explore the data as they wished.The second problem was about finding out if spectral satellite data can be used to understand soil composition.On the day of the hackaton, thirty participants joined us.The chosen problems were initially presented by participants who proposed them, then the remaining participants were given the chance to choose the problem that interested them. Afterwards, we organized three to six people each into a group to hack a solution of their choice.As the hackaton was intended to discuss, share ideas and come up with a solution, it was not a competitive environment.We experienced a friendly atmosphere where people freely discuss and even had pizzas and drinks.At the end of the day, all groups presented their results and also uploaded it to our GitLab group. It was great to see different approaches for a solution from different groups.One of the interesting outcomes was that people from different research domains found out that they are using similar methodology which opened up ways for future collaborations.This shows that such events can have a long term impact.I was happy to be part of such interesting and collaborative environment!Of course, we always aim to improve such events.For this purpose we are looking at participants feedback to take into account for our next event." } , { "title" : "Our First Online SWC Workshop", "url" : "/report/2020/04/17/online-swc-at-hzdr/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Workshop", "date" : "2020-04-17 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Contents Planning Phase Our Original Approach Switch to Online Role Call Instructor Host Helper The Workshop Team The Tools Indico GitLab HackMD Zoom IPython How it Went Issues Encountered Feedback, Reactions and Lessons Learned Acknowledgements Planning PhaseOur first own Software Carpentry workshop wassupposed to be a live event.We intended to take it easy, learn a few lessons and then build upon these.With these goals in mind we set out to plan an two-day workshop for the31st of March and the 1st of April 2020.In the beginning of March it became clear that the effects of the Covid-19pandemic would reach us long before this date.It was unanimously decided to switch the workshop to an online event instead ofcancelling it even though this would mean a lot of organizational work with anincreasingly tight deadline.Our Original ApproachAs it was expected to be a first experience for us as instructors, organizersand helpers, we advertised 25 workshop seats on the PhD mailing list ofour institute.To our complete surprise the event became booked out within the day.As a reaction we created a second event in our system to act as a waitinglist and to be worked off in follow-up workshops.The side effect was that we got a first glimpse of the huge demand for trainingopportunities by our scientific staff.Our initial plan was to split the first workshop day equally between theShell (the Bash to beprecise) and Git lessons and use the completesecond day for Python.We did however estimate that we might have to cut later episodes from theselessons, depending on the learners speed.Switch to OnlineWhen we decided to switch to an online event it was clear that there areadditional unknowns to be expected.For this reason we decided to reduce the number of participants for the firstiteration of the workshop to only 9 persons.As we had no prior experience with online teaching it seemed better to startwith a conservative amount of participants and increase the number in futureworkshops if everything went well.Therefore we set up a separate event in our system and transferred the plannedamount of participants over, based on the first-come-first-serve principle.The remaining participants will be enrolled with priority into a follow-upworkshop in April 2020.Additional time had to be spent on selecting and organizing a suitablevideo-conferencing system.An example setup. The second monitor proved very useful.Role CallWhile in the live-setting one instructor is supported by one or multiplehelpers, the online environment also demands one of the helpers toadditionally take on the role of the host.The roles can change from lesson to lesson since especially the instructor has ahigh cognitive load and may be subject to a strained voice after prolongedperiods of teaching.InstructorThe primary task of instructors is to lead the workshop.They present the content of the teaching material, determine the pace of theworkshop and coordinate with the hosts and helpers.Thus, it is especially important for them to familiarize with the workshopmaterials and manage the time required for teaching episodes, exercises andbreaks.HostRunning a workshop also requires to complete a lot of organizational side-tasksduring the event.The nature of these tasks changes significantly when switching from a live eventto an online workshop.Notably, video-conferencing tools tend to determine one person as host who hasthe full management rights for the event.To reduce the instructors workload, a seperate person fulfils the role of thehost who can take over these tasks during the session: Prepare and open breakout rooms Monitor the chat (together with the helpers) Keep an eye on the time Observe the participants reactions Organize quick polls for feedback or exercises Manage shared documents and insert exercise questions on demandIn general the host is less focused on the participants but on the instructorand helpers, taking note of the lesson progress and anticipating requiredorganizational actions.HelperHelpers are the backbone of a successful workshop.They monitor the participants and proactively interact with participants thathave questions, may fall behind or have technical issues.Questions may either be answered by helpers directly or be forwarded to theinstructor in an opportune moment if they are of more general concern.The Workshop TeamWe split our workshop into the three parts Shell, Git and Python betweenour three instructors.The two instructors who were not actively teaching, assumed the roles of hostand helper respectively.We further expanded our team by two helpers which allowed us torespond to questions without delay.The ToolsThe choice of tools significantly affects the organizational effort and workshopquality perceived by the participants.In the following our selected tools will be shortly introduced.IndicoWe employed our self-hosted Indico instanceas the event planning and registration tool.It proved to be a good choice to facilitate the registration procedure andallows to message selected (or all) event participants directly which turned outto be very useful when switching the workshops to the online version.One drawback was the limited capability to transfer registrations from one eventto another, which had to be done manually, since the provided export andimport features did not support a common data layout. Official Indico WebsiteGitLabIt appeared to be a good idea to extend the Git-lesson and also give a quicklook at GitLab as an example of a well-known web-based collaborative softwarelife-cycle tool.Thereby, the participants were able to apply their acquired Git knowledge tothe User-Interfaces of GitLab.As most of our participants were members of the HZDR and we also had thesufficient administrative rights to allow access for all other participants, wechose to use the institute-local GitLab instancefor this purpose.In future workshops with participants from other institutions we might switch togitlab.com for this exercise.It is worth mentioning that people who signed in via a third-party provider needto use an access-token when cloning via https.This can also be the case on gitlab.com and forces the organizers to plan sometime to get this set up for all affected participants.HackMDAmongst the many collaborative online editors that were availabe we choseHackMD for its plentiful characteristics: Ease-of-use Markdown formatting capabilities Code / syntax highlighting Side-by-side editing and previewEven though our participants had no previous experience with markdown documents,they quickly adopted its basics.Some exercises required the solutions to be put into code blocks or tables whichwere either copied and pasted from prepared examples or formatted by thehelpers. Official HackMD WebsiteZoomThe choice for a video-conferencing tool was probably the most importantdecision during the switching to online.We were already familiar with Zoom from the Carpentry instructor lessons and hadthe good fortune to be offered a share in a Zoom-Account by another member ofthe Carpentries for the purpose of holding workshops until we could organize ourown account.There was not enough time to get a BigBlueButton or Jitsi-instanceinstalled and evaluated properly.During the workshop we could make good use of the offered features andexperienced good video and audio quality.We prefixed the screen names of helpers and instructors with their respectiverole to make them easier to distinguish by name alone.In the light of rising security and data protection concerns regarding Zoom wecontinue to monitor the situation and keep exploring alternatives with the aimto offer the best possible workshop experience to our participants in aprivacy-friendly way.IPythonFor teaching the basics of Python we went with IPython.It offers syntax highlighting to aid the learner.Since it is an interpreter, the participants get instant feedback if the enteredline is valid python.The command-line based approach significantly reduces the amount of objects onthe screen and aids to focus the learners attention on the code itself.The tool comes with the standard installation of the Anaconda packages asrecommended in the setup instructions by the Carpentries.How it WentIt became clear early on that an online workshop progresses notably slowerin comparison to a live version.Due to the lack of non-verbal communication, it is more often required to assessthe learners progress and also, in the case of helpers, to interact with eachlearner individually.Sometimes communication can also be impeded by low quality audio transfersmaking it necessary to repeat parts of sentences or write things down in a chator shared document.We enjoyed a mostly stable connection with good quality and the participantswere very cooperative and disciplined, muting themselves if they did not wish tospeak.To encourage users to use the shared document and signal that they are allowedand expected to modify it, we included a warm-up exercise which asked theparticipants to note down their attendance together with a short statement aboutthemselves.What is your favourite cake? turned out to be a suitable icebreaker question.The first quarter of the second day was used for a quick recap of the Git andShell lessons, followed by the Git collaboration exercise with the aid of aGitLab repository.The Python part did not progress as fast as intended and led to the lessonsbeing compressed towards the end.Issues EncounteredOperating System DifferencesThe participants were, with one exception, using Windows.While this required some additional research effort for the helpers on someoccasions it kept the overall effort low, since participants could also helpeach other out if necessary.Particular issues, for example accomodating for the different line endingencodings, that would arise were also covered by the Carpentries lecturematerials and could thus quickly be solved.Handling More Challenging ProblemsTwo more complex issues could be solved by the host assigning the participant inquestion to a breakout room together with a helper.This way the lessons could progress for the unaffected participants and thebreakout room was joined back once the issues were resolved.From the experiences made we would reserve such procedures only for the mostdire of problems since the involved learners lose the connection to the workshopand may have trouble getting back on track.It is preferrable to try helping in the shared online environment first, toallow the other participants to either learn something new for themselves orcontribute on their own.Feedback, Reactions and Lessons LearnedThe post-workshop survey determined that the participants viewed the event in apositive light.Compared to the pre-workshop survey, most participants felt enabled to makefirst steps towards improving their workflows.A general consensus between participants and organizers alike was the need toplan more time for the workshop content as well as the demand for follow-upworkshops covering more advanced topics.As organizers we consider this first event a success and a good foundation uponwhich to build our future events.AcknowledgementsWe want to thank our instructors &nbsp; Steinbach, Peter &nbsp;Huste, Tobias &nbsp;Erxleben, Fredo and helpers &nbsp; Lokamani &nbsp;Hser, Christian for organizing and holding the workshop, as well as our participants forbeing awesome learners.Until next time!" } , { "title" : "S/MIME Signing Git Commits", "url" : "/tutorial/2020/04/15/smime-signing-git-commits/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Git, Version Control, Best Practice", "date" : "2020-04-15 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Git is cryptographically secure, but it is not foolproof. To verify that work taken from the internet is from a trusted source, Git provides a way to sign and verify work using X509 certificates. This guide will show you how to setup signing of Git commits for the operating system of your choice.Is Signing Git Commits Worth it?Every commit in a Git repository has an author, but this information is notverified by Git.This is how to configure your name and email address when startworking with Git:12$ git config --global user.name "John Doe"$ git config --global user.email "john.doe@hifis.net"It is easy to create commits that appear to be authored by someone else.The principle can be compared to the falsification of email senders.In an unsigned email you cannot be totally sure, that it was sent by theperson specified in the email header.Luckily, thanks to the DFN PKI infrastructure most Helmholtzcenters already offer their employees the option to request a personalcertificate.Starting with Git version 2.19 the signing and verification support wasextended to include support for S/MIME using X.509 certificates.The mechanism that might already be known to you from emails can now be usedfor Git commits as well.Signing Git commits is another valuable use case for these personalcertificates.If you do not have one yet, talk to the IT department of your institution toget information about the application process in your research center.How to Configure S/MIME Signing?Before being able to use S/MIME for Git commits or tags in your own work, someconfiguration is necessary.Luckily, the configuration only needs to be done once per device and useraccount.Parts of the setup procedure depend on the operating system of yourchoice.Please choose the right section that applies to you.Before we continue, please make sure that your Git version is 2.19.0 orlater.12$ git --versiongit version 2.26.0In case the installed version is older than 2.19.0 please follow theinstructions on the Git website.The installation of Git is beyond the scope of this tutorial.LinuxOn Linux we will use the tool gpgsm to enable S/MIME signing of Git commits. The tool can usually be installed via the package manager of yourdistribution.Debian based: 1$ sudo apt-get install gpgsm CentOS/RedHat Linux: 1$ yum install gnupg2-smime Fedora: 1$ dnf install gnupg2-smime Import your private key and certificate: 1 $ gpgsm --import &lt;filename&gt;.pfx/p12 Make sure that your key was imported properly: 123456789 $ gpgsm --list-keys ID: 0x12345678 Issuer: /CN=DFN-Verein Global Issuing CA/OU=DFN-PKI/O=Verein zur Foerderung eines Deutschen Forschungsnetzes e. V./C=DE Subject: /CN=Huste, Tobias/O=Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden - Rossendorf e. V./L=Dresden/ST=Sachsen/C=DE aka: t.huste@hzdr.de validity: 2019-10-07 10:47:08 through 2022-10-06 10:47:08 key type: 2048 bit RSA key usage: digitalSignature nonRepudiation keyEncipherment ext key usage: clientAuth (suggested), emailProtection (suggested) It might be necessary to also include the DFN chain. Therefore, execute these commands: 1 $ curl https://pki.pca.dfn.de/dfn-ca-global-g2/pub/cacert/chain.txt | gpgsm --import Note: Above command is specific for certificates issued by DFN-Verein Global Issuing CA. Configure Git to use your commit for signing. 123 $ export SIGNINGKEY=$( gpgsm --list-secret-keys | egrep '(key usage|ID)' | grep -B 1 digitalSignature | awk '/ID/ {print $2}' ) $ git config --global user.signingkey $SIGNINGKEY $ git config --global gpg.format x509 Windows and MacOS Install smimesign (MacOS) or smimesign (Windows) by following the instructions on the given page. Configure Git to use smimesign for all repositories: 12$ git config --global gpg.x509.program smimesign$ git config --global gpg.format x509 If you have already installed your private key and certificate to yoursystem, no further configuration is required for smimesign. Pleaseconfigure Git to use the same email address as supplied in your personalcertificate.Find you Git email address: 12$ git config --get user.emailjohn.doe@hifis.net List available signing identities: 1$ smimesign --list-keys Sign your Git tagsWhen creating a signed Git tag, all you need to do is to replace the -a flagby -s.1$ git tag -s v1.0 -m 'My first signed tag'To verify a signed tag, use git tag -v &lt;tag-name&gt;.12345678910$ git tag -v v1.0object ac4d8f716fcdaec5617a49caa850cfafec7e947ctype committag v1.0tagger Tobias Huste &lt;t.huste@hzdr.de&gt; 1586416623 +0200My first signed taggpgsm: Signature made 2020-04-09 07:17:03 using certificate ID 0xBBD386A3gpgsm: Good signature from "/CN=Huste, Tobias/O=Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden - Rossendorf e. V./L=Dresden/ST=Sachsen/C=DE"gpgsm: aka "t.huste@hzdr.de"Sign your Git commitsOnce you finished above configuration steps for the operating system of yourchoice, you can start signing your Git commits. All you need to do is to addthe -S flag to your git commit command:1$ git commit -S -m "Create my first signed commit"To see and verify the signatures, there is a --show-signature option to git log:123456789$ git log --show-signature -1commit ac4d8f716fcdaec5617a49caa850cfafec7e947c (HEAD -&gt; 138-blog-post-s-mime-signing-of-git-commits)gpgsm: Signature made 2020-04-09 06:26:53 using certificate ID 0xBBD386A3gpgsm: Good signature from "/CN=Huste, Tobias/O=Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden - Rossendorf e. V./L=Dresden/ST=Sachsen/C=DE"gpgsm: aka "t.huste@hzdr.de"Author: Tobias Huste &lt;t.huste@hzdr.de&gt;Date: Thu Mar 5 09:01:33 2020 +0100 WIP: Draft S/MIME blog postSigning all commits by default can be enabled by setting the configurationvariable commit.gpgsign to true:1$ git config --global commit.gpgsign trueSupport on GitHub and GitLab.comCurrently, both GitHub and GitLab.com officially support S/MIME.Both platforms display a green Verified button beneath a signed commit incase of a verified signature.Otherwise a button showing Unverified is displayed.For self-hosted GitLab instances at least version12.8.7is required.Verified S/MIME signature on Github.Verified S/MIME signature on GitLab.Updates2020-05-12We were notified that in some combinations of operating system and Git versionit is necessary to explicitly tell Git which program it should use for signing.To do this, set the configuration variable gpg.program explicitly as shownbelow.1$ git config --global gpg.program gpgsmThank you very much for notifying us! Contact us Do you have questions? Did one of the instructions stop working? Tell us, we want and we need your feedback! Write a mail to support@hifis.net or open an issue on GitLab. " } , { "title" : "HIFIS Software Workshops in 2020", "url" : "/news/2020/04/15/hifis-software-workshops-in-2020/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Research Software Engineering", "date" : "2020-04-15 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Several different software development trainings will be offered to researchers. Software Carpentry workshops introduce scientists to use- and powerfultools: Shell, Python and R for effective and reproducible scientificprogramming, and Git for version controlling your projects. Bring Your Own Script workshops(like on May 12th and 13th)will help you to make your code publication-ready:Regardless of your preferred programming language, we will advise you on allaspects of making your research software (re)usable for others,e.g. how to add a license. GitLab for Software Development in Teams introduces advanced GitLab features:GitLabs project management, collaboration and automation features will helpsoftware development teams to improve software quality and speed up theirrelease cycles.Join us onJune 9th and 10th!The HIFIS Software events page providesyour with more details and keeps you updated about future events.More specialized events outside this core curriculum like anIntroduction to Snakemake are being planned, so best keep an eye on that page!" } , { "title" : "Folding@Home and research on SARS-CoV-2", "url" : "/news/use-case/2020/04/09/hifis-support-folding-at-home/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2020-04-09 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The Helmholtz platform HIFIS, the HZDR and the Center for Advanced SystemsUnderstanding (CASUS) support the world-wide project Folding@Home indeveloping an antibody based therapy to prevent a respiratory infection bythe virus.For this, a significant portion of the high performance computing capacity isprovided to assist in computing protein structures of the Corona virus. Thedetailed knowledge of such structures is decisive to develop a successfultherapy.In a coordinated effort with the computing center of theHelmholtz-Zentrum Dresden - Rossendorf, free resources of the CASUS highperformance computer and the HZDR high performance computer Hemera are beingcombined.Interested? Comments and Suggestions?If you are interested, please do not hesitate to contact us: Contact us! Changelog 2022-04-11 Added headline picture and contact information." } , { "title" : "KIT supports distributed protein computing projects", "url" : "/news/2020/04/08/kit-supports-distributed-protein-computing-projects/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2020-04-08 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Since end of March, theGrid Computing Centre Karlsruheand theHPC systems of KITsupport the distributed computing projects Folding@Home and Rosetta@home,helping to improve the understanding of proteins, including those of SARS-CoV-2. Read more" } , { "title" : "JSC: HPC support for COVID-19 research", "url" : "/news/2020/03/13/jsc-hpc-support-for-covid-19-research/", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "date" : "2020-03-13 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The Jlich Supercomputing Center (JSC) offers computing time and support on its HPC facilities for research on the COVID-19 virus. Read more" } , { "title" : "Overview of HIFIS Workshops in 2020", "url" : "/announcement/2020/02/21/HIFIS-workshops-2020/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Workshop", "date" : "2020-02-21 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "As announced on our events page, we offer several differentsoftware development trainings to researchers. Software Carpentry workshops introduce scientists to use- and powerful tools: Shell, Python and R for effective and reproducible scientific programming, and Git for version controlling your projects. Our first such event is planned for March 31st and April 1st. Bring Your Own Script workshops (like on May 12th and 13th) will help you to make your code publication-ready: Regardless of your preferred programming language, we