About
The Research Software Development (RSD) team is a small group of professional software developers. The team directly develops software for researchers, as well as assists and supports software development by researchers.
As part of its recent inclusion in the Digital Research Commons Pilot, the Research Software Development (RSD) team is transitioning to a revised and expanded mandate. We are presently engaging with groups across campus to identify needs and gaps related to research software development, as well as future resources, training, and solutions to be developed.
To see who we are, check out our Team page. To seen what we’ve done, check out our History page. To see where we’re going, check out our We Are Looking For You page.
If you are a faculty, staff, or student involved in research software development, or in need of a solution or support, reach out to us through the Contact the RSD button above.
RSD Team
Information Box Group
David Beardwood
Lead, Research Software Development, Digital Research Commons Pilot, University Library
Elias Eid
Research Software Developer, Digital Research Commons Pilot, University Library
Ola Hejazi
Research Software Developer, Digital Research Commons Pilot, University Library
Kelvin Lee
Research Software Developer, Digital Research Commons Pilot, University Library
RSD History
The Research Software Development (RSD) team originated from a pilot project in 2018, made possible by initial funding from the Canadian Network for the Advancement of Research Industry and Education (CANARIE) and the Office of the Vice President, Research.
As of 2023, the RSD team has transitioned to the Digital Research Commons Pilot (and an administrative home in the McMaster University Library) as part of its three-year initiative to build a more connected, capable, and researcher-focused approach to digital research support.
Past Development Projects
The Research Software Development team has been involved in the development of the following software projects:
MacLIMS Learn More About MacLIMS
The McMaster University Lab Information Management System pilot project.
This project continues to be maintained and supported until 2024. For more information, please visit the MacLIMS project page.
WARIO
The Workfow Automation for Research IO (WARIO) platform aids researchers in creating automated pipelines for their research tasks using a visual programming like interface.
EEG Toolkit for WARIO
A toolkit developed for the WARIO platform for working with EEG data.
LFSpy
Scikit-learn pipeline compatible library for performing the Localized Feature Selection machine learning algorithm.
VoiceLab
Application built on WARIO for the analysis and manipulation of voice files.
Back2Play Neurocognition App
Mobile application for assist researchers in studying rehabilitation of people with brain injuries.
Return to Research Approval Dashboard
A web portal for coordinating the return of researchers to the McMaster campus during the COVID pandemic.
Canada Research Continuity Emergency Fund (CRCEF) Portal
A web portal to coordinate access to CRCEF funds for researchers who were impacted by the COVID pandemic.
ACCIS Autism Study App
Mobile application for delivering a research experiment to children with autism.
Motion Capture Toolbox
Application to capture human movement using Qualisys Track Manager (QTM).
Opticflow Tracking Toolbox
Application to capture human movement using opticflow.
Brain Computer Interface Application
Application to deliver an experiment of a generalized brain-computer interface using binary neurofeedback.
Musical Illusion Software
Application to demonstrate a musical illusion.
Campus-Wide Participant Management Software
Participant information management being explored for use at McMaster University.
Tablet Reaction Time Testing App
This work was funded by a Local Software Support Pilot Initiative Grant from CANARIE, and NSERC.
RSD: We Are Looking For You
If you are a faculty, staff, or student involved in research software development, or in need of a solution or support, we are looking for you.
What do we do?
DRCP: We are part of the Digital Research Commons Pilot (DRCP), a three-year initiative to build a more connected, capable, and researcher-focused approach to digital research support.
RSD: As part of its recent inclusion in the DRCP, the Research Software Development (RSD) team is transitioning to a revised and expanded mandate. We are here to directly develop software projects, as well as develop resources and actively support software development that is happening across Research.
Why are we looking for you?
We are presently engaging with groups across campus to identify needs and gaps related to research software development. We are looking to identify resources, training, and solutions that we can develop to help everyone in Research develop better, quicker, higher quality, more durable software solutions to assist research.
What are we doing now?
MacLIMS: We extended and currently maintain the McMaster Lab Information Management System pilot project. MacLIMS is designed to reduce the administrative burden in managing core research platforms and to facilitate and increase the use of these platforms for everyone across McMaster. This and other past projects are listed on our History page.
Automated Speech Recognition: We are currently exploring an Automated Speech Recognition (ASR) service. We have identified a potential need for a secure, on-premise transcription service for video and audio recordings, such as for human participant research interviews. This project may have particular value for highly sensitive content that cannot be outsourced to be transcribed by external, third-party services. This project is a collaboration between RSD, RDM, UTS ISS, and MREB teams.
Sample Projects: It can be difficult and time consuming for developers to interpret documentation quickly and correctly to implement common functionality in their own custom systems. To this end we are developing some sample projects in different languages (e.g. JavaScript, PHP) to demonstrate exactly what to code where. These sample projects include secure authentication (single sign-on (SSO), OAuth2 and LDAP), AODO standards, McMaster branding.
Workshops: We are developing workshops to help use software development tools, including project management (PM), system setup (e.g. containers via Docker) and version control systems (VCS), to name a few.
What might we do?
We are looking to develop resources that are valuable for software developers to help facilitate common tasks. If we can do that by pointing to existing McMaster or external resources, we will. If these resources need supplementing, such as with practical examples, we’ll create that documentation. If we need to develop new resources, we’ll do that too.
Some areas that we’re exploring:
- Guidance on version control systems (e.g. Git, GitHub, GitLab)
- Guidance on ticketing systems (e.g. Git*, Jira -ServiceDesk -SourceCode -Cloud)
- Guidance on system/service stacks (e.g. LAMP: Linux OS, Apache web server, MariaDB database, PHP programming language)
- Guidance on database systems (e.g. MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite)
- Guidance on development stacks (e.g. MEAN, MERN, MEVN JavaScript stacks) and frameworks (e.g. Next.js, Material UI)
- Guidance on software system design (e.g. data modelling, software architectural patterns: MVC, MVVM)
Why do we want to talk to you?
We want to engage with every group we can find in across campus in Research to identify needs and gaps related to research software development. We want to target our efforts to develop resources, training, and solutions that help you.
If you are a faculty, staff, or student involved in research software development, or in need of a solution or support, reach out to us through the Contact the RSD button above.