Scientific programmers develop programs for researchers, requiring academic credentials and programming experience. They must understand researchers’ needs, communicate effectively, and work with research students to develop and test programs. Changes to existing programs require extensive notes and testing.
A scientific programmer is a specially trained information technology professional. There is no need for specific science training, but any experience in this sector would be helpful. There are three main areas of work for a scientific programmer: meeting with scientists and researchers to determine what they need, programming a variety of systems to meet that need, adjusting to changes in the requirements given by the scientists.
To qualify for this type of position, a candidate must have a combination of academic credentials and scientific programming experience. In most cases, the necessary programs must be written from scratch or created by extensively customizing existing tools. A minimum of 10 years of software engineering and lifecycle management is a standard requirement.
Understanding what researchers require is the main role of the scientific programmer. Experience working in a research environment can be very helpful. Among the skills learned in this field, confidentiality, creativity and clear communication are the most important. Researchers are highly competitive and often protect their work from others while it is in the development stage.
Using his in-depth knowledge of a variety of computer languages and operating systems, the scientific programmer is responsible for developing new programs to meet users’ needs. This role involves a significant amount of communication and interaction with a wide range of people. The original requirements may be provided by the principal scientist or investigator, but testing will be performed by research students.
Implementing a new program requires a whole cycle of activities. The first step is to design the exact specifications as understood by the programmer. The program is then developed and tested by the research students. Corrections, revisions and edits are normal in this process. Upon acceptance by research students, the program is provided to the researcher for review. Once tested, it can now be used by the team. Program documentation is often required and may even form part of the research paper if published.
Over time, there are often requests to change existing programs. These changes are usually completed by the original programmer, as he or she is more familiar with the details. As such, the scientific programmer often relies on extensive notes to understand what has been done and what needs to be changed to meet new requirements. Every programming change must go through the same testing process to ensure that the program meets all requirements.
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