will advise you on all aspects of making your research software (re)usable for others, e.g. how to add a license. GitLab for Software Development in Teams introduces advanced GitLab features: GitLabs project management, collaboration and automation features will help software development teams to improve software quality and speed up their release cycles. Join us on June 9th and 10th! Each event page provides more details on the topics to be covered,possible prerequisites and registration instructions.Please find all those details on the individual event pages.More specialized events outside this core curriculum like an Introduction to Snakemake are being planned, so best keep an eye on that page!" } , { "title" : "The Software Policy Template", "url" : "/guidelines/2020/01/28/software-policy-template/", "category" : "", "tags" : "General", "date" : "2020-01-28 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "In a joint effort of the Task Group Research Software within thescope of Helmholtz Open Science asoftware policy template1 was created and published.This model policy should serve as a guideline and reusable template for thecreation of regulations for a sustainable use and development of researchsoftware in the individual Helmholtz centers.The template is accompanied by a position paper2 providingrecommendations for the implementation of these guidelines for the treatment ofresearch software at the Helmholtz centers.How Do These Guidelines Help Me as a Researcher?The processing of research data and the acquisition of scientific knowledgerequire the development and use of high-quality and sustainable softwaresolutions.It is clear that the verifiability and reproducibility of scientificresults can only be guaranteed if research software is treated underdefined conditions.Such software is to be considered a central and independent scientificproduct. It needs to be handled according to similar high-level standards thatis already applied for other scientific methods.The software policy template is here to help your research center to definestandards, guidelines, best practices as well as affirmative actions to givesustainable research software development the significance it deserves.At the same time it supports you by defining guidelines and rules that you canrely upon.It also aids in promoting the use of software development best practices byproviding you with the appreciation you deserve.How Will HIFIS Support the Implementation of This Template?HIFIS will provide practical information for you, as a researcher, on how toimplement the requirements in your research projects.At the same time, the educational program will also be aligned with therequirements defined in this template.HIFIS would also be happy to guide the individual centers in transforming thetemplate into local guidelines.Referenced Documents The Software Policy Template; 10.2312/os.helmholtz.007 (currently only available in German)&#8617; The position paper Recommendations for the Implementation of Guidelines for the Treatment of Research Software at the Helmholtz Centres; 10.2312/os.helmholtz.008 (currently only available in German)&#8617; " } , { "title" : "Contributing in 4 Simple Steps", "url" : "/tutorial/2020/01/07/contributing-in-4-simple-steps/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Example, Markdown", "date" : "2020-01-07 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "What This Guide will (not) CoverThis tutorial will teach you a quick way to get a basic blog post set up andpublished on hifis.net.If you plan to write something bigger that might take several days to write upand refine, Christians Guide is the better choice for you.The guide will not go into the details of fancy formatting and styling,however you might want to check the Template Blog Post forexamples of common blogging tasks.Additionally, the Kramdown Quick Reference may prove helpful.Okay, enough chit-chat, lets write a blog post!Step 1: Create an IssueBy opening an issue you let the core team know what you are planning(which is a nice thing to do).It helps to gather the important information right from the start.Open a new issue on the HZDR Gitlab nowFill out the information as requested in the123&gt;&gt;&gt; Quotation blocks&gt;&gt;&gt;There is no need to set anything else, so you may now click the Submit Issuebutton.You will get redirected to the issue page that was just set up.Here you can lead a discussion with other contributors and the core team aboutyour ideas or ask questions you have beforehand.It might be a good idea to bookmark it for later reference.Also note that your new issue has been assigned a unique issue number toidentify it.On this issue page you will find the Create merge request button.Click it to continue to the next step.Step 2: Set up the BasisGitlab now has set up a merge request page for you and even moreimportant created a new branch for your issue. If you are not familiar with git think of a branch like your own versionof the project, where you can do whatever you like without worrying aboutbreaking anything on the live system.To avoid chaos and confusion, specific ordering and naming conventions have beenestablished, dictating which files go into which folders.For that purpose you can click the Open in Web IDE button on themerge request page.This Web IDE is like a small file browser and editor in one and all you needfor the rest of the tutorial.Everything in the Right PlaceYour blog post must be put into the folder /_posts/YYYY/MM/ where YYYYis the 4-digit year, MM is the 2-digit month (and later we need DD for the2-digit day).If this path does not fully exist, you should now create it. The dropdown-menu to create a new sub-folder becomes visible on hovering theparent folder. This is the folder in which your blog-post per se will be located.If you want to include images, formulas or external resources a bit more has tobe done.Please either refer to the Blog post template or ask@software-hifis-net for help in a comment on the merge request page. Files Within your (probably newly created) folder you now create a file with your blogpost.The file must be named after the pattern YYYY-MM-DD-title-slug.md whereYYYY, MM, DD is the same as above and the title-slug is surprise aslugified version of your blog post title. If you do not know, what slugification is, do not despair: There is anonline generator that can do that for you. For comparison, the full path of this blog post looks like this: 1/_posts/2020/01/2020-01-07-contributing-in-4-simple-steps.md FrontmatterWhen you select your newly created file in the Web IDE it will instantly open.Copy the following block into the first lines and replace the parts in brackets.The lines with a leading # are comments and can safely be removed.123456789101112131415161718---title: &lt;Your post title as it appears on the website&gt;date: &lt;Desired shown publication date as YYYY-MM-DD&gt;authors: - &lt;Your team member ID (usually the last name in lower case)&gt;# - &lt;Repeat for each author&gt;layout: blogposttitle_image: defaultcategories: - &lt;choose one of "blog", "announcement", "tutorial", "report"&gt;# You can come up with a new category if none of the above fits,# but please consult the team beforehandtags: - &lt;Short free text&gt;# - &lt;Repeat for each tag&gt;excerpt: &lt;One or two lines that serve as a preview text in the blog post overview&gt;---This chunk of text is called the frontmatter and helps our website backend torecognize the following text as a blog post and generate all the nice thingsaround it.Step 3: Add ContentLeave an empty line behind the frontmatter and then write to your heartscontent.While the gitlab Web IDE only highlights the vanilla Markdown syntax, ourblog system actually understands the far mightier Kramdown dialect, so you canuse everything in The Kramdown Quick Reference.Once you started to make changes the Commit button appears.If you click it, the view changes: The Unstaged Changes and Staged Changes appear on the left side A comparison view occupies the center and right side Making a commit on the WebIDE. Note the two clicks on the commit button. Your file appears in the unstaged changes. Double click it to move it to staged changes(Double clicking it again will move it back to unstaged changes). Click Commit once more and enter a meaningful message what your lastchanges were. Click Commit a final time.Your changes are now stored as a commit (think of it as a permanent checkpoint) on your branch in the repository.Side Notes If you want to continue editing (or abort making a commit), you can switchback to the editing view with the button on the far left side under theproject logo. The whole staging changes mechanic seems a bit excessive if there is onlyone file involved, but becomes a boon in more complex scenarios.You can abbreviate the process a bit by leaving out step 2.The button for step 3 then is called Stage &amp; Commit. Please end your document with one(!) empty line.It will not show up in the final result, but makes a lot of tools involved inthe review process very happy.Step 4: Get it ReviewedSo you finished your work, and now it is time for it to be presented to thewhole wide world.But wait! Have you missed anything? Is everything as it should be?To make sure, it is customary to have your blog post reviewed beforehand.You can start by going to the merge request page.The super-fast way of triggering the process is to simply leave thefollowing magic comment:1234@software-hifis-net: Review please./label ~"Progress::Can review"/assign @software-hifis-net /wipAdding Emojis for accelerated response time is optional.A core team member will get back to you and start looking into the matter.They might suggest changes and will help getting the visual appearance right.Your blog post will soon see the light of day.Well done!" } , { "title" : "Welcome to HIFIS Software", "url" : "/blog/2019/12/20/Welcome-Post/", "category" : "", "tags" : "General", "date" : "2019-12-20 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Welcome to HIFIS SoftwareWe are very happy to announce the initial release of software.hifis.net:The central platform for distributing information, promoting events andoffering tutorials and content concerning scientific software developmentwithin Helmholtz.Who are we?HIFIS or Helmholtz Federated IT Services is one of 5 platforms initiated bythe Helmholtz Incubator besides HIDA - the Helmholtz Information &amp; 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 environmentoffering information and communication technology services that are accessiblefrom anywhere.The platform also supports the development of high-quality, secure, and sustainableresearch 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 networkinfrastructure with uniform basic services and Us, the Software Services Cluster providing a platform, training, and supportfor high-quality, sustainable software development.Our mission is to empower scientists of any domain to implement and toperpetuate modern scientific software development principles in order to makeresearch software engineering more sustainable. Our core team is located in 5different 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 ResearchHave 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 actas 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 materialswill be announced there in early 2020.How to get involved?Distributing information about services offered, upcoming training events orbuilding Helmholtz-wide communities requires us to have you as amotivated contact person in your research center or research group who iswilling to help in communicating and spreading the word about sustainablesoftware 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 upcomingtrainings, events and services in 2020 and forward. Contact us Send a mail to support@hifis.net. " } , { "title" : "SWC workshop at GFZ-Potsdam", "url" : "/report/2019/12/11/SWC-Workshop-at-GFZ/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Workshop, Carpentries", "date" : "2019-12-11 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "The First WorkshopTLDRTaken from https://xkcd.com/1658/ and licensed under.In November 2019 the first HIFIS related Software Carpentry Workshop was held.How hard could it be?When I first took a look into The Carpentries,I thought: Organizing a workshop about stuff I know - how hard can it be?But because the whole The Carpentries idea was new to me, I wanted toget some more information.Luckily we had some previous workshops at the Telegrafenberg, so Ireached out to organizers and instructors of the previous ones.In summary they told me that it takes a lot of time to organize one and prepare properly.Okay if you say so I had no clue.My colleague and I started by finding a date and a room.Due to Christmas and the AGU conference we already realized that we had onlytwo months to do it. Everything seemed fine.We met with the people that organized the workshops before to learn from their experience and get advice.Even after that, we where pretty confident: thats a piece of cake.Oh wow, were we wrong: The possible instructors and helpers were volunteers1, have commitments and thus were partially available only. The decision which lessons to teach depend on the availablility of instructors, so the dates, and finally available rooms. However, even finding a room that works best took way longer than expected, and The joint agreement of the lessons to teach and how to share the work load wasnt straight forward.Finally, we started registrations around three weeks before the workshop began - which, surprisingly, has been quite enough time in advance since the workshop was overbooked within a few days.Fortunately we had about 35 registrations for 30 seats.Lessons, staff and attendees were set a week before the workshop PHEW!We expected issues cropping up days and hours before;They happend, but nothing to worry about.Somehow we maneuvered ourselfs pretty well in between the pitfalls.The only mentionable issue was, that quite a few registered people did notparticipate due to different reasons: Some of them canceled a few days and hours beforebecause of other short-term commitments and otherswere not able to submit a SINGLE slide to introduce themselves and their workin a 60 seconds lightning talk - which has been the ticket to particpate in the workshop.I have seen all the slides, and many of them looked like they spend less thanfive minutes to quickly throw together generic pictures and five words, whichwe expected and totally suited for the purpose of the slide.However, some researchers were not able to invest these five minutes for a freetwo-days workshop. Instead others, people from the waiting list, got the opportunity andgot the slides done on the same day they received the seat confirmation.On the Workshop ItselfIn general, it was a great experience for all of us - the organizers, instructors,helpers, and importantly the participants.The lessons went well, some timing issues occured, but summarised everything was more or lessas planned.From the feedback we got, the participants were happy and some of them eventhanked us afterwards because they learned what they needed.One thing that we want to do better next time is staff planning.This time, we were overstaffed with helpers. All the time we were at least two instructors,plus two organizers and additionally three helpers, which is what we had in mind for approx. 30 participants.Unfortunately there were 18 participants only in the end.So somemetimes it felt like the helpers were circling around the participants in the hope of occurring problems.First of all, the people rarely had issues, considering all the new softwareand things to learn.I am looking forward to our next workshop in April 2020! Thank you!&#8617; " } , { "title" : "How to Create a New Blog Post?", "url" : "/tutorial/2019/11/22/How-to-Create-a-new-Blog-Post/", "category" : "", "tags" : "StartBlogging, GuidedTour", "date" : "2019-11-22 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "TL;DRNice project web page, how can I contribute with my own blog post?This is what this blog post is about.I will explain the workflow of how to create a new blog post and thereby illustrate how to use the tools Git, GitLab and Jekyllfor these purposes.There are minimal requirements for a blogger to add a new blog postwhile a proper review process is still essential for the quality ofthe blog posts.So let us jump into it.Note:In case you are interested to know how to contribute to HIFIS Software web-page in general besides writing blog postsyou can find more information in the Contribution Guide[1].Tools explainedFirst, I would like to introduce three tools which are very helpfulif you are going to write a blog post.Version Control System GitGit[2]is a decentralized version control system which lets youstore all files of your project and all snapshots / versionsof your changes.It lets you track back the complete historywith your log messages given.Decentralized means the whole repository resides as a copy on yourlocal computer.Version Management Platform GitLabGitLab[3]provides you with user interfaces for several actions which can bedone on the remote server without downloading the whole repositoryonto your local computer.There is also an issue tracker included.On top, there is a full Web IDE available which also let you reviewchanges by your colleagues.Even if you are new to Git, the GitLab Web IDE offers an easy interface which can be employed for most of your Use Cases.There is no need to install Git, download the Git repository toyour local machine and set up your own IDEto contribute with your blog posts.Static Web Site Generator JekyllJekyll[4]is a static web site generator.You only write Markdown text files and Jekyll takes care of therest and generates a static web site containing only HTML and CSSaccording to your templates and layouts given.Workflow in a NutshellNow that we know more about the tools used, I would like to introducethe steps I took to create this blog post.You can stick to these steps if you are writing your own blog post: Share, discuss or pick a post idea Write and share your post The review process Your post is onlineBy agreeing to this process we put you into the position of afully authorized and equitable team member who is able to actuallyeasily contribute with your own work to this web page.On closer inspection, there are the following persuasive argumentsto use Git, GitLab and Jekyll: You can collaborate with different authors and reviewers using adecentralized version control system like Git. There is a full traceback and logging functionality included in Git. GitLab lets you review, discuss and improve what you write ina well thought-out review process called Merge Request. GitLab Web IDE is actually a surrogate for a local IDE withGit integration. GitLab CI Pipelines make sure and check that all is stillworking as expected. With Jekyll you just need to know very few syntactic markdownfeatures, there is no need to write your own HTML and CSS.Finally, to make a clear statement you dont end up in a mess with multiple versions ofa document floating around on local computers ofseveral contributors.Going into Details - a Step-by-step Guided Tour1. Share, Discuss or Pick a Post IdeaFirst of all, you need some sound ideas regarding the topic you wouldlike to blog about.Open a new issue in the GitLab UI.In order to do so, you need an account in GitLab of HZDR[5]and being added as member to the respective GitLab project.Opening an issue is explained in the GitLab Docs[6.It is essential to give it a comprehensive title and descriptionwhich reflects the basic idea of the topic.It is recommended to use the predefined Issue Template blog-postwhich guides you through the important questions that need to be answered in order to start a fruitful discussion.By doing so you let us know what you would like to write about.Assign this issue to the main blog author (which usually is yourself).If you use the template this will be done automatically for you.The images below show such a blog-post issue as well as the pre-defined description text and questions to answer.2. Write and Share your PostThe next step is to create a Feature Branch based on branch masterand give it a meaningful name like &lt;issue_number&gt;-&lt;branch_name&gt;.This can be done within the GitLab User-Interfaces[7].Navigate into this branch in GitLab and open GitLab Web IDE[8].GitLab Web IDE is the preferred tool to contribute if you areunfamiliar with Git.Notice the file system tree on the left hand side of the Web IDE UI.You can find a template for your blog post in folder _posts/&lt;year&gt;/&lt;month&gt;.The file name is 2019-10-29-Blog-Post-Template.md.Feel free to copy it, give it a name according to the patternYYYY-MM-DD-My-post-title.md, put your new file into folder _posts/&lt;year&gt;/&lt;month&gt;,and use it for your own purposes.The template explains the so called Frontmatter which containsvariables like title, date, authors, tags etc.Additionally, the most important markdown is explained by examplewithin the template as well.Of course you want to remove the explanations and examples except forthe Frontmatter at the top of your markdown file.Another helpful feature of the GitLab Web IDE is thePreview Markdown pane.You can check that everything you wrote is displayed as intended.Now you are ready to start writing your Markdown file following the specificsyntax of Markdown files[9].Once you are done with your editing you would like to stage and commityour changes [10] giving it a meaningful message explaining your changes.There is a blog post[11]about best practices for writing Git commit messages.The more verbose your messages are, the easier it is for othersto understand your changes.3. The Review ProcessAfter some effort and a few commits, let us assume your blog post is in a state where you consider it ready to see the light of day.What you want to do at this point is to open a Merge Request[12].GitLabs User-Interface lets you open Merge Requests[13].Give it a meaningful title and description and mention theoriginal issue as well (e.g. by stating Closes #&lt;issue_number&gt;. inthe description).Assign your Merge Request to one or multiple persons you wouldlike to review the blog post.This is an important quality gate.Do not rely on reviewing your own work.Please select at least one other reviewer.In order to make the review process as easy as possible GitLaboffers a feature called Review Apps to inspect your branch.This enables the blog post authors as well as reviewers to previewthe page in a test environment.As soon as your your branch is pushed onto the remoterepository and the GitLab CI Pipeline responsible fordeploying your branch finished successfully,you can inspect your latest deployments of your branchby clicking the button View app in the User-Interface of yourMerge Request.To access these pages you need to authenticate.The credentials are as follows:Username: hifis, Password: HIFISReview!.As soon as someone reviews your blog post, all comments on yourMerge Request appear as separate discussion threads which needto be resolved by the reviewers before they can actually merge your changes into branch master.This means that you first discuss and integrate the suggestions intoyour post as well as secondly add and commit changes to your branch.All opened discussion threads need to be resolved and closed manuallyin GitLab before the final merge can take place by the reviewer.Now, the reviewer finds a button Merge in that Merge Request inGitLab.This tells GitLab to integrate your changes into branch master.By clicking that button a GitLab CI (Continuous Integration) Pipeline[14]is started and makes checks whether Jekyll can still build thewhole project.In case all is fine, this is indicated by a success icon.If the original issue has been referenced by Closes #&lt;issue-number&gt;.the mentioned issue will be closed now.Likewise, if the corresponding checkbox Delete source branch when merge request is accepted. has been checked on creation of the Merge Request in the GitLab User-Interface the source branch will be deleted as well.Finally, the Merge Request will be closed and marked as merged.4. Your Post is OnlineNow your post is integrated and online. Well done!That was fairly easy. Wasnt it? You have all the advantages of Git, GitLab and Jekyll at your disposal for quickly creating markdown-based blog posts of the highest quality.If you are looking for a good Git tutorial I would like to suggestthe one from the Software Carpentry group[15].So what are the topics you would like to talk about today?Give it a try and let us know what your thoughts are whichyou would like to share with us.References [1] Contribution Guide [2] Git (Wikipedia) [3] GitLab (Wikipedia) [4] Jekyll (Wikipedia) [5] HZDR GitLab Instance [6] Managing GitLab Issues [7] Create a new Branch in GitLab [8] Open GitLab Web IDE [9] GitLab Markdown [10] Stage and Commit Changes in GitLab Web IDE [11] Best Practice of Git Commit Messages [12] Merge Request [13] Creating a Merge Request in GitLab [14] GitLab CI (Continuous Integration) Pipeline [15] Software Carpentry Git Lessons" } , { "title" : "Example Blog Post Template", "url" : "/tutorial/2019/10/29/Blog-Post-Features/", "category" : "", "tags" : "Example, Template, Markdown", "date" : "2019-10-29 00:00:00 +0000", "content" : "Blog Post MetadataThis post will give you an overview of all the features you can use in yourvery own HIFIS.net blog post.The FrontmatterAt the top of your blog post you need to enter the so called Jekyllfrontmatter which defines the meta-information about your blog post.Note that the frontmatter is placed at the very top of your markdown fileand begins and ends with ---.For example:123456789101112131415161718---title: A Sample Blog Post Titledate: 2019-12-31authors: - example_author_idlayout: blogposttitle_image: defaultexcerpt_separator: &lt;!