Your role: Principal Investigator (PI)

Introduction

As a Principal Investigator (PI), you may have recently secured (or are in the process of applying for) project funding that includes software development. Increasingly, funders are requiring a Software Management Plan (SMP), encouraging PIs to proactively consider key aspects of software development and long-term sustainability from the very start of the project.

Software development & quality responsibilities, challenges & tasks

As a Principal Investigator (PI), your responsibilities in relation to software development and quality may include:

• Developing a Software Management Strategy - create a clear plan for how software will be developed, maintained, and shared throughout the project. This includes defining sustainability goals, allocating resources, and budgeting appropriately—often formalised in a Software Management Plan required by many funders.
• Incorporating the FAIR research software principles in the software development life-cycle — ensuring that your software is Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable to support transparency, collaboration, and long-term impact. European Commission (Horizon Europe) and many national funding bodies strongly encourage adherence to the FAIR principles for both data and software.
• Establishing roles and responsibilities - identify and assign software-related roles within your team (e.g., developer, maintainer, reviewer, documenter, tester, early adopter) to foster accountability, collaboration, and efficient workflows across the project lifecycle.
• Addressing ethical, environmental, and legal considerations (also known as ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) in industry) early:
  • Ethical: promote responsible use of software and data, ensure transparency, and consider contributing improvements or reusable components back to the community.
  • Environmental: be aware of the energy demands and carbon footprint of your software - e.g. opt for energy-efficient algorithms, cloud providers using renewable energy.
  • Legal: ensure proper licensing, manage intellectual property appropriately, and comply with license terms when using third-party software.
• Ensuring reproducibility - plan for reproducibility by documenting your software, workflows, and computational environment thoroughly. This allows others to verify, reuse, and build upon your work.
• Promoting openness and reuse - wherever possible, make your software and code publicly accessible to enable transparency, foster collaboration, and reduce duplication of effort. This aligns with open science principles and is often required or encouraged by funding bodies.

Software development & quality guidance

Key guidance for PIs on research software development:

• How to Fund Research Software Development by Software Sustainability Institute - this guide offers practical advice on budgeting for software development, integrating Research Software Engineers (RSEs) into your team, and planning for sustainability.
• How to Fund Research Software or Cost It into Grants by University of Bristol - this resource outlines strategies for including software development costs in grant proposals, ensuring that software efforts are adequately funded and recognized.
• Resources for PIs by Imperial College London - Imperial College offers resources highlighting the importance of including a well-thought-out Software Management Plan (SMP) in grant applications to maximize the impact of research software.
• Writing and Using a Software Management Plan by Software Sustainability Institute This guide provides detailed instructions on creating an SMP, helping you formalize structures and goals to ensure your software is accessible and reusable.
• Checklist for a Software Management Plan by University of Edinburgh - a practical checklist to help you define structures and goals for your research software, ensuring clarity on development, delivery, and sustainability.
• Software for Research Communities by UKRI - UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) provides information on funding opportunities that support the development and maintenance of research software, emphasising the importance of software in research.
• Software development best practices for life sciences by ELIXIR - producing and promoting information standards and best practices in software development.
• Data Stewardship Wizard by ELIXIR now includes software planning templates and is being extended into shaping Software Management Wizard
• FAIR Principles for Research Software (FAIR4RS Working Group)
• How to monitor the environmental impact of software

Contributors