Results from our 2024 user survey

In this blog post we summarize the feedback and suggestions collected in our survey from May 2024

November 21, 2024 - Radovan Bast

About this survey

In May 2024 we sent out a survey to the 20 contacts we had at that time from weekly office hours support sessions. We received 15 responses and this blog post summarizes the findings.

For each plot we also provide a summary in text form right below each plot. Further below you can find answers to free-form questions as well as suggestions for improvement which we received from the survey participants.

We are very grateful for the feedback and suggestions and we will use them to improve our service and training in the future.

The findings from this survey are very encouraging and we are happy to see that our support is appreciated and that it has a positive impact on the research projects at UiT The Arctic University of Norway. We will use these results not only to improve our services but also to communicate the value of our work to the university management and other stakeholders.

How did you hear about our research software engineering support?

Answers (alt-text summary):

  • From colleague: 6 answers
  • From course, workshop, or seminar: 6 answers
  • Newsletter: 1 answer
  • Other: 2 answers

How likely is it that you would recommend our support to a friend of colleague?

0 means definitely not. 10 means definitely yes.

Answers (alt-text summary):

  • 7: 1 answer
  • 9: 2 answers
  • 10: 12 answers

In your estimate, how much time have you saved as a result of working with us?

Answers (alt-text summary):

  • Hours: 3 answers
  • Days: 3 answers
  • Weeks: 5 answers
  • Months: 4 answers

What could we have done better? What should we change in the way we offer support?

  • The only slight problem I had was I had to wait a few days for the open office hours.

  • I think that the support that you provide is truly unique and invaluable. I cannot think of any other way it could have been better, except for being more of it. What you offer is so needed by so many scientists. A lot of time and money could have been saved if more scientists got this kind of help from you.

  • I think some more hours/days where students could get would be helpful (currently I think only Wednesday is available).

  • Creating a user community forum where users can share experiences, tips, and solutions with each other could foster a collaborative environment and reduce the load on direct support.

  • Not sure. I already love this service.

  • Increased capacity for statistical consulting.

  • I am very satisfied with the help that I got, so this is an advice on how you can do an even better job for some of your 'clients': You use vocabulary that I struggle to understand, and it takes quite some effort from me to make you talk in a way that is useful for me. Also, you offer help that is far beyond my capacities. I am happy to discuss this with you if feel that this is a field where you can improve. Just drop me an email, and we can have a chat.

  • I had to switch from working with one person to working with another because of sick leave and holidays. The first person was very helpful right from the get-go. But the second person took too much time explaining complex things I didn't need to know since I was just learning python. So it would be better to assess my prior knowledge and experience with a program before diving in.

  • It was an overall great experience.

In case our support was helpful, would you mind leaving a testimonial for our website?

  • I've been working with and am still working with open sourcing of a Fortran source code which would be near impossible without the software engineering support group.

  • The Research software engineering (RSE) group helped me to improve the efficiency and performance of my code (initially written in MATLAB) which was taking approximately 4 weeks to complete the execution. Radovan Bast, a member of RSE, helped me to migrate the code to Python during which I got the opportunity to learn about new functionalities and features of pandas dataframe. Additionally, in a very short span of time I learned how to organize my code much more efficiently to enhance readability and reproducibility. The final result of our combined effort was that we were able to bring down the execution time to less than an hour!

  • I have been using the online cluster to run my OpenFOAM simulations for my PhD research, and I couldn't be happier with the support provided. The support team is knowledgeable and responsive, always ready to help me navigate through any challenges I face. I highly recommend this service to any researcher looking for reliable and efficient computational resources.

  • Great support. Saved me weeks and weeks of time. Super helpful and friendly.

  • RSE helped me adapt my analysis to run on the HPC computing cluster at UiT. This cut the time to run my analysis from many days down to hours. I look forward

  • I got help from the RSE Group structuring my code, which has been very helpful for the specific project, but also for future projects.

  • The RSE group members are really smart and innovative when it comes to coding and they’re able to communicate these solutions and the reasoning behind them in a way that makes sense for me so that I can apply it in my future coding activities.

  • The RSE team made an incredible effort to both understand my problem, and explain possible solutions to it in a way that I (as a relatively non-technical person) could understand. When I contacted RSE, I was trying to estimate a model with Bayesian estimation techniques on highly skewed data. The code took forever to run, and locked up my computer. I couldn't work on anything else for several hours (sometimes days) when I ran the code. The analysis was exploratory, meaning that I had to run several versions of the model to find the right one. With the help from RSE, I found a way to speed up the code to just a few minutes. This enabled me to trouble shoot the model and move forward in my analysis. Without them, I would not have been able to finish the analysis! Thanks a million!

  • The support offered by the research and software engineering team at UiT is immensely useful to anyone who wants to integrate coding into their research. Direct access to knowledgeable people allows for quick and personal assistance that helped me turn an idea into reality. In my case, the support was focused on optimizing code and as a result I was able to generate results within minutes instead of hours.

Has anything else changed in how you write code for your research after working with us?

  • I now know how to manage some Python environments better. Not only has my problem been fixed, but also I know why what I was doing didn't work so I will not run into a similar problem down the road.

  • I'm using GitHub.

  • I would like to answer that everything has changed in how I write (and work with) code. Alas, I have not yet been diligent enough to implement everything I have learned. But this has been a game-changer for me. After 10+ years as an environmental chemist working with legacy code, without any programming background/skills, a new world has opened up to me. Finally, I understand so much more. This has not just helped me with my specific programming project. This has changed everything in how I work with and think about my code.

  • Yes definitely! I always now use black to enhance readability. Also I have now completely migrated to Python from Matlab for my scripts - I can see the difference. Thank you for the initial push.

  • Yes, I now place a greater emphasis on thorough documentation and using version control systems (e.g., Git) to manage my code and case setups. This has greatly improved the reproducibility and collaborative aspects of my research.

  • Yes. Started ALWAYS using environments and switched completely to python. Due to the help in getting started and setting it up.

  • I am inspired to better document my code and structure it in a more self-contained way.

  • Too early to say, but I hope I can continue the good habits in my next project.

  • I have become more aware of the nuances of coding and code optimization. Furthermore, I have learned a great deal about who and what to ask when trying to write code that I want other people to use.