--more--&gt;categories: - hifistags: - draftai-assistance: noneadditional_css: - my_own.cssadditional_js: - mathjax.js---Here is an overview over all the variables that can appear in your frontmatter: Variable Mandatory Default Value title Yes - date Yes - authors Yes - layout Yes blogpost title_image No default excerpt_separator No &lt;!--more--&gt; categories No - tags No - ai-assistance No - additional_css No - Variables Explained in DepthIf you do not want to set any of the optional variables it is safe to leavethem out completely.titleSet the title of the blog post.Prefer a short, on-point version, it has to fit in the pages header among otherthings.dateSet the publication date of the blog post.Please use a date format according to this example given:YYYY-MM-DD, e.g. 2019-10-29.authorsGive a list of author IDs in YAML syntax.You can find your author ID in the YAML-file _data/hifis_team.yml.If your name is not contained you can add it by editing the hifis_team.yml fileor opening an issue with the add team member template in GitLab.layoutSet the layout of the blog post.Usually it is not wanted to create and specify your own blog postlayout. In order to create your own styling we might want toprovide additional CSS via variable additional_css as stated below.title_imageSet the title_image to use.A good blog post will have an appealing title image.It is recommended to create a sub-folder of the images folder/assets/img/ per blog post which should be namedlike this: posts/2019-10-29-my-blog-post-name/.If you place your title_image there, providing the sub-folder andname of the image (with extension) will be sufficient.In this case you need to set the variable title_image accordingly,e.g. posts/2019-10-29-my-blog-post-name/my-title_image.png.You can also use the value default for the website defaultimage.If you omit the variable completely the background will fall back toHelmholtz-blue.excerpt_separatorSeparator to be used to indicate end of excerpt.categoriesSet list of categories for your blog post.The URL will contain these categories.To check which categories have been used so far, you can refer toused-categories.csv.tagsSet a list of tags for your blog post.To check which tags have been used so far, you can refer toused-tags.csv.ai-assistanceDeclare how much AI was involved in writing your post, choosingfrom: 100% Human: No AI tools used in writing or editing &gt; ai-assistance: none Proofread by AI: AI used for grammar and spelling only, using tools like DeepL Write. &gt; ai-assistance: light AI Co-Writing: AI used for rewriting, summarising or suggesting changes, using tools like BLABLADOR for brainstorming on specific parts of the human input. &gt; ai-assistance: moderate AI Formulated: The text and structure were primarily written by an AI tool like BLABLADOR, based on human-provided content, then reviewed and lightly edited by a human. &gt; ai-assistance: heavyThis will trigger the display of a self-declared AI usage badge.You can omit the variable completely if you dont want this.additional_cssYou can provide your own CSS file for your blog post.You can name a CSS-file which provides custom styling to be used within yourblog post.It is supposed to reside in assets/css/.Providing the file name (including extension) is enough.Blog Post Markdown ExamplesExcerpt SeparatorUse the excerpt separator stated in the frontmatter to provide a shortexcerpt of the blog post and cut off the remaining text in the blogpost on the overview / preview page of the blog posts:1234Excerpt text as a preview to the blog post. Please keep this shortand meaningful.&lt;!--more--&gt;Remaining text of the blog post. Go into details here.HeadlinesHeadlines and sub-headlines can be defined with leading hashes (#).123# This is a Headline## This is a Sub-Headline### This is a Sub-Sub-HeadlineList ItemsBullet points can be added by asterisks (*), while numberings are doneby a number followed by a dot (1.).Examples:1234* item one* item two1. first item2. second item item one item two first item second item Sub-lists can be achieved by indentation:123* item one* item two * sub-item one item one item two sub-item one Task ListsYou can define checkboxes by squared brackets, e.g.1234* [ ] First task list item* [X] Second task list item (checked)1. [ ] First numbered task list item2. [X] Second numbered task list item (checked) First task list item Second task list item (checked) First numbered task list item Second numbered task list item (checked) Font FormattingFor italic characters embed them in underscores(like this _my italic text_ which results in my italic text).For bold characters embed them in double asterisks(like this **my bold text** which results in my bold text).MathThere is syntax for inline math as well as math on separate lines.These are two examples:This is an inline math snippet $$ a^2+b^2=c^2 $$: &#92;(a^2+b^2=c^2&#92;)Math on a separate line can be implemented like this:12345678910111213141516$$&#92;begin{align*} &amp; &#92;phi(x,y) = &#92;phi &#92;left(&#92;sum_{i=1}^n x_ie_i, &#92;sum_{j=1}^n y_je_j &#92;right) = &#92;sum_{i=1}^n &#92;sum_{j=1}^n x_i y_j &#92;phi(e_i, e_j) = &#92;&#92; &amp; (x_1, &#92;ldots, x_n) &#92;left( &#92;begin{array}{ccc} &#92;phi(e_1, e_1) &amp; &#92;cdots &amp; &#92;phi(e_1, e_n) &#92;&#92; &#92;vdots &amp; &#92;ddots &amp; &#92;vdots &#92;&#92; &#92;phi(e_n, e_1) &amp; &#92;cdots &amp; &#92;phi(e_n, e_n) &#92;end{array} &#92;right) &#92;left( &#92;begin{array}{c} y_1 &#92;&#92; &#92;vdots &#92;&#92; y_n &#92;end{array} &#92;right)&#92;end{align*}$$&#92;[&#92;begin{align*} &amp; &#92;phi(x,y) = &#92;phi &#92;left(&#92;sum_{i=1}^n x_ie_i, &#92;sum_{j=1}^n y_je_j &#92;right) = &#92;sum_{i=1}^n &#92;sum_{j=1}^n x_i y_j &#92;phi(e_i, e_j) = &#92;&#92; &amp; (x_1, &#92;ldots, x_n) &#92;left( &#92;begin{array}{ccc} &#92;phi(e_1, e_1) &amp; &#92;cdots &amp; &#92;phi(e_1, e_n) &#92;&#92; &#92;vdots &amp; &#92;ddots &amp; &#92;vdots &#92;&#92; &#92;phi(e_n, e_1) &amp; &#92;cdots &amp; &#92;phi(e_n, e_n) &#92;end{array} &#92;right) &#92;left( &#92;begin{array}{c} y_1 &#92;&#92; &#92;vdots &#92;&#92; y_n &#92;end{array} &#92;right)&#92;end{align*}&#92;]QuotesUse block-quotes to highlight quotes like this:For one-line quotes put a greater than-sign (&gt;) infront of the quote:1&gt; This is a one-line quote. This is a one-line quote.For multi-line quotes put greater than-signs (&gt;) above andbelow the quote, one per qutation level:1234567&gt;This is a multi-line quote:Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr,sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magnaaliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua.&gt;&gt; There can be second level quotes.&gt; This is a multi-line quote:Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr,sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magnaaliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. There can be second level quotes. The same look is achieved with HTML blockquote tags.CodeUse inline code with single back-tics:1`$ apt-get update`$ apt-get updateUse three back-tics and specify the language (```shell)to mark code snippets on separate lines:123```shell$ apt-get update```1$ apt-get updateImagesImages can be included by stating URL, title and alternative textlike so:1![Alternative Image Text]({{ site.directory.images | relative_url }}HIFIS_Logo_cropped.svg "Image Title Text")Likewise to the title_image variable in the frontmatter it isrecommended to create a sub-folder of the images folder/assets/img/ per blog post.It should be named in the form posts/YYYY-MM-DD-my-blog-post-name/.If you consequently put your images into the sub-folder/assets/img/posts/2019-10-29-my-blog-post-name/,you need to provide the full relative path to these images using theJekyll Liquid variable site.directory.images.For example:{{ site.directory.images | relative_url }}posts/2019-10-29-my-blog-post-name/my-blog-post-image.png.LinksIf you would like to give a link for your references you need tospecify a link text, the URL as well as link title, e.g.1[Text for link to google.com](https://www.google.com "Link to Google!")Text for link to google.comTablesTables are a bit more complicated.You need to give headers for your columns embedded in pipe-characters(|), a separator row with dashes (-) and the cells with your contentembedded in pipe-characters (|) again:1234| column 1 | column 2 ||---|---|| row 1 | row 1 || row 2 | row 2 | column 1 column 2 row 1 row 1 row 2 row 2 Custom CSS Styles for ParagraphsTo add custom CSS classes to your paragraph put a colon followed by dot and CSSclass name in curly braces.You can use all classes from the bootstrap 4.0 framework, fontawesome-solid,your own classes provided by the additional_css variable and a couple ofcustom built-in CSS classes:summaryPuts a blue border around the paragraph.12{:.summary}This is text which appears in a box with blue border.This is text which appears in a box with blue border.treat-as-figureThis is a workaround for Markdowns shortcoming regarding figure environments.It styles text within the following paragraph as if it were an image caption.This is usually combined with an image, table or other figures.For the image URL you should use Jekyll Liquid variablessite.url and site.directory.images instead of hard-coding the URL.float-leftFloats the paragraph to the left side of the page and reduce its maximum widthto 30%. Useful for small images, it can be combined with treat-as-figure.Example:12345678My paragraph above image which is treated as normal text.{:.treat-as-figure}{:.float-left}My text above the image which is interpreted as caption.![Alternative Image Text]({{ site.directory.images | relative_url }}HIFIS_Logo_cropped.svg "Image Title Text")My paragraph below image which is treated as normal text My paragraph above image which is treated as normal text.My text above the image which is interpreted as caption.My paragraph below image which is treated as normal text. It flows around theimage. Even though this is a rather hackish approach to getting more advancedstyling into Markdown it is incredibly powerful and versatile, especially whencombined with custom CSS.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmodtempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. Atvero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren,no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sitamet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt utlabore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusamet justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimatasanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.ReferencesFor more detailed explanations of GitLab and Kramdown Markdown Syntaxtake a look here: GitLab Markdown Syntax Explained Kramdown Markup Syntax ExplainedChangelog 2025-10-20: Replace AI-generated with AI-formulated in ai-assistance 2025-07-17: Add ai-assistance variable and explanation, replace HIFIS Software with HIFIS.net 2025-07-11: Add link to list of used tags and categories" } , { } , { } , { } , { } , { } , { } , { } , { } , { } , { } , { } , { } , { } , { "title" : "HIFIS News June 2026", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/newsletter/2026-06/2026-06-HIFIS-Newsletter/", "date" : "", "content" : "HIFIS News June 2026Subscribe to HIFIS Newsletter /Unsubscribe /All NewslettersJune 2026 Dear HIFIS Community and Friends, While everyone is talking about AI integrations (and agents), we are actually getting our hands dirty with it.And yes, were doing it on our own infrastructure - on-site or within family (looking at you, Helmholtz Blablador). Open interfaces are key for seamless integration, and authenticated workflows are absolutely essential - because security and credibility matter (surprise!).Free software and tools are the baseline for keeping costs predictable and making sure the taxpayer money is actually well spent.To be clear: Free meaning free as in freedom, not in free beer; good software costs good money.The good news: The know-how and the basic technical infrastructure already exist in Helmholtz and HIFIS - so lets make them play nicely together.The bad news: No bad news today, sorry. Bridging real-world use cases - especially from the health sector - with these hyped shiny new technological developments will be a hot topic at our HIFIS &amp; Friends All-Hands Meeting, September 910, at DKFZ in Heidelberg.Plus, well also have our eyes on creating cross-center content on our brand-new E-Learning platform - blended learning included. If you havent signed up yet, wed love to have you registered here! Until then, happy reading! With best regards, The HIFIS Team &nbsp;News from HIFISNews from the Helmholtz PlatformsUpcoming eventsData Science Jobs at Helmholtz&nbsp;News from HIFIS Open Source for Tech Sovereignty Matrix, OpenProject, open edX: in this edition alone, youll encounter several open source projects that power services in the Helmholtz Cloud. This newsletter itself depends on more open source software than one could reasonably list. With the EU Tech Sovereignty Package now published and open source recognised as one of the pillars of European digital sovereignty, the topic is hard to miss these days. Read more &nbsp; Ready to Move to Matrix? More and more teams are starting chatting on Matrix. With Mattermost retiring on 15 July 2026, now is a good time to make the switch. Weve prepared migration guides and a new Archiver Plugin to help you move smoothly and preserve your chat history. Read more &nbsp; Vote for the next Helmholtz Cloud service What service should join the Helmholtz Cloud next? Browse our growing collection of service ideas, vote for the ones you need most, and suggest new ones. Your feedback helps us prioritise future services. Read more &nbsp; Contribute to TEACH VI The call for contributions for the 6th edition of TEACH (01-03 December 2026, Berlin) is now open!This years focus is on translating findings from the learning sciences into better training and education practices. Read more &nbsp; E-Learning Platform Open for Learners and Teachers Helmholtz Learn is now online. The first course, HIDAs AI Literacy Training, helps Helmholtz employees build practical AI competencies.This is only the beginning: we are looking for course creators to expand the learning offer across Helmholtz. Read more &nbsp; You Asked for It: OpenProject is Here OpenProject has been on the Helmholtz Cloud wish list for a long time, its now available to all Helmholtz and partners.Explore a flexible platform for project planning, collaboration and coordination across centers. Read more &nbsp; HIFIS is Now on LinkedIn Follow HIFIS on LinkedIn to stay up to date with community news. If you work for HIFIS, wed also appreciate it if you listed HIFIS on your profile and if youre a LinkedIn enthusiast, wed love your support in growing our presence. &nbsp;News from the Helmholtz Platforms HMC Project Call 2026 now open The HMC Project Call 2026 is open! Apply for funding for interdisciplinary projects in metadata, FAIR data and research data infrastructure. Want to learn more or find collaborators? Join our upcoming information event to explore the call, ask questions and connect with potential project partners. Apply &amp; join the info event &nbsp; Upcoming Events Jun 8 HAICON 2026 811 Jun 2026 &middot; Munich Happening now! &nbsp; Jun 15 Data Processing with Pandas and Visualization with Matplotlib 1517 Jun 2026 &middot; Online Registration is open! Deadline 10 Jun 2026. Seats available. &nbsp; Jun 23 Continuous Integration (CI) 2324 Jun 2026 &middot; Online Registration is open! Deadline 17 Jun 2026. Seats available. &nbsp; Sep 9 HIFIS All-hands 2026 910 Sep 2026 &middot; DKFZ Heidelberg Register and book your hotel. &nbsp; Sep 17 AGNTCon + MCPCon on Open agentic AI ecosystem 1718 Oct 2026 &middot; Amsterdam Early bird registration until 1 August. &nbsp; Sep 28 IT4Science-Days 2026 281 Oct 2026 &middot; GWDG Gttingen Call for abstracts open! Deadline: 30 June. Data Science Jobs at HelmholtzYou can find our compulsory informationand data privacy policy here.ImprintEditorial Responsibility:Sophie Servan, HIFIS Communication Officersupport@hifis.netHIFIS Coordination: Uwe Jandtuwe.jandt@desy.deDeutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESYNotkestrae 85D-22607 HamburgSubscribe to HIFIS Newsletter /Unsubscribe /All Newsletters" } , { "title" : "Contribution Guide", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/CONTRIBUTING/", "date" : "", "content" : "Contribution GuideThank you for considering contributing to the web-page of HIFIS.net! Source Code If you are only interested in contributing ablog post, please check out this page.Contribution Workflow1. Open an issue, share and discuss the topicYou will need to log in to the Helmholtz Codebase via Helmholtz ID in order to open an issue.2. Contribute your developmentsAs soon as you would like to get to work, contact our support team to request developer rights.Then create your own branch named according to the pattern&lt;issue-number&gt;-&lt;branch-name&gt;.To preview your changes, we recommend building and checking the site locally using bundle exec jekyll serve --future.If you plan to use jekyll frequently, consider creating an alias, e.g. bejs.To install jekyll for hifis.net, please refer to the repositorys README.3. The review process to improve your developmentsTo enter the review process, open aGitLab Merge Requestand assign it to your primary reviewer.You can preview the latest deployment of your branchby clicking the View app button in the user interface of your merge request.If you are connecting from outside a Helmholtz center,you will need to authenticate to access these pages.The credentials are as follows:Username: hifis, Password: HIFISReview!.4. Integrate your developmentsOnce all discussion threads have been resolved and the GitLab CI Pipeline has finished successfully, the primary reviewer can merge your branch intothe master branch.We very much appreciate your contribution.Specific Best PracticesCSSAvoid Magic ValuesValues that show up in CSS may carry a semantic meaning, e.g. colors of thecolor palette or device sizes.Use the provided SASS variables or named CSS values instead of hard-codingmagic values. Expand the set of variables, if required.Example:12345@import "colors"p { background-color: $color-helmholtz-blue; color: white;}instead of1234p { background-color: #005AA0; color: #fff;}See the _sass folder for definitions, grouped by context.HTMLWrite Comments in Liquid tagsPlease use Liquid comments in your HTML files to avoid them showing up in therendered version.Example:123&lt;html&gt; &lt;/html&gt;instead of&lt;html&gt; &lt;!-- This is an HTML comment. It will be preserved and show up in the rendered page, cluttering and bloating the delivered code. --&gt;&lt;/html&gt;Consistency in the Use of Tags and Categories for Blog PostsWhen contributing a blog post, we encourage you to review the existing tags andcategories to ensure consistency. In the posts index page, there is a feature allowingto filter posts by tags and categories, which is basic and doesnt recognisenear-duplicates or variants (e.g. different capitalisation or abbreviation).We maintain the list of all previously used tags and categories here: used-categories.csv used-tags.csvPlease refer to these lists to find the most suitable tags and categories foryour post. If you find that none of the existing tags or categories fit your post well,you may propose new ones. In this case please mention it in your merge request." } , { "title" : "Helmholtz Cloud - IT Services Build for Science", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/services/cloud/Helmholtz_cloud/", "date" : "", "content" : " Use Some of the Most Powerful Resources Available in Helmholtz. Access some of the most powerful resources available to Helmholtz, such as high performance computing facilities and ready-to-use software. These resources are available to anyone at Helmholtz and their collaboration partners. Note: You may not use the services for private or economic purposes as defined by EU state aid law (EU Beihilferecht). In case of questions regarding the classification as an economic activity, please ask your centres financial department. Get Started in Minutes. Sign in at Home and Collaborate Worldwide. Thanks to Helmholtz ID there's no need to come up with yet another password. The Helmholtz centre you're working at is already connected. Simply sign in through your home institution. Helmholtz ID is also connected to a large number of educational institutions all over the world, so your international research partners can do the same. This enables you to collaborate seamlessly. Browse Helmholtz Cloud Services How to login to Helmholtz Cloud Services - Click by Click Combine Services to Workflows by Service Orchestration. Helmholtz Cloud services support your daily work at every stage of the research process. Freely use and combine the services that best fit your needs. Learn more on composing Helmholtz Cloud Services to scientific workflows. Upcoming Services Would you like to have a look, which upcoming services are planned? Here is our Service Pipeline. Request for Services Our recruitment team is constantly on the lookout for new services to include in our portfolio! If you miss a service reach out to us at support@hifis.net. Also, if you are interested in seeing an existing service offered in a "pro" version, please do let us know as well. Hosted by Helmholtz All services that you find on the Helmholtz Cloud Portal are provided by a Helmholtz Centre. They follow the principles and regulations for the German scientific landscape. In addition, HIFIS has defined its Process Framework for Helmholtz Cloud Service Portfolio. Annual reviews of all services and the processes guarantee a consitently high quality standard. Queries, Comments and SuggestionsWe welcome your suggestions, tips and comments. They help us to become better. Please contact us at support@hifis.net." } , { "title" : "License", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/LICENSE/", "date" : "", "content" : "License InformationDifferent licenses apply for specific parts of the project.The full text of each license can be found in the location specified in the appropriate section of each document.This file gives an overview which license applies to which part of the project.ProprietaryThe following items are copyright protected. The Helmholtz logo The website corporate design The CorporateS and Hermann fonts by Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren e.V. Helmholtz Association of German Research CentresAll rights reserved.GNU GPL 3Source code posted on this website is licensed under GNU GPLv3 unless explicitly stated otherwise.License textMIT LicenseThe file normalize.css is provided by a third party and comes under MIT License. Please refer to the file itself for origin, version and license information.Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0Any content not listed above defaults to the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License unless explicitly stated otherwise." } , { "title" : "Meet Sam the Scientist! Chapter 2", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/newsletter/2022-10/raw/01-main-story/Sams-story-october/", "date" : "", "content" : "Sams Analysis ProjectDo you remember me from the last newsletter?Im Sam Scientist.When we last met, I was just starting my new research project.I collaborate with some colleagues: one is based at another Helmholtz centre, and we teamed up with two researchers outside the Helmholtz universe.Slowing down Data Analysis by HandIn the first weeks, we were pretty excited, like in the first week of a new semester at university.We set up new projects at the Helmholtz Codebase, renamed them once or twice and fleshed out the timetables from the proposal.Now, some routine has set in. In the meantime, my colleagues need to study some video material, which is quite tiresome.They take each frame and analyse it with ImageJ2.Some images contain all the exciting stuff, of which they take notes.However, many frames are in between stills and must be filtered out.Your eyes and brain get exhausted and bored over time.We discussed this approach in our weekly meeting: A quick estimate showed that this is using up too many resources overall.We need to find a way to do this faster to concentrate on the scientific outcomes.Speeding up with a Script but its old and faultyFrom my masters thesis, I have a program that could handle this task.Maybe I should revisit it and get it running.I could help out my co-workers.Its old code, and Im sure I never created enough documentation.I should have made it more understandable to my future Me.Yep. I just checked.Its awful, to be honest.But as I complained about my dilemma over a coffee,my supervisor pointed out that HIFIS offers not only cloud services but also consulting for research software projects,which is precisely what I need.I hadnt thought about contacting them because it sounds so big and serious,and my program feels relatively tiny and student-ish.Who are you gonna call? HIFIS Consulting!HIFIS Consulting offers free-of-charge consulting to research groups within Helmholtz.This happens through a defined process.For the first contact, they provide a short questionnaire, which asks for a quick introduction to the project and problem at hand, the Helmholtz affiliation and the accessibility of the code.After this introduction, the form gets into details, e.g. project status, field of research, and how many people will use and/or contribute to the project.This ensures the request is directed towards a consultant with knowledge and expertise in the required areas.After reassurance from my supervisor that my problem was within the scope of consulting, I filled out the request form and was amazed that it was done so quickly.I click Submit . Now I wait. A consultant will get in touch with me.The process is laid down in detail in the HIFIS Consulting Handbook.The website gives an overview of what will happen: Together with the consultant, I identify a plan of action to solve my issues.They offer ongoing support but might advise on tools or give a recommendation for special software.HIFIS also conducts training sessions, which I already learned when I sent my team to the GitLab course.In the numerous consultations, the consultants gather a lot of experience and share this information.A look at the awesome-rse list is therefore always worthwhile.Sneak View into the FutureSome weeks later: My code runs, and my colleagues are using it with good results. Cool!I might even showcase it in the Helmholtz Software Spotlights as I have cleaned it up.But for now, were still doing our research, but better: more efficient, more sustainable.We can concentrate on the detailed analysis of more complex and essential frames." } , { "title" : "Helmholtz ID", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/services/backbone/aai/", "date" : "", "content" : "" } , { "title" : "Backbone Services", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/services/backbone-overview/", "date" : "", "content" : "High-performance trusted network infrastructure with unified basic services. Helmholtz ID Seamless Access to Cloud Services for Helmholtz &amp; Friends. Helmholtz Backbone (VPN) A trusted Helmholtz network to securely route scientific data transfer between centres. HIFIS Transfer Service An FTS based large data transfer service connecting Helmholtz research. " } , { } , { } , { } , { } , { } , { "title" : "Cloud Services", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/services/cloud-overview/", "date" : "", "content" : "Power your research with the cloud build for science. Helmholtz Cloud - IT Services Build for Science Take your research project from proposal to publication with cloud-based tools. Combine Services to Workflows by Service Orchestration. Enhancing the composability of Helmholtz Cloud services to enable scientific workflow pipelines. HIFIS for Helmholtz Cloud Service Providers How to hand in new service to be offered in Helmholtz Cloud. Benefits for Helmholtz Cloud Service Providers By providing a service via the Helmholtz Cloud, you increase the value of your services and resources. " } , { "title" : "Communities", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/services/software/communities/", "date" : "", "content" : " HIFIS Software will build and foster communities to support the necessary cultural change in science when dealing with research software. We will build and run an exchange network between the Helmholtz centers and will also provide guidance on how to build communities of practice.HIFIS Community Services Helmholtz Software Spotlights The Helmholtz Software Spotlights is the public face of the Helmholtz Network for Research Software Engineering and shall become a unique place across all research fields presenting best in class software in different categories from all Helmholtz centres to the public and interested stakeholders in one place. Opening research software as a product of the scientific work and a backbone of modern science helps acquiring cooperation internationally, for future scientific endeavors with new partners, for the transfer of knowledge into society and industry, and for adoption of research result by the industry. The collection is intended to become a "flagship" of the Helmholtz Association for research software that appeals equally to research, citizens, industry and politics. Helmholtz Research Software Directory As software becomes more and more important within research, the more we see the need for a research software directory (RSD). We think, research software and Research Software Engineers will benefit from a RSD in several points. First, an RSD highlights research software as an equal research output to other publication types. Furthermore, a software directory will promote the importance of Research Software Engineers as integral part of the scientific community. Lastly, an RSD will support scientists and software engineers, to both discover and promote software relevant to their research topic. We are currently establishing a Helmholtz-wide RSD by building on top of the open source RSD by the netherlands eScience center. Active development has started in March 2022 in close collaboration with our dutch partners. Since July 2022, a preview version of the Helmholtz RSD is available under helmholtz.software. Society of Research Software Engineering As part of our community activities we are also active within the global RSE community. We share their vision of giving software a more dominant role within research and establishing research software as essential outcome of research activities. As part of our common activities, we participate regularly in community meetings or calls and co-organise RSE related events. So far we contributed to the following conferences: RDA DE 2022 deRSE22 deRSE19 SORSE Images by Katerina Limpitsouni via undraw.co" } , { "title" : "Helmholtz ID Concept", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/aai/concept/", "date" : "", "content" : "" } , { "title" : "Helmholtz Software Consulting", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/services/software/consulting/", "date" : "", "content" : " Free consulting for Helmholtz researchers Practical software engineering help, right where your research project is. Helmholtz supports researchers with focused, hands-on guidance to make research software more robust, sustainable, and easier to maintain. We meet you at your current maturity level and help you move forward. Request a consultation Join our office hour Free of charge Helmholtz-wide Confidential by default Our mission : Direct measures, big impact. We prioritize actionable recommendations and sustainable practices your team can maintain over time. Whether we support directly or connect you to the right people, we aim to keep every request moving. Open Office Hour Have a quick question about research software or software engineering? Join our open office hour every Tuesday, 11:00 - 12:00 (online). You can simply drop in, ask a question, and leave again. No preparation or registration required. Join the office hour on Zoom Where we can help Whether you are starting a new project or maintaining a mature codebase, we help you improve quality, reduce friction, and publish reliable results. We cover engineering good practices, deployment decisions, and sustainable publishing. Testing &amp; automation Test strategy, CI pipelines, reproducible workflows. Service deployment and orchestration Containerization, deployment patterns, APIs, and orchestration advice. Software design Architecture, modularization, and sustainable structure. Tooling &amp; workflows Git practices, issue management, templates, releases. Publishing &amp; FAIR Metadata, citations, and visibility for research software. Choice of appropriate licenses Guidance on selecting and applying open-source licenses. Technology choices Tool and stack recommendations tailored to your context. Code audits Targeted review for maintainability, risks, and improvements. What to expect After you submit your request, the consultant best suited to your needs will get back to you. Depending on the scope of your project, a single response or meeting may be enough, or it may lead to further exchanges over several weeks or months. Well help you with Scoped consultations that prioritize the most impactful next steps. Actionable recommendations tailored to your project context. Review of current practices with quick wins and longer-term improvements. Templates or training sessions when they help your team move faster. Guidance on publishing, sustainability, and appropriate licensing. Well point you elsewhere for Long-term ownership or full-time development for your software. Implementing features or taking over daily engineering work. 24/7 operations, on-call support, or guaranteed capacity. Legal advice (licensing guidance is nonbinding). Acknowledging support Our consulting service is free of charge. If our support contributes to your work, we appreciate an acknowledgement of the consulting service in resulting publications or software repositories. This helps us demonstrate the impact of the service and continue supporting the Helmholtz research community. For details, see our Publication policy for collaboration with HIFIS Software Engineering Consulting. Meet our friends - Other Helmholtz services Besides Software Consulting, Helmholtz offers specialized support in areas like AI, imaging, research data stewardship and training. AI and machine learning consulting, tooling, and expertise. Visit Helmholtz AI Support for imaging workflows, data, and community resources. Visit Helmholtz Imaging Metadata and data stewardship support across Helmholtz. Visit HMC Training opportunities to strengthen software and data skills. Visit HIDA Get in touch Please fill out the form below with the details of your project and the specific issues you need help with. If the request is successfully submitted, a confirmation email will be sent. If something goes wrong, please email support@hifis.net. Are you using the Helmholtz Codebase? This form will create a confidential issue in a Codebase project. Alternatively, you can open the issue directly there . Project Details Project Name: Project name is required. Project Description (can be a link to a README document or similar): You'll describe the reason for your request below, focus on the project description here. Project description is required. Programming languages, frameworks, key tools used (if any): Project Status: Select status (Required) Planning phase (no code has been written yet) First prototype (code exists, but it may not be completely functional) Incubation (the project has been developed, but final touches are needed) Mature project / in production (the project is in active use) Legacy project (the project is moving, or has moved on to new maintainers) Who typically uses (or will use) this project? Select an option (Required) Only myself One or two people (not including myself) My whole team A wider audience within Helmholtz A wider audience outside of Helmholtz Who contributes to (or will contribute to) this project? Select an option (Required) Only myself One or two people (not including myself) My whole team A wider audience within Helmholtz A wider audience outside of Helmholtz Request Details Please describe your goal for our consultation: What are the main problem(s) to be solved, questions to be answered, and/or pain points working with this project? Description of main problems is required. How will HIFIS Software consultants be able to access the code? Select an option (Required) Publicly accessible on Codebase, GitHub, Gitlab, Bitbucket, etc. Online repository with restricted access (private repository, internal GitLab, etc.) It exists only locally, but it can be shared with the HIFIS Software consultants as necessary. There is currently no code to access Other Access type is required. Repository URL Personal Details Name: Your name is required. Email Address: A valid email address is required. Helmholtz center: Select a center (Required) AWI, Alfred-Wegener-Institut CISPA, Helmholtz-Zentrum fr Informationssicherheit DESY, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DKFZ, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum DLR, Deutsches Zentrum fr Luft- und Raumfahrt DZNE, Deutsches Zentrum fr Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen e. V. FZJ, Forschungszentrum Jlich GEOMAR, Helmholtz-Zentrum fr Ozeanforschung Kiel GFZ, Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam GSI, Helmholtzzentrum fr Schwerionenforschung Hereon, Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon HMGU, Helmholtz-Zentrum Mnchen HZB, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin HZDR, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf HZI, Helmholtz-Zentrum fr Infektionsforschung KIT, Karlsruher Institut fr Technologie MDC, Max-Delbrck-Centrum UFZ, Helmholtz-Zentrum fr Umweltforschung Helmholtz center is required. Area/Field of Research: Select an option (Required) Energy Earth and Environment Health Aeronautics, Space and Transport Matter Information Research area is required. Please provide the names and email addresses of any other people who should be involved in communication regarding this project: Terms & Conditions Your request will be managed as a confidential issue in the Helmholtz Codebase. Therefore, please confirm your agreement with the Data Privacy Policies of HIFIS (represented by DESY) and the Helmholtz Codebase. Please also ensure that support for your projects by HIFIS Software Consulting is appropriately acknowledged. As part of our collaboration, agreement to the publication policy for HIFIS Software Consulting is required. I confirm my agreement to the following policies: Publication policy for collaboration with HIFIS Software Engineering Consulting Data privacy policy of HIFIS (represented by DESY) Data privacy policy of Helmholtz Codebase You must agree to the terms and conditions before submitting. Submit " } , { "title" : "Helmholtz Software Consulting", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/consulting/", "date" : "", "content" : "" } , { } , { "title" : "Contact & Team", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/contact/", "date" : "", "content" : "" } , { } , { "title" : "HIFIS Corporate Design", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/corporatedesign/", "date" : "", "content" : "" } , { "title" : "HIFIS Courses, Education & Training", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/courses/", "date" : "", "content" : "" } , { } , { } , { } , { "title" : "List of deep links", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/deeplinkcheck/", "date" : "", "content" : "Links to hifis.net https://hifis.net/doc https://hifis.net/policies https://hifis.net/team https://hifis.net/contact https://hifis.net/roadmap https://hifis.net/guidelines https://hifis.net/services/overall/tutorials https://hifis.net/services/overall/guidelines https://hifis.net/news https://hifis.net/services https://hifis.net/mission/publications https://hifis.net/partners https://hifis.net/services/cloud/Helmholtz_cloud https://hifis.net/events https://hifis.net/pr https://hifis.net/media https://hifis.net/media/HIFIS_overview_en.pdf https://hifis.net/media/HIFIS_overview_de.pdf https://hifis.net/sab https://hifis.net/survey2021 https://hifis.net/documentation https://hifis.net/services/hifis-spotlight-2021 https://hifis.net/consultingLinks to software.hifis.net https://software.hifis.net https://software.hifis.net/services https://software.hifis.net/services/training https://software.hifis.net/services/helmholtzgitlab https://software.hifis.net/services/consulting https://software.hifis.net/blog https://software.hifis.net/eventsLinks to Technical documentation https://hifis.net/doc/core-services/aai-proxy/ https://hifis.net/doc/core-services/fts-endpoint/ https://hifis.net/doc/service-portfolio/initial-service-portfolio/how-services-are-selected/#selected-services-for-initial-helmholtz-cloud-service-portfolio https://hifis.net/doc/service-integration/pilot-services/pilot-services/ https://hifis.net/doc/backbone-aai/list-of-connected-centers/Links to aai.helmholtz.defrom 2022-11-22, these should redirect only https://aai.helmholtz.de https://aai.helmholtz.de/news https://aai.helmholtz.de/concept https://aai.helmholtz.de/policies https://aai.helmholtz.de/faq.html https://aai.helmholtz.de/howto https://aai.helmholtz.de/tutorial/2021/06/23/how-to-helmholtz-aai.htmlOthers https://plony.helmholtz.cloud https://helmholtz.cloud https://helmholtz.software" } , { } , { "title" : "Helmholtz ID Documentation", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/aai/doc/", "date" : "", "content" : "" } , { "title" : "Documentation Overview", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/documentation/", "date" : "", "content" : "Technical and Administrative DocumentationAll information on the architectural components and processes related to HIFIS and Helmholtz Authentication and Authorisation Infrastructure (AAI) are collected in the HIFIS Documentation at hifis.net/doc. Some frequently used documentation links are listed below:Guidelines and Policies Helmholtz ID Policies Helmholtz ID Concepts Guidelines for Managers of Virtual Organisations Guidelines for Service Providers How to use HIFIS Transfer ServiceService Usage Exemplary usage plots for AAI usage, Helmholtz Codebase Service, and HIFIS Software Course Participation. More to come!Documentation on the Current Status of Implementation List of Services in Cloud Service Portfolio: Pipeline and Current Catalogue Technical Documentation on Integrated Cloud Services Pilot and Associated Cloud Services (selection) List of Helmholtz Centres that are technically connected to the Helmholtz ID List of supported Virtual OrganisationsPublic Gitlab RepositoriesThe following documentation projects are publicly accessible for reading. You can contribute to them after signing in via Helmholtz ID. Gitlab Project for this homepage Gitlab Project for HIFIS Documentation Gitlab Project for AAI Website (outdated)Governance Original platform proposal for HIFIS The Helmholtz Incubator" } , { "title" : "HIFIS in leichter Sprache", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/de/easylanguage/", "date" : "", "content" : "Willkommen auf der Website von HIFIS.Hier gibt es Informationen in leichter Sprache.Was ist HIFIS?Lorna Schtte, CC-BY-NC-SAHIFIS ist eine digitale Platfform fr Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler.Wir helfen ihnen, indem wir ihnen Zugang zu Computern und Werkzeugen geben.Das sind zum Beispiel: Programme, Orte, wo man Datein speichern kann, und andere Sachen,die man fr die Forschung braucht.HIFIS biete auch Beratung und Hilfe an.Wir helfen besonders dabei, gute Programme fr die Forschung zu machen.Die Helmholtz-CloudHIFIS untersttzt auch die Helmholtz-Cloud.Das ist ein Ort im Internet, wo man viele Dienste findet.Frher waren diese Dienste getrennt.Jetzt sind sie alle in der Helmholtz-Cloud zusammen.Es gibt dort mehr als 30 Dienste fr: Wissenschaft, Zusammenarbeit, Technologie, Rechnen und ganz schnellen Computern, und Speicherung von Daten.Die Nutzer knnen diese Dienste benutzen, wenn sie sich mit ihrem Helmholtz-Konto anmelden.Lorna Schtte, CC-BY-NC-SADaten sicher und verfgbar haltenHIFIS sorgt dafr, dass sensible Daten sicher sind.Wir speichern und arbeiten mit den Daten in eigenen Rechenzentren.So bleiben die Daten in Deutschland und auch in Zukunft verfgbar.Untersttzung der Entwicklung von ForschungssoftwareHIFIS hilft auch bei der Entwicklung von guten Programmen fr die Forschung.Wir bieten Schulungen fr alle an, die mehr ber Programmieren lernen wollen.Es gibt Kurse fr Anfnger und Fortgeschrittene.Auerdem bieten wir kostenlose Beratung fr Forschende an, die Hilfe bei Software-Projekten brauchen." } , { "title" : "HIFIS in easy language", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/easylanguage/", "date" : "", "content" : "Welcome to the website of HIFIS.Here you can find information in Easy Language.What is HIFIS?Lorna Schtte, CC-BY-NC-SAHIFIS is a digital platform for the Helmholtz Association.We help scientists by giving them access to computers and tools.This includes things like: programs, places to store files, and other things needed for research.HIFIS also gives advice and help with using these things.We especially help scientists make good research programs.The Helmholtz CloudHIFIS also offers Helmholtz Cloud services.Cloud services are services you can use on the internet.Before, different services were separate.Now they are all together in the Helmholtz Cloud.There are now more than 30 services available, for: science, working together, technology, very fast computers, and saving data.People can use these services after they sign in with their Helmholtz account.Lorna Schtte, CC-BY-NC-SAKeeping data safe and availableHIFIS makes sure secret data is safe.We do this by keeping and working with data in Helmholtzs data centers.This means the data stays in Germany and can be used by future researchers.This helps save time for people looking for data or keeping it safe.Supporting Research Software developmentHIFIS helps make good research programs.It teaches people who want to learn more about making programs.There are beginner and advanced courses available.It also gives free advice for researchers who need help with specific programs." } , { } , { "title" : "HIFIS Events Overview", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/events/", "date" : "", "content" : "" } , { } , { "title" : "<i class="fas fa-question-circle"></i> FAQ — Frequently Asked Questions", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/faq/", "date" : "", "content" : "Most frequently asked questions I am from a Helmholtz Center. Can I use your services?Mostly, yes.For Cloud Services, go to https://helmholtz.cloud/services.You can log in to most services via Helmholtz ID, select you own center, then use your own credentials.You can usually use them straight away, just try. In some cases, special conditions apply, please check the detailed description then.If anythings not working as expected, contact us.Important: All services may not be used for private or economic purposes as defined by EU state aid law: Helmholtz Cloud Terms of Use apply. How can I give access to someone outside Helmholtz?You can request a Virtual Organisation, which allows you to self-manage users in groups and grant them access to most services.See here on how to proceed.Some services (e.g. Sync&amp;Share) allow you to share data via links for single shares. This is easy, but often unsafe and inconvenient to manage for larger groups and/or timescales. I come from outside Helmholtz. Can I use your services?Generally, no: Helmholtz resources must be used for Helmholtz purposes only. However, a Helmholtz colleague may share resources to you for project-specific purposes. See the previous point. My student does not have access to the same services as me. Why is that?It is probably because they are not directly employed by your (Helmholtz) center, but by their university instead. Access to our services is restricted to employees. Students, trainees and guests may be excluded. To verify a persons status, you can check login.helmholtz.de: Only persons with a staff@ or employee@ status are considered Helmholtz employees.So what should you do? Please refer to the previous question on inviting external users. Should I acknowledge HIFIS assistance in a publication? How?Yes! Please include the following text: We gratefully acknowledge the HIFIS (Helmholtz Federated IT Services [1]) team for (e.g. support with the components above). [] [1] Konrad, U., Huste, T., Jandt, U., &amp; Schlauch, T. (2022, February 23). Helmholtz Federated IT Services: Innovative Cloud and Software Services for Science. Software Engineering 2022 (SE 2022). