Common Efforts beyond Experiments: Research Software Collaborations

The scientific communities in a range of physical sciences have traditionally built collaborations around experiments and facilities or labs. While much effort has naturally focused on collaborations for the construction of hardware and instrumentation, software has also become a critical element to design and maximize the physics discovery potential of large data intensive science projects. To fully realize the discovery potential of experiments in physics, particularly in the high-energy physics, nuclear physics and particle astrophysics communities, a new generation of software algorithms and approaches is being developed. The software developed in many cases is not specific to an experiment or a facility, and can sometimes span several areas of research. This talk will discuss some of the collaborations and initiatives that have been established in support of international research software collaborations that are beyond experiments, describing some of the mechanisms for fostering these collaborations and inviting a discussion on how to engage and support these into the future. Examples include Data Preservation for High Energy Physics (DPHEP), the HEP Software Foundation (HSF), the HSF-India project, HEPData, and the Particle Data Group (PDG).