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15235978 I am missing service X / I propose to have service Y in HIFIS. What should I do?Please contact us. In many cases, we already have solutions that might fit your purpose. In others, we collect service ideas and try to realize them in cooperation with Helmholtz Centers. Do you offer training courses?Yes, we have a portfolio of courses focusing on Research Software. See below or directly in our Course catalogue. I need more details on technical or procedural things concerning HIFIS. Where do I find that?Try https://hifis.net/doc. If you dont find what you look for, contact us. I want to stay updated on the progress of HIFIS. How?We provide up-to-date information viafrequent posts andnewsletters.You are invited to subscribe! Why are there several similar Helmholtz Cloud services like Jupyter or Nextcloud?Some services offered by different centers are indeed based on the same software (e.g. Jupyter) or offer different tools for the same function(e.g. SciFlowand Collabtex).These alternatives are always welcome in the Helmholtz Cloud because they are good for scalability, resilience,and also for meeting individual needs as closely as possible.A consequence of this choice is that we try to avoid generic names like GitLab or chat to be fair to future alternative services.Providers are therefore encouraged to find unique names, as you may have noticed for example with Codebase or JuChat.We know this can be confusing, especially if the names are not self-explanatory. If you have an idea for a more elegant solution, let us know!Login / Service Access issues Is there a step-by-step guide for logging in as a user?Yes, see our Helmholtz ID Login Guide for a step-by-step walkthrough. How can I get information on whether a service was / is / will be available? To check the current availability and statistics, check our Helmholtz Cloud status page. For announcements on selected service downtimes via mail, you can subscribe here. I cannot find my institution in the list for Helmholtz ID login. What to do? You can filter for and use any of ORCID, Github, or Google to login. Your institution may decide to participate in eduGAIN. See here for more explanations. Once joined, your institution will appear in our list. I accidentally refused to transfer my personal data during login. How to revert that? Go to https://login.helmholtz.de/home. Log in, if needed. On the account page, click on the Trusted Application tab. Scroll down to the section Applications with access denied. Select the service of interest, click on Unblock access and confirm if necessary. Upon login, I receive an error Two step authentication is required, however second step credential is unset.How can I fix that?Currently, most Helmholtz Cloud Services do not require multi-factor authentication (MFA/2FA).Most likely, you have set the requirement yourself in your Helmholtz ID profile.You can either (A) set the second factor or (B) deactivate the requirement: Go to https://login.helmholtz.de/home. Log in, if needed (without 2FA). Check the Sign-in tab Variant A: To set a second factor: Add One time password (see elaborate description here). Variant B: To deactivate: Un-Check Enable two-step authentication if possible Log in again to the serviceNote: This procedure does not override any applicable 2FA/MFA requirement imposed by your home institution. I cannot login via Helmholtz ID / cannot join a group (VO) due to errors like connection lost.Often this occurs after previous multiple and/or incomplete login attempts. The login attempt should be restarted cleanly: Close all tabs / browser windows that may have an aborted / incomplete login session. Flush browser cache. Log in to https://login.helmholtz.de/home/ -&gt; select your institution, or Github, ORCID, Google. Optional: you can leave the tab open. Go to the service you need and log in there (via Helmholtz ID). You should not be asked again for your login data due to the Single-Sign On functionality and the still open login session from the previous steps. While logging in using my home organisation, I got an Authentication failed error.The error message says: The remote authentication was successful, however the servers policy requires more information than was provided to register your account.Your home organisation did not release all mandatory information to create your Helmholtz ID account.Beside the federations metadata, the mandatory information that your organisation needs to transfer to the Helmholtz ID can be reviewed in thedocumentation.Please contact your organisations helpdesk and ask to release the mandatory information to the Helmholtz ID.In case your home organisation does not want to release this information, you can use some social accounts like Google, GitHub and ORCID. I lost my password to access your service X. How can I reset it?We do not deal with passwords.You should always log in with Helmholtz ID and your own centers credentials. If the error persists, ask your local IT. When trying to log in to a DESY Service, I am asked for a certificate (X509 or similar). I dont have any, can I log in anyway? We normally do not enforce login with any such certificate.So it is likely that something in your browsers configuration enforces it.In some cases, you can just skip it via clicking ignore.For firefox browsers, you can try (should work similarly with other browsers): Open Settings in Firefox via the hamburger menu. Then select Privacy &amp; Security. Scroll to the Certificates section (quite far down), and choose View Certificates. Now select the tab Authentication Decision. There, an entry for the host keycloak.desy.de will appear; delete this entry. We are almost there: During the next new login to syncandshare.desy.de with Firefox, a dialog window will appear in Firefox (see below). In this dialog, select Remember this decision and click Dont Send Certificate. Training workshops Which workshops does HIFIS offer?You can find an overview of all ready-to-go workshops in the list of published materials.These are offered on a regular basis.For some topics, there is already some self-learning material, more is in preparation.We also may offer custom-tailored versions of these workshops on demand or create workshops on other RSE topics. How do I request a workshop?Anybody within Helmholtz may request a workshop as long as they can bring around 15 to 20 participants.If you would like us to host a specific workshop for your team, please contact us:support@hifis.net.You can either choose from the list of workshop topics or request a custom workshop.We will reach out to you to clarify the details based on your individual case. What do workshops cost?For members of the Helmholtz Association, requesting and participating in HIFISworkshops is free of charge.We reserve the option to charge for participants who are not part of the Helmholtz Association (although we usually prefer not to). Can I use your workshop materials for my own workshop?By default, our workshop materials are published under the Creative Commons licenseCC BY 4.0.This means you can share (copy and redistribute) the material,but also adapt it to your needs under the provision that you attribute the authors with appropriate credits.Deviations from this policy may occur. Please check the footer of the workshop materials for information on the license that applies. Do you help me with teaching my workshop, do you offer something like train the trainer?At the moment, we dont have the possibility to do any instructor trainings.This may change in the future.However, we will be happy to lend you advisory support as much as we can and to welcome you at our annual TEACH conference for teaching enthusiasts across Helmholtz. We advertise these in our blog post.HIFIS TipsHere we gather together a few tips that we are frequently asked about. How-to Setup Boards in GitLab In this article, you will find a tip for transferring Mattermost Boards to Helmholtz Codebase. Single Sign On for Helmholtz ID Wouldn't it be great to have single sign on for Helmholtz ID? Oh wait. Do You Need to Create a Survey? From Matrix to LimeSurvey, a quick introduction into the world of survey tools at your disposal as a Helmholtz researcher. Looking for a GDPR-friendly Large Language Model? It's there and it's called BLABLADOR. Collaborative Editing of Scientific Formulas Looking for an tool to edit scientific formulas? Helmholtz Cloud services offer a few options. Better Coding: some starting points Get familiar with famous coding tricks from the literature - presented to you by our RSE experts. Awesome list of Useful Links Let's share a comprehensive link list collection of helpful resources for software development. Easy Diagram creation in Gitlab Recently, the Helmholtz-wide software development platform (Gitlab) has been extended with the ability to create diagrams from textual descriptions. This post will help you getting started with this new feature. Contact usYou have a question that isnt answered here? Or you do have feedback on the FAQ?Contact us anytime in English or German / Deutsch: support@hifis.net" } , { } , { } , { } , { } , { } , { } , { } , { "title" : "Helmholtz Backbone (VPN) <i class="fas fa-external-link-alt"></i>", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/services/backbone/helmholtzbackbone/", "date" : "", "content" : "" } , { "title" : "Software Development Infrastructure", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/services/software/helmholtzgitlab/", "date" : "", "content" : " The HIFIS team offers IT services to all Helmholtz communities which enable scientists to do research and develop research software in tight collaboration with other scientists from within Helmholtz. Offering a sophisticated Software Project Management Platform is an important prerequisite to achieve this. The Software Project Management Platform GitLab has already become a de-facto standard for many Helmholtz centers in the past years. Many centers offer GitLab to their scientists. In order to bundle resources and foster cross-center collaboration HIFIS Software offers Helmholtz GitLab to all Helmholtz disregarding the center affiliation. The benefits and synergies of using GitLab are manifold. Nowadays, research software needs to be open, transparent, reproducible, accessible, findable, reusable just to name a few desired properties. We believe that a full-fledged feature-rich open-source software like GitLab is the right tool to support scientists to develop such software that adheres to these properties.Features of the Helmholtz GitLab Service Version Control with Git One reason for many Helmholtz research centres to have chosen GitLab as the right tool might be the popularity of the Version Control System Git. GitLab is using Git under the hood and Git and GitLab interact with each other seamlessly. With Version Control scientists are able to keep track of their changes they make during research software development due to the fact that Git stores the complete history of changes in the respective Git repository. One can jump back and forth in the history and for example inspect previous versions or even restore previous versions of the software. GitLab or any other Git-based Software Project Management Platform offer a central point to exchange code and ideas with others and render close and fruitful collaboration between scientists. But what if you already use another Git-based Software Project Management Platform? That's perfect, no worries. GitLab offers an import wizard with which researchers can migrate their remote Git repositories just easily if the necessity arises. Documentation Project Management with GitLab As mentioned in the previous section, collaboration is such a necessity. Today, there is literally no research project that is not driven by collaboration. Hence, project management is an important task and duty of researchers in order to make good progress in their research projects. GitLab is a specialized tool to support software project management. It offers Groups, Projects, Issue Trackers, Issue/Kanban Boards, Milestones, Labels, Branches, Merge Requests among many other useful features. This platform is very open in terms of supported workflows in research software projects and can be adapted to almost any practical software development workflow you may think of. Using the Helmholtz GitLab Service makes it easier to see and keep track of the progress of your projects. Documentation GitLab Continuous Integration Continuous Integration (CI) is a first-class citizen available free-of-charge and already activated for all users. Almost every software product benefits from automated tasks. CI pipelines can automatically build, test and finally deploy the software product to a container, package registry or a staging/production environment on which simulations may run. Often these automated task are used as quality gates which need to be passed successfully in order to be able to integrate the code change into some mainline. Developers are able to "integrate" their contributions "continuously" and due to a high level of automation many of the time consuming tasks don't need to be done manually. Thus, researchers can focus on doing research and not on doing tedious tasks again and again. Documentation GitLab Container Registry Containers have become very popular: Gitlab takes that into account by offering Container Registry very similar to Docker Hub. Once research software developers build their own images they can be stored centrally in such a registry for later reuse. Documentation GitLab Package Registry Package Registries exist already for a long time, GitLab supports the most prominent candidates like PyPI (Python), Conan (C++), Maven (Java), NPM (NodeJS), Composer (PHP), NuGet (.NET), etc. so that packages can be stored independently from these public registries. On top GitLab also adds access control to keep the group of project members manageable. Documentation GitLab Pages Additionally, there is a feature called GitLab Pages that can be used to publish static web sites e.g. your documentation. Like other features, e.g. GitLab Container andd Package Registries, GitLab Pages can be used during automation with CI pipelines. Each time a contribution is made to your project your documentation is rebuilt including the new changes and automatically made accessible to anyone with the right permissions. Documentation Help and Support Please contact us regarding questions, issues, bugs or ideas on how to improve the service via the HIFIS Helpdesk. support@hifis.net support.hifis.net Images by Katerina Limpitsouni via undraw.co" } , { "title" : "Helmholtz ID", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/helmholtzid/", "date" : "", "content" : "" } , { "title" : "HIFIS Spotlight 2021 - Cloud Onboarding and HIFIS Consulting", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/services/hifis-spotlight-2021/", "date" : "", "content" : "" } , { } , { "title" : "Helmholtz ID Login Tutorial", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/aai/howto/", "date" : "", "content" : "" } , { "title" : "HIFIS Transfer Service", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/services/backbone/hts/", "date" : "", "content" : "" } , { "title" : "HIFIS Transfer Service", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/services/hts/", "date" : "", "content" : "" } , { } , { } , { "title" : "News on HIFIS and Helmholtz Services", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/posts/", "date" : "", "content" : "" } , { "title" : "Organisational Structure", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/structure/", "date" : "", "content" : "Helmholtz Federated IT Services (HIFIS) is one of the five overarching platforms in the context of the Helmholtz Information&amp; Data ScienceIncubator.11 out of 18 Helmholtz centres are members of HIFIS.See here for an overview on our team. Internal Structure Competence Clusters HIFIS works in three Competence Clusters which are distributed throughout different Helmholtz research centres: Cloud Services: Federated platform for proven first class cloud services. Lead: HZB. Backbone Services: High-performance trusted network infrastructure with unified basic services. Lead: DESY. Software Services: Platform, training and support for high-quality, sustainable software development. Lead: HZDR. ICT Office All competence clusters are connected through the HIFIS ICT Office. It guarantees the technical and organisational coordination as well as the controlling and reporting for HIFIS. It also defines the interface to comparable external committees, as already existent in e.g. FhG or MPG. Governance and Supervision To ensure that HIFISs progress and strategy is consistent with the common principles of the Helmholtz Association, Reporting, Governance and an external Scientific Advisory Board are central. ICT Federation Board The Assembly of Members of the Helmholtz Association has installed the ICT Federation Board (Steering Board). It is responsible for central decisions in HIFIS. According to the specifications of the directors of the Helmholtz Association the Helmholtz ICT Federation Board establishes the annual plan for HIFIS and reports about the implemented achievements to the Helmholtz Incubator, with the Helmholtz Incubator reporting to the general assembly. See here for a full list of members of the ICT Federation Board. Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) Further, the Assembly of Members of the Helmholtz Association has installed the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). A total of 20 renowned international scientists contribute to HIFISs progress by their advice as SAB members. See here for a full list of SAB members. Images by Katerina Limpitsouni via undraw.co" } , { "title" : "HIFIS Timeline (2019-2024)", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/timeline/", "date" : "", "content" : "" } , { "title" : "Media & Outreach materials", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/media/", "date" : "", "content" : "Outreach material Overview of HIFIS: Digital Services for Helmholtz &amp; Partners English Version German Version Poster for Conferences: HIFIS Empowering Scientists with Digital Services Introduction Poster (e.g. for PhD students) Did You Know Print-outs: Collaborative Editing: svg, pdf Research Software: svg, pdf Computing: svg, pdf Helmholtz Information and Data Science Platforms Booklet HIFIS for Scientific Workflows illustrations: Poster: svg, pdf Video HIFIS logos and Templates HIFIS logos can be reused under the CC-BY 4.0 license HIFIS logo (blue): svg, png HIFIS logo (white): svg, png Guidelines for the use of our logos and more can be found in our Corporate Design guidelines. Presentation templates (.otp)Podcast Episodes TEACH Konferenz in Berlin im November 2024 - ein Rckblick.Code for Thought Podcast, Season 9, Episode 6 (February 2025) Blogpost &amp; direct link Software Preisauschreibung bei Helmholtz - mit Dr. Uwe Konrad.Code for Thought Podcast, Season 5, Episode 24 (July 2023) Blogpost &amp; direct link Bringt uns Programmieren bei - mit Fredo Erxleben.Code for Thought Podcast, Season 5, Episode 19 (June 2023) Blogpost &amp; direct link HIFIS. Helmholtz Resonator Podcast, Episode 172 (October 2021) Blogpost &amp; direct link " } , { } , { "title" : "Newsletter", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/newsletter/", "date" : "", "content" : "The HIFIS Newsletter will be published quarterly from July 2022 onwards.Find all published newsletters below.Feel free to distribute the links to everyone who might be interested.Published Newsletter Issues:All previous newsletter issues can be found here. June 2026 February 2026 October 2025 June 2025 February 2025 June 2024 March 2024: HTML, PDF December 2023: HTML, PDF November 2023: HTML, PDF July 2023: HTML, PDF April 2023: HTML, PDF December 2022: HTML, PDF October 2022: HTML, PDF July 2022: HTML, PDFSubscribe and share the links: HIFIS newsletter / unsubscribe Service Maintenance and Downtime mailing list / unsubscribe HIFIS Blog Posts RSS Feed (RSS Reader required) Helmholtz ID Announcement letter /unsubscribeSpread the word and share the links. Thank you!" } , { "title" : "Helmholtz ID / AAI", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/aai/", "date" : "", "content" : " What Is It About? HIFIS built, maintains and continuously expands a technical and procedural infrastructure that allows users from all Helmholtz Centers as well as external collaboration partners to access distributed resources for example cloud services in a seamless way. To enable this, HIFIS implemented the Helmholtz Authentication and Authorisation Infrastructure (AAI),providing Helmholtz ID. This central service allows unified user and group management for Helmholtz and beyond. The Helmholtz ID / AAI: Enables seamless login to the Helmholtz Cloud services and other resources for any Helmholtz users and invited partners from external institutions, by using only the home institutions username and passphrase. Allows cross-institutional group management and fine-grained resource sharing via so-called Virtual Organisations (VO) Management. Maintains compatibility with international initiatives, such as the European Open Science Cloud EOSC by using frameworks such as the AARC blueprint. Allows for easy connection of new institutions and new services. Transfers and processes only minimal sets of personal data; for example, passwords do not leave your home institution. Strongly facilitates parallel usage and even interconnection of multiple services by Single-Sign On (SSO). Understands different identity qualities via Levels of Assurance. How to Use It? Login and user account information: After first login, accepting all terms and conditions, you are already a member of Helmholtz ID / AAI. Congratulations! Manage a group (VO): To do this, you need to be a manager of such group, for example after being invited by another manager or registering your own VO beforehand. And you need to have a second authentication factor registered for security reasons. Helmholtz Cloud services: Check out our service portfolio that can be used with the Helmholtz ID login, if you are a Helmholtz member or part of a collaboration group. Dont forget to read the service descriptions, as some are usable under preconditions. For technical details, refer to our documentation.How Does This Work?From user perspective, the connected Helmholtz Cloud services can be logged in by clicking Helmholtz ID (or Helmholtz AAI).This ultimately allows the users to select their home institution and log in via the home institutions credentials.Have a look at our illustrated tutorial on this to see more of it!If you happen to run into any issues,check our FAQand never hesitate to contact our integrated helpdesk at support@hifis.net.The Technical ViewAll details on the technical and procedural implementation can be found in the documentation.Spoken on a very high level, there are at least three instances exchanging data with each other: the service, the central community AAI (login.helmholtz.de), and the user institutions Identity Provider (IdP).The first station itself can consist of multiple sub-instances, for example involving an Infrastructure Proxy, to streamline multiple service connections of one institution to the whole infrastructure.As a user, you are basically following the route downwards and then up again when logging in to a service.ComplianceAll participants, including end users, need to comply to the Helmholtz ID policies, and possibly additional policies related to specific groups (VOs).Further, you are informed about and need to agree to every transfer and processing of personal data.Sorry for bothering you on all of these steps, but its mandated by GDPR.But its handy that you can save your preferences and not be bothered again on this when you log in the next time.Furthermore, a Helmholtz-wide rule set is currently being set up by HIFIS in order to facilitate cross-centre sharing of Helmholtz Cloud resources in the future.Comments? Suggestions? Questions? Check our FAQ Contact us at support@hifis.net." } , { "title" : "Helmholtz Services", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/services/", "date" : "", "content" : "HIFIS ensures an excellent information environment for outstanding researchin all Helmholtz research fields.SoftwareThe service portfolio of HIFIS Software is structured into 4 differentcomponents that seamlessly interoperate with each other:Education &amp; Training, Technology, Consulting and Community Services. Communities We build and foster communities to support the necessary cultural change in science when dealing with research software. Helmholtz Software Consulting We offer free-of-charge consulting in software engineering as a service to research groups under the Helmholtz umbrella. Software Development Infrastructure We provide a sustainable, well integrated and easy to use technology infrastructure for scientific software. Research Software Directory A central software directory tailored to Research Software Engineers and Researchers that want to promote or discover research software. HIFIS for Research Software Engineers Overview of the benefits of HIFIS for Research Software Engineers. SoftwareSpotlights The Helmholtz Software Spotlights represent top success stories of Reseach Software Engineering in Helmholtz. Education &amp; Training We offer courses, materials or workshops to help you in getting started or in boosting your software engineering practice. CloudIn the Helmholtz Cloud, members of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres provide selected IT-Services for joint use. Helmholtz Cloud - IT Services Build for Science Take your research project from proposal to publication with cloud-based tools. Combine Services to Workflows by Service Orchestration. Enhancing the composability of Helmholtz Cloud services to enable scientific workflow pipelines. HIFIS for Helmholtz Cloud Service Providers How to hand in new service to be offered in Helmholtz Cloud. Benefits for Helmholtz Cloud Service Providers By providing a service via the Helmholtz Cloud, you increase the value of your services and resources. BackboneHigh-performance trusted network infrastructure with unified basic services. Helmholtz ID Seamless Access to Cloud Services for Helmholtz &amp; Friends. Helmholtz Backbone (VPN) A trusted Helmholtz network to securely route scientific data transfer between centres. HIFIS Transfer Service An FTS based large data transfer service connecting Helmholtz research. Overall HIFIS for IT Support Experts Overview of the benefits of HIFIS for IT Support Staff. HIFIS for Scientists Overview of the benefits of HIFIS for Researchers. Surveys To build up new and improve existing services, we are interested in your current work flows and working environment. " } , { "title" : "HIFIS - Helmholtz Federated IT Services", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/", "date" : "", "content" : "" } , { "title" : "HIFIS for IT Support Experts", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/services/overall/itsupport_benefit/", "date" : "", "content" : "If you work in local IT support in a Helmholtz Centre, find information here on how HIFIS can assist you to give advise to your clients.What HIFIS can do for IT supporters We provide a multitude of cloud services for Helmholtz. That is, several services are already provided ready-to-use by selected centres for the Helmholtz Association, others are bound to specific usage conditions, and further services may be in the pipeline or can be requested. The provided services comprise collaboration tools, compute and storage services, and more. See this overview for general explanations, and, most importantly, the Helmholtz Cloud Portal for a full overview on services, service descriptions and usage conditions. Further check our information and documentation: Technical and Administrative Documentation for HIFIS Services Cloud Services that are scheduled to onboard soon (service pipeline) Steps to take for handing in new Cloud Services Illustrated tutorial on how to use AAI &mdash; the central Authentication and Authorisation Infrastructure &mdash; to log in to services How to register a service usage group &mdash; a so-called virtual organisation (VO) How to manage such service usage groups We provide training and courses on techniques for research software engineering, e.g. on programming languages, best practices, distributed service usage. We give consulting on complex questions related to software projects. We provide learning materials and guidelines, e.g. on (Research) Software Engineering. For any questions, queries and comments on any of the abovementioned points and services, you and your users are invited to contact us anytime via our contact form or equivalently via support@hifis.net. What we can not do In general, we are not entitled to assist with any problems or issues that can and should be solved locally, i.e. within one centre or institute. For example: Local software problems or local network problems, Any issues arising in your local computing centre, Information on IT problems, software, codes, etc. that are not in our portfolio, Issues and questions about internal processes and regulations, and Comparable issues... " } , { "title" : "Careers", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/job_offers/", "date" : "", "content" : "Job Offers related to HIFIS Currently, there are no open positions advertised in HIFIS.Further offers Data Science Jobs at Helmholtz Further vacancies within the Helmholtz Association" } , { } , { } , { } , { } , { } , { } , { "title" : "HIFIS Federation Board", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/structure/members-fedboard/", "date" : "", "content" : "Members of the HIFIS Federation Board (Lenkungskreis)The following high-ranking scientists agreed to steer, monitor and strategically orient the activities of HIFIS.Full members Caroline Arnold, Helmholtz-Zentrum hereon Michael Felderer, German Aerospace Center (DLR) Bernd Mohr, Forschungszentrum Jlich (FZJ) Marco Nolden, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Spokesperson Ruth Schwaiger, Forschungszentrum Jlich (FZJ) Achim Streit, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)Guests Philipp Neumann, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) Uwe Konrad, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) Ants Finke, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB)" } , { "title" : "HIFIS SAB", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/structure/members-sab/", "date" : "", "content" : "Members of the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB)The Assembly of Members of the Helmholtz Association has installed the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). The following internationally renowned scientists contribute to HIFISs progress by their advice as SAB members: Ari Asmi; Research Data Alliance Assocation AISBL Rosa M Badia; BSC Magchiel Bijsterbosch; SURF Michael Brnig; University of Queensland Isabel Campos; CSIC Tiziana Ferrari; EGI Florian Freund; FhG Andy Gtz; ESRF Christian Grimm; DFN Marc Heron; DLS Mirjam van Daalen; PSI Jrg Herrmann; MPG Neil Chue Hong; SSI Christine Kirkpatrick; NDS, SDSC Rafael Laguna; Open-Xchange AG Rupert Lck; EMBL Pierre Etienne Macchi; IN2P3 CNRS Wolfgang E. Nagel; TU Dresden Davide Salomoni; INFNHIFIS SAB Meetings and ReportsSo far, the HIFIS SAB convened for three annual meetings and provided detailed feedback on progress and potential future developments of HIFIS: 1st Meeting, May 2020: Report 2nd Meeting, June 2021: Report 3rd Meeting, June 2022: Report 4th Meeting, July 2023: Report" } , { } , { } , { "title" : "HIFIS Vision and Mission", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/mission/", "date" : "", "content" : "Our VisionThe vision of the Helmholtz Incubator platform HIFIS - Helmholtz Federated IT Services is:Empowering scientists with digital servicesat every step of the scientific workflow.HIFIS fosters collaboration and facilitates integrated scientific workflows across all research fields, Helmholtz centres, external collaboration partners and Incubator platforms by offering a unified login, shared cloud services, organizing common education and training events, and adopting a de-central and modular approach.This stimulates innovation and knowledge exchange among the research centres.MissionFollowing our vision, HIFIS is concentrating its efforts on: facilitating cooperation across scientific disciplines and institutions, building the best cloud platform for science, providing federated sovereign digital infrastructures, advocating and developing them, promoting awareness for scientific software as a driver of scientific progress, and enabling all people creating software at Helmholtz to apply modern software engineering principles that serve good scientific practice.To further follow our vision and mission, as well as to adapt to upcoming challenges, HIFIS is continuously adapting its focus areas and guiding its strategic direction.Helmholtz Digital Services for Science Collaboration Made Easy.Further InformationAlmost all information on HIFIS is publicly available. Publications Learning Materials Media and Materials Technical and Administrative Documentation Original platform proposal for HIFISContactContact us at support@hifis.net if you are missing any information, or if you have requests or comments." } , { } , { } , { } , { } , { } , { } , { "title" : "Combine Services to Workflows by Service Orchestration.", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/services/cloud/orchestration/", "date" : "", "content" : "Build the Workflow That Works for You and Fully Benefit from the Cloud Potential!Usually, scientists have to do some manual steps to feed the results of a service into the next one - and then into the third, fourth and fifth. But now they can simplify their work. By composing the Helmholtz Cloud services to pipelines, the services interact. Processing, analysing and interpreting: adapted to the use case, the orchestrated services process the scientific data as an automatic sequence.HIFIS is committed to prioritise the seamless linking of complementary services, with a particular focus on scientific workflow pipelines. Key aspects of service orchestration scientific workflow pipelines include: Automation: Accelerating data processing and reducing errors. Modularity: Allowing researchers to organise complex analyses into manageable tasks. Reproducibility: Ensuring standardised, documented processes for result verification, including provenance information. Scalability: Adapting seamlessly to varying data volumes and research scales, e.g. with the potential for automatic parallelisation. Adaptability: Designed to evolve with changes, allowing researchers to update workflows as needed. Collaboration: Supporting collaborative research efforts by enabling multiple researchers to contribute to the pipeline, fostering interdisciplinary cooperation and knowledge exchange. Set up of Minimal Service Orchestraion By orchestrating these key components, as shown in the diagram, it is possible to build a minimal workflow pipeline, which is the basis for most of the more sophisticated scientific workflows that HIFIS would like to support. This Service Orchestration provides the following benefits: Secure and controlled transfersAll transfers and orchestration steps take place within the Helmholtz infrastructure, ensuring secure authentication and authorisation methods.Intermediate steps are finely controllable, allowing for privacy settings such as private, group-shared, or public, based on user preferences. Flexible user accessDifferent steps in the pipeline can be configured for accessibility by various user groups, providing granular control over workflow access. Persistent workflowsWorkflows can persist for a defined timeframe, even when the original user(s) are offline.Continuous updates triggered by incoming raw data ensure real-time results, enhancing workflow adaptability. Dynamic computational resourcesEasily scale compute power as needed at different points in time.Seamlessly exchange or replace storage and introduce specific processing steps using different cloud services, demonstrating the modularity of the setup.In summary, even a minimal Service Orchestration provides a secure, flexible, and modular framework that ensures controlled access, persistence, and adaptability to changing computational and storage requirements. Scientific Workflows using Helmholtz Cloud Services To address the many technical challenges behind Service Orchestration, HIFIS is consulting with various research groups to setup initial building blocks of scientific workflows. Starting from specific use cases, we want to improve the composability of our services and make future workflows easier to set up. As a first step, we have focused on implementing minimal Service Orchestration components, demonstrated in the following example: Pilot Implementation in Helmholtz Imaging: Demonstrates the seamless interconnection of HIFIS Cloud services across five Helmholtz centres, showcasing modularity and utilising data from a research paper on intracellular organelles and insulin secretion. Technical Basis to Connect ServicesHowever, the composability of services for scientific Service Orchestration requires some key components: Authentication and Authorisation Infrastructure (AAI): Enabling members of different institutions to access protected information distributed on various web servers. Versioning and Revision Control: Incorporating mechanisms to track changes for transparency and reproducibility. Build Automation: The process of automating tasks involved in compiling source code into executable programs or libraries, including testing code for faster development cycles and more reliable releases. Data Storage and Ingestion: Acquiring relevant data from various sources. Compute Resources: Managing the computational aspects, covering data processing, analysis, error handling, logging, data visualisation, and result output generation.Outlook for the Orchestration of Helmholtz Cloud Services As we continue to develop use cases with several research groups, we will expand both our orchestration offering and the composability of existing cloud services. We believe that there is significant added value to be gained from service orchestration, and this is a point we have also heard from our users. As already mentioned in 2023, we will therefore continue to focus on this task in 2024 and 2025 to improve our orchestration capabilities. We will continue to develop the minimal Service Orchestration with the aim of creating a tutorial for researchers to initiate their own workflows from this base. We will work to document the lessons learned and best practices on service orchestration in general, as our experience grows. In collaboration with HMC, we plan to investigate generating standard and appropriate provenance information metadata for data that has been processed using one of our workflow pipelines. Queries, Comments and IdeasIf you have a use case or ideas about on our (scientific) Service Orchestration offer, please contact our Service Orchestration team." } , { "title" : "Overall Services", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/services/overall-overview/", "date" : "", "content" : " HIFIS for IT Support Experts Overview of the benefits of HIFIS for IT Support Staff. HIFIS for Scientists Overview of the benefits of HIFIS for Researchers. Surveys To build up new and improve existing services, we are interested in your current work flows and working environment. " } , { } , { "title" : "Partners", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/partners/", "date" : "", "content" : "" } , { } , { "title" : "Helmholtz ID Policies", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/aai/policies/", "date" : "", "content" : "" } , { "title" : "HIFIS Privacy Statements, corresponding to DESY Privacy Statements", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/privacy/", "date" : "", "content" : "" } , { "title" : "HIFIS for Helmholtz Cloud Service Providers", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/services/cloud/provider/", "date" : "", "content" : " Science Does Not Stop at the Border of your Center. Why Should Your Digital Services and Resources? Becoming Service Provider Science needs borderless and free interaction. This is why the demand of your local scientists goes far beyond your institute. By providing a service via the Helmholtz Cloud, you increase the value of your services and resources. Find more about the benefits here. Submit a New Helmholtz Cloud Service You can hand in your service application for the Helmholtz Cloud anytime. Use our Service Database Plony and follow the step-by-step instruction on the landing page. In the Helmholtz Cloud, Helmholtz Centres provide IT services for joint use and overall added value to the Helmholtz Association. Applications originating from local or domain-specific contexts converge to cross-domain and cross-centre collaborative services. Helmholtz Cloud Service Portfolio The Helmholtz Cloud Service Portfolio strives to cover the whole scientific process and offers a federated community cloud with uniform access to Helmholtz employees and their project partners, thus enabling them to conduct and support excellent science. It is managed carefully based on Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and consists of three main components: the Service Pipeline = Upcoming Services the Service Catalogue = currently provided Services, available on Helmholtz Cloud Portal the Retired Services = previously provided services, not offered anymore HIFIS Technical and Administrative Documentation All details on technical and administrative procedures are publicly available in the HIFIS technical Documentation: Helmholtz ID Helmholtz ID Policies Backbone Core Services Helmholtz Cloud Process Framework for Helmholtz Cloud Service Portfolio Software Service Service Operation KPI The usage of each Helmholtz Cloud Serivce and its overall contribution to the success of the Helmholtz Cloud is monitored continuously. Please refer to the documentation pages for details on the procedures of KPI data aquisition and calculation, as well as most recent and previously published results. Feedback and Support Your service has specific technical challenges to function as a cloud service, maybe in the fields of AAI, authorisation roles, or licence limitations? We, the HIFIS Cloud Team, are ready to help. Please contact us at support@hifis.net. " } , { "title" : "Benefits for Helmholtz Cloud Service Providers", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/services/cloud/provider_benefit/", "date" : "", "content" : "By providing a service via the Helmholtz Cloud, you improve the value of your services and resources. Compliance, IT-Security ... You as a Service Provider don't have to deal with Authentication and Authorisation issues of external users. The Helmholtz ID allows to manage cross-institutional user groups while ensuring the correct authentication of each user. It acts as a hub between the user institution's identity provider (IdP) and the service. You can use it to handle a wide range of use cases, from simple to complex. From the users perspective, the Helmholtz ID eases the login process using the home credentials. With the Helmholtz ID, you are using a proven, reliable service that meets international standards and that is developed and maintained continuously. The HIFIS team assists technically and procedurally with service integration and with user support during operation. The legal and GDPR aspects for provision and use of services are guarded by the Helmholtz ID Policies and the upcoming Helmholtz Cloud regulations. Therefore, a compliance basis is established. For the final service-specific steps, the HIFIS team supports you in compiling the necessary documents for GDPR compliance. Good Practice: HIFIS Expertise and Experience The network of Helmholtz-wide service admins and the HIFIS team are supporting you during the Service Onboarding as well as the service operation. Experiences made in the HIFIS context may simplify the local service integration, e. g. if a complex user management for internal and external users is needed. HIFIS has established processes not only for the integration but for the complete lifecycle of a service (onboarding, operating, review, offboarding). Enable your local sciencists to create tailored digital workflows with seamless interfaces between Helmholtz Cloud services. User Support HIFIS offers an overall ticket system for support, based on Zammad. This way, you do not need to open your system for external users, but can still be sure that problems will be addressed in a timely manner. Synergy Potentials The increased number of active users and more diverse use cases gained through the Helmholtz Cloud allows to increase the maturity of the service provided. In turn, this can improve the negotiation position towards, e.g., manufacturers or software developers. Image and Competence Building On a meta level, becoming a service provider within the Helmholtz Cloud can demonstrate your experience and competence to a wider audience. By providing a service via Helmholtz Cloud, you can improve your standing for providing this service or even a certain service type. This way you can co-create the environment of the Cloud as well as demonstrate your expertise and engagement to stakeholders. Services in the Helmholtz Cloud need to have a good quality level as entry requirement. This characteristic radiates to users and stakeholders: If your service is included in the Helmholtz Cloud, they can be sure that it is offered on a resilient level. This builds trust and fosters collaborations. The Helmholtz-wide experience exchange of Service Providers and IT admins leads to the expansion of ones own horizon. This may ease the development of future workflows or services and can help you to build a network. The participation in the Helmholtz Cloud is by no means a one-way dedication of the provider's resources (time and effort) - you can use this as content for reports or business justifications for a centres activities. FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions Does a service have to be open for all Helmholtz users? No, Helmholtz Cloud services may - but don't have to - be open for every Helmholtz user. The service provider will keep the complete control of any limitation for a service that is necessary, e. g. duration, number of users, resources, or availability. Even if the service is used by a limited user group, HIFIS will be happy to support your use case. I'm afraid that the additional effort cannot be handled by my institution / my project group. There are several possibilities to share the load of the user support. The HIFIS ticketing system might step in; and also, the first level support might be covered by the using institution or the project group. In any case, the service provider has to take care of the second level support because the IT admins need to handle the service configurations. What happens when I cannot maintain the service any longer: Would HIFIS step in here? All Helmholtz Cloud services are reviewed regularly. If a service cannot be maintained any more, HIFIS will look for another service provider and take care of the service offboarding (and possibly support organising the data migration). The necessary work to make my service ready for the Helmholtz Cloud might be too complex or requires too much effort. How can I estimate the work needed? Can HIFIS support me with this? The HIFIS team will be pleased to support you in every step of the service integration, e. g. connecting the Helmholtz ID. Be aware, though, HIFIS is not in the position to handle your internal processes and regulations, nor can HIFIS implement internal technical changes. If we provide the service via the Helmholtz Cloud, there will be additional effort / cost to a higher amount of users without direct payment. Can this be compensated? All Helmholtz Cloud services are provided are free of charge. As mentioned, you are free to define limiations with respect to users and usage of the service. Addtional external costs, for example licenses, can be taken over by specifically defined user groups. Feedback and Support Your service has specific technical challenges to function as a cloud service, maybe in the fields of AAI, authorisation roles, or licence limitations? We, the HIFIS Cloud Team, are ready to help. Please contact us at support@hifis.net. " } , { "title" : "Publications", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/publications/", "date" : "", "content" : "Publications, Presentations, Selected Blog PostsLinks: HIFIS related Publications in Zenodo Software PublicationsAs far as not listed in Zenodo Popcova, Olga. 2024. German Cancer Research Center supports FileSender development. In GEANT Connect Online, 2024.2023 Beermann, Thomas, and Wagner, Sebastian. 2023. Developing and deploying the Helmholtz Cloud Portal. In IT4Science-Days, Berlin. Zenodo. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.8424275 Huste, Tobias. 2023 Continuous Integration in Complex Research Software - Tearing Down Borders. In IT4Science-Days, Berlin. Zenodo. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.10006276 Wagner, Sebastian. 2023. Towards a Global Digital Research Landscape. In IT4Science-Days, Berlin. Zenodo. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.8424775 Schmidt, Peter, Erxleben, Fredo. 2023. Bringt uns Programmieren bei! Code for Thought Podcast, 5,19 (June 2023). Meeen, Christian. 2023. Increasing the visibility of Research Software: The Helmholtz Research Software Directory. Zenodo. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.7914477 Schmahl, Ines, Schworm, Stephanie, Erxleben, Fredo, and Lemster, Christine. 2023. Report on the TEACH Conference 2022. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.7956292 Schlauch, Tobias. 2023. Software Citation Current Practice and Recent Developments, Love your data? Make it reproducible! A workshop on reproducibility in data science on 14.02.2023. Potsdam : Helmholtz Open Science Office. DOI:10.48440/os.helmholtz.063 Erxleben, Fredo. 2023. HIFIS: Building a Workshop Portfolio from 0. In deRSE23 - Conference for Research Software Engineering in Germany (deRSE23). Zenodo. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.7669752 Thomas Frster. 2023. Fostering quality improvement for RSE projects through consulting offers. In deRSE23 - Conference for Research Software Engineering in Germany (deRSE23). Zenodo. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.7742216 Konrad, Uwe, Huste, Tobias, Jandt, Uwe, Schfer, David, and Schnicke, Thomas. 2023. From source code to Software as a Service, how to make software more accessible?. In deRSE23 - Conference for Research Software Engineering in Germany (deRSE23). Zenodo. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.7653477 Schlauch, Tobias. 2023. All you need to know about Software Licenses as a RSE. In deRSE23 - Conference for Research Software Engineering in Germany (deRSE23). Zenodo. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.7660415 Huste, Tobias. 2023. HIFIS - Boosting Research Software Engineering at Helmholtz. Zenodo. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.7638538 Lehnigk, Ronald, Bruschewski, Martin, Huste, Tobias, Lucas, Dirk, Rehm, Markus and Schlegel, Fabian. 2023. Sustainable development of simulation setups and addons for OpenFOAM for nuclear reactor safety research. Kerntechnik 88,2 (Feb. 2023). DOI:10.1515/kern-2022-0107 Klaffki, Lisa. 2023. HIFIS has a Zenodo Community. Blog post, January 2023.2022 Applications of Helmholtz AAI for FZJ IT-Forum, December 2022. Meeen, Christian, Hammitzsch, Martin, and Konrad, Uwe. 2022. Aktueller Stand des Helmholtz Research Software Directory. In 3. Helmholtz Open Science Forum: Forschungssoftware, online, November 2022. Zenodo. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.7360386 Meeen, Christian, Hammitzsch, Martin, and Konrad, Uwe. 2022. The Research Software Directory in Helmholtz. In The Research Software Directory: Improving the impact of research software, online, November 2022. Zenodo. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.7347366 Wetzel, Tim, Fuhrmann, Patrick, and Schuh, Michael Integrated dataset placement service for scientists. In IBERGRID 2022 Faro, October 2022. Frster, Thomas, and Huste, Tobias. 2022. Helmholtz Federated IT Services: Enabling innovative software and supporting services for research. In IBERGRID 2022 Faro, October 2022. Helmholtz Cloud and Helmholtz AAI for LRZ-DKRZ, October 2022. Meeen, Christian, Hammitzsch, Martin, and Konrad, Uwe. 2022. Sichtbarkeit und FAIRness von Forschungssoftware erhhen: das Research Software Directory. In dini Workshop Forschungssoftware managen, Stuttgart, September 2022. Zenodo. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.7083033 Hser, Christian, Ziegner, Norman, and Huste, Tobias. 2022. Scaling IT Services for Germanys Largest Research Organisation - An Experience Report. In DevOpsDays Berlin, September 2022. Zenodo. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.7248114 Stoffers, Martin, Schlauch, Tobias, Caspart, Ren, and Struck, Alexander. 2022. Recap: Workshop Lets Talk FAIR for Research Software at SE2022. deRSE Blog post, June 2022. Research Software Development @Helmholtz. In MPG Worskhop Future Opportunities for Software in Research (FORS2022), May 2022. Helmholtz AAI Info-Session for HZB-IT, May 2022. Huste, Tobias. 2022. Helmholtz Digital Services for Science Collaboration made easy.. In Helmholtz Open Science Forum Research Software, April 2022. Potsdam : Helmholtz Open Science Office. DOI: 10.48440/os.helmholtz.045 Klotz, Andreas, Apweiler, Sander, and Leander-Knoll, Matthias. 2022. HIFIS: VO Federation for EFSS. In 76. DFN Betriebstagung, March 2022. DFN. Helmholtz Cloud Info-Session. HZB virtual IT-Open Office, March 2022. Konrad, Uwe, Meeen, Christian, Hammitzsch, Martin, Huste, Tobias, and Jandt, Uwe. 2022. From License Consultation to Software Spotlights. In RDA Deutschland Conference, February 2022. Zenodo. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.6248895 Schlegel, Fabian, Huste, Tobias, Juckeland, Guido, and Konrad, Uwe. 2022. OpenSource im Spannungsfeld akademischer und wirtschaftlicher Interessen. In Software Engineering Conference Deutschland (rSE22), February 2022. Konrad, Uwe, Huste, Tobias, Jandt, Uwe, and Schlauch, Tobias. 2022. Helmholtz Federated IT Services: Innovative Cloud and Software Services for Science. In Software Engineering Conference Deutschland (rSE22), February 2022. Klotz, Andreas. 2022. HIFIS: VO Federation for EFSS. In CS3 2022 Cloud Storage Synchronization and Sharing, January 2022.2021 Jandt, Uwe. 2021. HIFIS Survey 2021 Report. Blog Post, December 2021. Huste, Tobias. 2021. Solutions for the Ages a Short Crash Course on Sustainable Software Development. In HIDA Annual Conference 2021, November 2021. HZDR. Publ.-Id::32579 Haupt, Carina, and Stoffers, Martin. 2021. Roles in Research Software Engineering (RSE) Consultancies. In Research Software Engineers in HPC Workshop at SC21 (RSE-HPC-2021), November 2021. Zenodo. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.5530443 Klotz, Andreas. 2021. HIFIS: VO Federation for EFSS. In HEPiX Automn 2021 online Workshop, October 2021. Jandt, Uwe. 2021. Helmholtz IT Services for Science: HIFIS. In HEPiX Automn 2021 online Workshop, October 2021. Jandt, Uwe, and Hardt, Marcus. 2021. Helmholtz AAI full presentation. In 75. DFN Betriebstagung, October 2021. Klein, Holger, and Jandt, Uwe. 2021. Helmholtz Resonator Podcast on HIFIS. Resonator-Podcast, October 2021. Messerschmidt, Reinhard, Pampel, H., Bach, F., zu Castell, W., Denker, M., Finke, A., Fritzsch, B., Hammitzsch, M., Konrad, Uwe, Leifels, Y., Mhl, C., Nolden, M., Scheinert, M., Schlauch, Tobias, Schnicke, T., and Steglich, D. 2021. Checkliste zur Untersttzung der Helmholtz-Zentren bei der Implementierung von Richtlinien fr nachhaltige Forschungssoftware. Potsdam : Helmholtz Open Science Office. DOI:10.48440/os.helmholtz.031 Jandt, Uwe. 2021. HIFIS: IT-Services fr Helmholtz &amp; Partner. In DFN Mitteilungen, pp. 4445, June 2021. DFN. Huste, Tobias, and Jandt, Uwe. 2021. Easy Diagram creation in Gitlab. Blog post, June 2021. Ferguson, L. M., Pampel, H., Bertelmann, R., Dirnagl, U., Zohbi, J. E., Kapitza, D., Keup-Thiel, E., Konrad, U., Lorenz, S., Mittermaier, B., Rechid, D., and Schuck-Zller, S. 2021. Indikatoren fur Open Science: Report des Helmholtz Open Science Forum. Potsdam : Helmholtz Open Science Office. DOI:10.48440/os.helmholtz.024 Huste, Tobias. 2021. Solutions for the Ages a Short Crash Course on Sustainable Software Development. In International Virtual Covid Data Challenge 2021, April 2021. HZDR. Publ.-Id::32579 Hardt, Marcus. 2021. Helmholtz AAI Update. Presentation on the role of Helmholtz AAI in the context of AARC, EOSC, and NFDI, April 2021. Using Containers in Science. Workshop material, March 2021. Jandt, Uwe. 2021. Helmholtz Federated IT Services. In National and International Trends in Research Storage at Scale, Open Storage Network Concept Paper, March 2021. Hardt, Marcus. 2021. Helmholtz AAI. Teaser talk. In 74. DFN Betriebstagung, March 2021. Wetzel, Tim, Fuhrmann, Patrick, Millar, Paul, and Jandt, Uwe. 2021. HIFIS transfer service: FTS for Helmholtz. In ISGC 2021 International Symposium on Grids &amp; Clouds, March 2021. Apweiler, Sander, Klotz, Andreas, and Leander-Knoll, Matthias. 2021. HIFIS: Sync&amp;Share Federation for Helmholtz. In CS3 2021 Cloud Storage Synchronization and Sharing, January 2021.2020 Konrad, Uwe, Frstner, Konrad, Reetz, Johannes, Wannemacher, Klaus, Kett, Jrgen, and Mannseicher, Florian. 2020. Digitale Dienste fr die Wissenschaft - wohin geht die Reise?. Zenodo. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.4301924 Konrad, Uwe, Frstner, Konrad, Reetz, Johannes, Wannemacher, Klaus, Kett, Jrgen, and Mannseicher, Florian. 2020. Digital services for science where is the journey heading?. Zenodo. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.4301947 Huste, Tobias, Hser, Christian, Dolling, Maximilian, Dworatzyk, Katharina, Frere, Jonathan, and Erxleben, Fredo. 2020. HIFIS Software Survey 2020 Evaluation. Blog Post Series, Nov 2020-Jan 2021. A Community Perspective Consulting Perspective Programming, CI and VCS A Technology Perspective Jandt, Uwe. 2020. Federated data storage for Helmholtz Research &amp; Friends. In National and International Trends in Research Storage at Scale, Open Storage Network, November 2020. Jandt, Uwe, and Wetzel, Tim. 2020. In EGI conference (2-5 November 2020): Helmholtz Federated IT and Accessible Compute Resources for Applied AI Research. HIFIS transfer service: FTS for everyone. Jandt, Uwe, Apweiler, Sander, Schollmaier, Laura, Klotz Andreas, and Dolling, Maximilian. 2020. Presentations of all major HIFIS working groups. In 2nd All-Hands HIFIS Meeting, October 2020. Wetzel, Tim. 2020. HIFIS backbone transfer service: FTS for everyone. In HEPiX Autumn 2020 Online workshop, October 2020. Frere, Jonathan. 2020. Docker For Science. Blog post series, September 2020: Part 1: Getting Started with Docker Part 2: A Dockerfile Walkthrough Part 3: Using Docker in Practical Situations HIFIS Platform, Training and Support for a Sustainable Software Development. In DLR Wissensaustausch-Workshop Software Engineering (WAW SE VII), September 2020. Zusammenarbeiten mit der Helmholtz-Cloud, Lichtblick Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin, p. 4, September 2020. Glckner, Stephan. 2020. HZI-led Coronavirus Sero-Survey in collaboration with HIFIS. DZIF Press Release, August 2020. German Version Jandt, Uwe. 2020. Promoting IT based science at all levels. In EGI Newsletter #37, June 2020. Hammitzsch, Martin et al. 2020. HIFIS suggestions and guidelines. Blog post series, May-June 2020. Collaborative Notetaking Video Conferencing Chatting Jandt, Uwe. 2020. Summary of the Feedback Report of the Scientific Advisory Board. Blog Post, May 2020. Huste, Tobias. 2020. S/MIME Signing Git Commits. Blog post, April 2020. Klotz, Andreas, Fuhrmann, Patrick, and Schollmaier, Laura. 2020. The HIFIS Cloud Competence Cluster. In CS3 2020 Workshop on Cloud Services for Synchronisation and Sharing, January 2020.2019 Presentations at the 1st HIFIS Conference, October 2019. Haupt, Carina. 2019. Helmholtz Federated IT Services (HIFIS) Creating Services together. In Software Engineering and Reuse in Modeling, Simulation, and Data Analytics for Science and Engineering (SC 2019 BOF), November 2019. Hagemeier, Bjrn. 2019. HDF Cloud Helmholtz Data Federation Cloud Resources at the Jlich Supercomputing Centre. Journal of large-scale research facilities, 5, A137. DOI:10.17815/jlsrf-5-173 Frust, Tobias, and Konrad, Uwe. 2019. Integrierte Entwicklungs- und Publikationsumgebung fr Forschungssoftware und Daten am Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR). In deRSE19, Potsdam, June 2019. Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB). DOI:10.5446/42518 Konrad, Uwe. 2019. Anforderungen, Wnsche und Erfahrungen fr den Aufbau des HIFIS Competence Clusters Software Services in der Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft. In deRSE19, Potsdam, June 2019. Frust, Tobias. 2019. Continuous Documentation for Users, Developers and Maintainers. In Platform for Advanced Scientific Computing Conference 2019 (PASC19), Zurich, Switzerland. Zenodo. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.3247324 Share and synchronize your data with HZB Cloud Nubes safelySoftware PublicationsHIFIS creates its own software packages, but also contributes to Open Source software in general.Software Packages2023 Sanjari, Shahab. 2023. iqtools: Collection of code for working with offline complex valued time series data in Python. DOI:10.5281/zenodo.80562332022 Unattended-Upgrades Role for Ansible - Ansible role to set up unattended-upgrades on Debian-based systems. Ansible RSD role Ansible role to set up the Research Software Directory.2021 HIFIS Surveyval Python Package for analysing survey data. Ansible Netplan Role Ansible role that installs Netplan and configures networking on hosts. Ansible SSH keys role Ansible role to distribute authorized SSH public keys to users.2020 Ansible GitLab Role Ansible role to install and configure the GitLab Omnibus package, also in a high availability context. Ansible Keepalived Role Ansible role that sets up Keepalived for high availabilty. Ansible Redis Role Ansible role for setting up a highly available Redis cluster. Ansible HAProxy role Ansible role to set up HAProxy to be used as a load balancer. Ansible GitLab-Runner role Ansible role for deploying GitLab-Runner (optimized for Openstack). GitLab-Runner for Power GitLab-Runner packages for the ppc64le architecture.Contributions2022 Molecule Podman Plugin - Fix missing playbooks in the PyPI wheel Kira Dependencies Bot: Bump ruby version from 2.7.5 to 2.7.6 Get rid of bundler deprecation warning Ansible Role Certbot Fix snap symlink task failing in initial dry-run Ansible Role Docker Fix docker-compose update2021 Gitleaks Fix example in leaky-repo.toml Ansible (community.general) Fix HAProxy draining Ansible Collection Hardening: Add variable to specify SSH host RSA key size fix galaxy action to update local galaxy.yml Ansible Role Elasticsearch Stop plugin install to fail in check mode2020 Python Poetry Respect REUSE spec when including licenses Ansible (community.crypto) openssl_pkcs12 parse action: always changed in check mode Ansible Collection Hardening Use package state present since installed is deprecated" } , { } , { } , { "title" : "Reports", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/reports/", "date" : "", "content" : "ReportsScientific Advisory Board 4th Feedback Report of SAB, Aug 2023 (internal) 3nd Feedback Report of SAB, Aug 2022 2nd Feedback Report of SAB, Aug 2021 1st Feedback Report of SAB, May 2020Internal DocumentsThe access to the following documents (drafts) is currently partly restricted to HIFIS members.HIFIS Annual Reports Annual report for 2024 Annual report for 2023 Annual report for 2022 Annual report for 2021 Annual report for 2020 Annual report for 2019Misc Folder with the majority of HIFIS presentations HIFIS Working Groups" } , { "title" : "HIFIS Timeline (2019-2024)", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/roadmap/", "date" : "", "content" : "" } , { } , { "title" : "Research Software Directory <i class="fas fa-external-link-alt"></i>", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/services/software/rsd/", "date" : "", "content" : "" } , { "title" : "HIFIS for Research Software Engineers", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/services/software/rse_benefit/", "date" : "", "content" : "HIFIS supports Research Software Engineering with Education &amp; Training, Consulting, Platform and Community Services. Education &amp; Training We offer courses, materials, and workshops to help you in getting started, or to boost your engineering practices. Check out the HIFIS Events page or the HIDA course catalog for upcoming HIFIS courses and events. Course material is available for use and reuse under a Creative Commons License. Cant find exactly what youre looking for? Talk to us directly. Consulting HIFIS offers free-of-charge consulting as a service to research groups under the Helmholtz umbrella. We can help you to deal with specific licensing issues, pointing out solutions on how to improve your software or setting up a new projects. We are also very happy to discuss other software engineering topics such as software engineering process in general. We kindly ask you to fill out a few questions to request a consultation. Request a consultation now! Platform and Cloud Services for Research Software Development We provide a sustainable, well integrated, easy-to-use Technology Infrastructure and Cloud Service Portfolio for scientific software. For an overview, have a look at our Cloud Services Portal. We offer the Helmholtz Codebase to all Helmholtz, disregarding the centre affiliation. A feature overview is available here. In addition, a chat service to foster team communication is available for all of Helmholtz. Communities We build and foster communities to support the necessary cultural change in science when dealing with research software. To support findability and reusability of research software, we established a Helmholtz-wide Research Software Directory (RSD). The Helmholtz RSD is accessible under helmholtz.software. In addition, we implement the Helmholtz Software Spotlights as the public face of the Helmholtz Network for Research Software Engineering. The collection is intended to become a flagship of the Helmholtz Association for research software that appeals equally to research, citizens, industry and politics. All details are available on the Community page. Queries, comments and suggestions If you have suggestions or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Contact us! Images by Katerina Limpitsouni via undraw.co" } , { "title" : "Meet Sam the Scientist!", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/newsletter/2022-07/sam_july/", "date" : "", "content" : "Sams Story Hey, I am Sam Scientist and I work at a Helmholtz Centre somewhere in Germany. Ill appear time and again and take you with me into the world of HIFIS. You will hear about the offers that I have had the pleasure of getting to know and use. Be curious, there is a lot of useful stuff in HIFIS.How it all beginsRight now Im really happy as I got the funding confirmation for a new project!I want to start this soon with some colleagues who work both at another Helmholtz Centre as well as at an external institution.At lunch, I found a flyer at the cafeteria, describing some of the tools and services HIFIS is offering.I wonder how HIFIS can help me and what those Helmholtz Federated IT Services are all about.The claim is to offer Services for Science Collaboration made easy: that sounds promising. Well, lets take a look at hifis.net HIFIS for Scientists sounds promising, it describes the life cycle of research.Tools to set up and plan a project are all offered at the Helmholtz Cloud Portal, lets see what is there.As it is early on in the project, we need to discuss a lot with everybody involved and possibly even would like to easily contact and involve experts from other groups.The chat service Mattermost seems like a good idea:We could also share small documents, pictures, links and everything else that is going to come up during the work. I decide to try it for the communication in the project group.So, how does this work? I log in via the Helmholtz AAI, which is easy, as I only need my institutional account information and there is this tutorial to walk me through every step. That will be helpful to get the others on board, I guess, so Ill send everyone the link.But I wonder how I get those not affiliated with Helmholtz on board? I write a mail to the HIFIS support and the answer is really pleasing :Sometimes the login via the home organization does not work yet, especially for non-Helmholtz partners.But there are the social providers Google, Orcid or GitHub for this case, so it will be for them as easy as for me, phew!Just what we need: Software Development in TeamsAs Research Software Engineering will be an important part of our project, we need a place to store it, work collaboratively on the code and ensure version control.I have been working with GitLabs before, so its really cool to find a version suited for us Helmholtz-based scientists here: the Helmholtz Codebase.Again, the Helmholtz AAI provides the access and the account is set up automatically right after the log in. Awesome, what a relief for our group to have only one login for several services at once.I spend some time to set up the project as I know already a bit about the software.But there is an open tab left from when I read the service description: HIFIS Events, which lists past events and contains a link to the upcoming courses. There, a course covering Foundations of Research Software Publication is offered in November.Thats perfect for getting everyone in the project on the same page with this tool!Im really excited to have such a good setup for the project within a few minutes. Next time, Ill tell you how we go on from here!Text by Lisa Klaffki, Illustrations by Lorna Schtte." } , { "title" : "Meet Sam the Scientist! Chapter 2", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/newsletter/2022-10/sam_october/", "date" : "", "content" : "Sams Analysis ProjectDo you remember me from the last newsletter?Im Sam Scientist.When we last met, I was just starting my new research project.I collaborate with some colleagues: one is based at another Helmholtz centre, and we teamed up with two researchers outside the Helmholtz universe.Slowing down Data Analysis by HandIn the first weeks, we were pretty excited, like in the first week of a new semester at university.We set up new projects at the Helmholtz Codebase, renamed them once or twice and fleshed out the timetables from the proposal.Now, some routine has set in. In the meantime, my colleagues need to study some video material, which is quite tiresome.They take each frame and analyse it with ImageJ2.Some images contain all the exciting stuff, of which they take notes.However, many frames are in between stills and must be filtered out.Your eyes and brain get exhausted and bored over time.We discussed this approach in our weekly meeting: A quick estimate showed that this is using up too many resources overall.We need to find a way to do this faster to concentrate on the scientific outcomes.Speeding up with a Script but its old and faultyFrom my masters thesis, I have a program that could handle this task.Maybe I should revisit it and get it running.I could help out my co-workers.Its old code, and Im sure I never created enough documentation.I should have made it more understandable to my future Me.Yep. I just checked.Its awful, to be honest.But as I complained about my dilemma over a coffee,my supervisor pointed out that HIFIS offers not only cloud services but also consulting for research software projects,which is precisely what I need.I hadnt thought about contacting them because it sounds so big and serious,and my program feels relatively tiny and student-ish.Who are you gonna call? HIFIS Consulting!HIFIS Consulting offers free-of-charge consulting to research groups within Helmholtz.This happens through a defined process.For the first contact, they provide a short questionnaire, which asks for a quick introduction to the project and problem at hand, the Helmholtz affiliation and the accessibility of the code.After this introduction, the form gets into details, e.g. project status, field of research, and how many people will use and/or contribute to the project.This ensures the request is directed towards a consultant with knowledge and expertise in the required areas.After reassurance from my supervisor that my problem was within the scope of consulting, I filled out the request form and was amazed that it was done so quickly.I click Submit . Now I wait. A consultant will get in touch with me.The process is laid down in detail in the HIFIS Consulting Handbook.The website gives an overview of what will happen: Together with the consultant, I identify a plan of action to solve my issues.They offer ongoing support but might advise on tools or give a recommendation for special software.HIFIS also conducts training sessions, which I already learned when I sent my team to the GitLab course.In the numerous consultations, the consultants gather a lot of experience and share this information.A look at the awesome-rse list is therefore always worthwhile.Sneak View into the FutureSome weeks later: My code runs, and my colleagues are using it with good results. Cool!I might even showcase it in the Helmholtz Software Spotlights as I have cleaned it up.But for now, were still doing our research, but better: more efficient, more sustainable.We can concentrate on the detailed analysis of more complex and essential frames." } , { } , { "title" : "HIFIS for Scientists", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/services/overall/scientists_benefit/", "date" : "", "content" : "HIFIS supports scientific projects with IT resources, services, consulting and expertise from the collection, storage, linking and analysis of research data to the publication of the results.Particular focus is placed on the topic of research software development. Set up and plan your projects HIFIS provides a multitude of Helmholtz Cloud Services that are extremely useful to set up the collaboration environment with your scientific partners. For starters, these services include versatile tools for document sharing, collaborative editing, event management, chat, survey creation and analysis, as well as project management. The complete list and all further information can be found at the Helmholtz Cloud Portal. Data gathering, processing and testing Collect and process your data with HIFIS provided Compute and Storage Ressources. HIFIS sustainably protects sensitive data by storing and processing all data in Helmholtz-owned data centres. Test and automate your workflows using best practices in Continuous Integration and Deployment, in order to increase reliability and development speed. Have a look at our tutorials on our Learning Materials on best-practices of Software Engineering. Further, you are invited to check out our HIFIS Education &amp; Training programme, aiming at employees who are looking for further trainings in the field of research software development. Both entry-level and advanced courses are available. Consolidation of your Research Today, there is hardly a scientific project that can be done without the support of scientific software. Be it software packages developed in-house or third-party applications which are used for the acquisition of scientific knowledge: The quality, traceability, and reproducibility of research depend to a large extent on those software packages. HIFIS therefore supports research software development with a wide range of services. Helmholtz Software Consulting is an individual and free offer for all researchers of the Helmholtz Association. We will help you with a broad range of topics around research software engineering, open source, or questions about the implementation of new or existing software projects. Publication and Re-use HIFIS provides a services for sustainably making the results of your research data accessible. This includes a Cloud Service for Publishing Research Data and Metadata , with DOI/PID indexing, as well as a (yet prototypic) Storage Service. Our Consulting Service can help you with questions on licensing and re-use of your software projects. Queries, comments and suggestions If you have suggestions or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Contact us! Images by Lorna Sch&uuml;tte." } , { } , { "title" : "Search in hifis.net", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/search/", "date" : "", "content" : "{% if site.baseurl != '/' %}{% assign base_url = site.baseurl %}{% else %}{% assign base_url = '' %}{% endif %}# Search in hifis.net{:.text-success}Type in your keywords.Maximum number of results shown is 20.For this search functionality, [Simple Jekyll Search](https://github.com/christian-fei/Simple-Jekyll-Search) is used, which is released under [MIT license](https://github.com/christian-fei/Simple-Jekyll-Search/blob/master/LICENSE.md).## Missing anything?If you have suggestions, questions, or queries, please don't hesitate to write us. Contact us! " } , { } , { } , { } , { } , { "title" : "Software Services", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/services/software-overview/", "date" : "", "content" : "The service portfolio of HIFIS Software is structured into 4 differentcomponents that seamlessly interoperate with each other:Education & Training, Technology, Consulting and Community Services.{%- assign posts = site.pages | where_exp: "item", "item.path contains 'services/software/'" -%}{% for post in posts -%}{% include cards/post_card_image.html post=post excerpt=true %}{% endfor -%}" } , { "title" : "Software<br>Spotlights <i class="fas fa-external-link-alt"></i>", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/services/software/spotlights/", "date" : "", "content" : "" } , { } , { "title" : "Subscribe to HIFIS lists", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/subscribe/", "date" : "", "content" : "Subscription linksSee here for links to news and announcements:{% include subscription_lists.md %}You may also check:Our [**blog posts page**]({% link posts/index.html %}).Spread the word and share the links. Thank you!" } , { "title" : "Surveys", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/services/overall/survey/", "date" : "", "content" : " We as HIFIS provide various services to improve collaboration workflows within and outside of Helmholtz and in particular to support researchers with their computational work. To map out effective long-term strategies for building up new and improving existing services, we are surveying Helmholtz employees about their current workflows and working environments on a yearly basis. We are particularly interested in tools that are currently used and trends towards novel tools that could complement the Helmholtz portfolio. To get an overview about the current status quo, evaluate our work, and to keep up with the ever changing requirements and demands of modern research, the first HIFIS Survey was rolled out in 2019 and will be conducted approximately every year. HIFIS Survey Analysis The focus of our analysis is determined by the main questions of the different work packages and addresses a number of aspects such as "most popular programming languages" or "preferred materials for learning". Based on the results we extend our service repertoire or update our existing services. HIFIS Survey Results We publish the results of our analysis to work as transparent as possible and to encourage feedback from the Helmholtz community. You can find the results of previous surveys here: 2020 HIFIS Community Results HIFIS Consulting Results HIFIS Technology Results Programming Languages and VCS 2021 Helmholtz Cloud Survey 2025 on Service Ideas: Report 2025 HIFIS Survey 2025 Information and Report Images by Katerina Limpitsouni via undraw.co" } , { } , { "title" : "Education & Training", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/services/software/training/", "date" : "", "content" : "The purpose of the Education & Training component is to offer courses, materials, and workshops to help you in getting started, or to boost your engineering practices. The HIFIS Education team consists of small teams of instructors distributed across the DLR, GFZ and HZDR centres. These are supplemented by helpers from the entire Helmholtz Association, depending on the possibilities.The programme is tailored to the needs of software development in a scientific context. Beginners' courses are regularly offered on important basic skills such as programming in Python, dealing with version control or publishing scientific software. The existing courses are also increasingly being expanded to include more advanced topics. For example, object-oriented programming or using Gitlab CI for project automation are now also part of the portfolio.Check out the __[HIDA course catalog][hifis-workshops]__ for upcoming HIFIS courses and events on a range of software-related topics.Additional events will also be listed on the __[Helmholtz Indico][hifis-events]__.On this page, you can find:- [Workshop materials](#workshop-materials) we use, - [Tutorials](#tutorials), - [Guidelines](#guidelines), - [External resources](#external-resources) to help you get started.[hifis-events]: Can't find exactly what you're looking for? HIFIS Education also offers customised courses. Send us a request with your need and an instructor will contact you to discuss the specific content and organisation in detail:{% include contact_us/mini.html %}{% include helpdesk/mini.html %}# Workshop MaterialsOur workshop material is available for self-guided learning or as a basis for your own workshops.Its use and reuse is permitted under a Creative Commons License (see the footers on the workshop pages).**Note:** Workshops marked as _(legacy)_ have been replaced by a newer offer.The entries in the table are retained here to keep older materials available for reference.If you find issues or would like to contribute, feel free to take a look at the respective repositories.## General| Topic | Materials | Repository || ------------------- |--------------------------------------------| ----------- || Research Software Publication | (In preparation) | [Repository][sw-publication-repo] || Container Virtualization in Science | [Material][containers-in-science-material] | [Repository][containers-in-science-repo] || Event Management with Indico | [Material][indico-material] | [Repository][indico-repo] || Getting started with Markdown Flavours | (In preparation) | [Repository][markdown-repo] |[containers-in-science-material]: {{ "workshop-materials/general-container/" | relative_url }}[containers-in-science-repo]: https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud/hifis/software/education/hifis-workshops/workshop-using-containers-in-science[indico-material]: {{ "workshop-materials/tool-indico/" | relative_url }}[indico-repo]: https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud/hifis/software/education/hifis-workshops/workshop-event-management-with-indico[markdown-repo]: https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud/hifis/software/education/hifis-workshops/workshop-getting-started-with-markdown-flavors[sw-publication-repo]: https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud/hifis/software/education/hifis-workshops/foundations-of-research-software-publication## Python| Topic | Materials | Repository ||--------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|| First Steps in Python | [Material][python-first-steps-material]| [Repository][python-first-steps-repo]|| Object-Oriented Programming | [Material][python-oop-material] | [Repository][python-oop-repo] || Data Processing with _Pandas_ (legacy) | [Material][python-pandas-material] | [Repository][python-pandas-repo] || Data Visualization with _Matplotlib_ (legacy) | [Material][python-matplotlib-material] | [Repository][python-matplotlib-repo] || Introduction to _Pandas_ and _Matplotlib_ | [Material][python-pandas-mpl-material] | [Repository][python-pandas-mpl-repo] || Test Automation | (In preparation) | [Repository][python-test-repo] |[python-first-steps-material]: {{ "workshop-materials/python-first-steps/" | relative_url }}[python-first-steps-repo]: https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud/hifis/software/education/hifis-workshops/python-first-steps[python-matplotlib-material]: {{ "workshop-materials/python-matplotlib/" | relative_url}}[python-matplotlib-repo]: https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud/hifis/software/education/hifis-workshops/workshop-matplotlib[python-oop-material]: {{ "workshop-materials/python-oop/" | relative_url }}[python-oop-repo]: https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud/hifis/software/education/hifis-workshops/workshop-oop-in-python[python-pandas-material]: {{ "workshop-materials/python-pandas/" | relative_url }}[python-pandas-repo]: https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud/hifis/software/education/hifis-workshops/workshop-pandas[python-pandas-mpl-material]: {{ "workshop-materials/python-pandas-and-matplotlib/" | relative_url }}[python-pandas-mpl-repo]: https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud/hifis/software/education/hifis-workshops/python-pandas-and-matplotlib[python-test-repo]: https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud/hifis/software/education/hifis-workshops/test-automation-with-python## Git and GitLab| Topic | Materials | Repository ||-----------------------------------------|--------------------------------|----------------------------------|| Introduction to Git and GitLab | [Material][git-intro-material] | [Repository][git-intro-repo] || Project Management in GitLab | (In preparation) | [Repository][gitlab-basics-repo] || GitLab for Software Development in Teams| (In preparation) | [Repository][gitlab-teams-repo] || Continuous Integration with GitLab CI | [Material][gitlab-ci-material] | [Repository][gitlab-ci-repo] |[git-intro-material]: {{ "workshop-materials/git-intro/" | relative_url }}[git-intro-repo]: https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud/hifis/software/education/hifis-workshops/git-and-gitlab-courses/introduction-to-git-and-gitlab[gitlab-basics-repo]: https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud/hifis/software/education/hifis-workshops/workshop-project-management-with-gitlab[gitlab-ci-material]: {{ "workshop-materials/gitlab-ci/" | relative_url }}[gitlab-ci-repo]: https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud/hifis/software/education/hifis-workshops/gitlab-ci/workshop-materials[gitlab-teams-repo]: https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud/hifis/software/education/hifis-workshops/software-development-for-teams## Further MaterialsNot all of our workshop materials are published in a nice fashion (yet).You can find the complete set of materials in the [Helmholtz Codebase](https://codebase.helmholtz.cloud/hifis/software/education/hifis-workshops).## Requesting WorkshopsWould you like to have a workshop on a specific topic for your team?Feel free to contact us.## Other Recommended RSE Material* [HiRSE Summer of Testing](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzCxBiTw83uil4uoIhi3wlR3qiiulmKJ0) - This is a series of videos focussing on testing in the context of Research Software Engineering.* [Awesome Educational Resources for Research Software Engineering](https://github.com/hifis-net/awesome-rse-education) - This is a curated list of educational resources for Research Software Engineering.# Tutorials{%- assign posts = site.categories['Tutorial'] | where: "lang", "en" | sort_natural: "title" -%}{% for post in posts -%}{% include cards/post_card.html post=post exclude_date=true %}{% endfor -%}# Guidelines{%- assign posts = site.categories['Guidelines'] | where: "lang", "en" | sort_natural: "title" -%}{% for post in posts -%}{% include cards/post_card.html post=post exclude_date=true %}{% endfor -%}# External ResourcesThese articles are written by third party organisations, and they aren't necessarily focussed on research software development, but they represent a set of industry best practices for writing software, sharing code, and building software communities.We've brought these together here to try and answer some common questions that researchers often ask us.### How Do I Share My Project?* **Licensing** - Open source projects need an open source license - but how do I do that, and what license should I use? For a simple way to get started, try [Choose A License][choose-a-license], and for a more in-depth guide to creating open source projects, try [The Open Source Guide][open-source-guide/legal].* **Citations** - It's important to prepare software projects for citation as part of sustainable research software development. Simple ways to both prepare for citation, and cite other researchers' software, are described at this [Research Software Citation][research-software/citation] guide.* **Documentation** - Writing good documentation can be hard, but Write the Docs have put together a [Beginner's Guide to Writing Documentation][write-the-docs/beginners-guide], starting with a single README file.If you're just starting out with this topic, and you have some code you want to make ready for publication/open source sharing, we run regular workshops where we can help you with all of these topics.Click to [**see all our workshops**][hifis-workshops] and find out more.[choose-a-license]: [open-source-guide/legal]: [research-software/citation]: [write-the-docs/beginners-guide]: [hifis-workshops]: ### What Are Best Practices for Research Software?* **Ethical Software** - Ethical research practices should also be visible in how we write research software. [The Turing Way][turing-way] is a guide to these best practices in data science, particularly reproducibility.* **Software Layout** - Common patterns for software aim to make it as easy as possible for reviewers or new team members to understand how a project works. One pattern is using common project folder layouts. The [Cookiecutter Data Science][cookiecutter-data-science] project provides a way to get started quickly on new data science projects in a manner that other people will be able to recognise and understand.* **Committing** - Reading through commits in a shared project can be a valuable way of understanding changes that you or other people have made, and figuring out when a bug appeared. [How to Write a Git Commit Message][git-commit-message] explains how to describe the contents of a commit in a clean and readable way. Also, as a deep read, try [My favourite Git commit][my-favourite-commit].[turing-way]: [cookiecutter-data-science]: [git-commit-message]: [my-favourite-commit]: Still Got Questions? Feel free to contact us with what other questions you want answered, and what articles you'd find helpful. " } , { } , { "title" : "Community Use Cases", "category" : "", "tags" : "", "url" : "/usecases/", "date" : "", "content" : "This is a preliminary list of Community Use Cases of HIFIS Services successfully applied to Researcher's daily work. More will be added soon. 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