TN-16-1_ExcaliburNeptuneCommunityEnvironment
============================================

.. meta::
   :description: technical note

   :keywords: Excalibur-Neptune,report,2047356-TN-16-1,Task,0.3,Community,and,environment,Ben,Dudson,,Peter,Hill,,Ed,Higgins,,David,Dickinson,,and,Steven,Wright,University,of,York,David,Moxey,KCL,October,31,,2022,Contents,1,Executive,summary,2,Community,events,2.1,Met,Oﬃce,organised,events,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,2.2,UKAEA,organised,events,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,2.3,Partner,organised,events,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,3,Community,digital,environment,3.1,Existing,environment,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,3.2,Possible,environment,enhancements,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,3.3,Environment,recommendations,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,4,Summary,5,References,1,Executive,summary,1,2,2,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,In,this,report,we,discuss,ExCALIBUR-Neptune,community,activities,in,the,Oc-,tober,2021,to,October,2022,period,and,the,state,of,the,community,environment,at,the,date,of,this,report.,Numerous,workshops,and,events,have,been,hosted,by,Neptune,project,partners,over,this,period,,providing,a,useful,means,to,help,link,members,from,diﬀerent,groups.,The,digital,tools,set,up,at,the,start,of,the,project,to,support,community,interactions,are,still,in,use,,but,some,suggestions,are,made,to,further,enhance,the,digital,environment,to,increase,engagement,and,to,assist,with,bringing,new,members,up,to,speed.,This,is,likely,to,become,increasingly,important,as,the,project,moves,forwards,and,new,collaborators,join,and,further,stakeholders,emerge.,1,2,Community,events,There,are,three,main,categories,of,community,events,to,discuss,here;,those,organised,by,ExCALIBUR,(i.e.,the,Met,Oﬃce),,those,organised,centrally,by,UKAEA,and,those,organised,by,external,project,partners.,2.1,Met,Oﬃce,organised,events,The,Met,Oﬃce,organised,a,programme-wide,ExCALIBUR,workshop,held,on,the,11th,and,12th,of,July,2022,[1].,The,event,was,primarily,held,in-person,with,some,provision,made,for,remote,participation.,This,was,the,ﬁrst,programme-,wide,event,organised,within,ExCALIBUR,and,provided,a,good,environment,to,connect,the,diﬀerent,project,partners,from,across,ExCALIBUR,activities.,The,agenda,for,the,event,primarily,focussed,on,lightning,talks,but,also,included,some,time,for,small,scale,discussions,via,posters,and,similar.,Recordings,of,the,lightning,talks,are,publicly,available,,providing,a,useful,resource,for,those,unable,to,attend,and,new,project,members.,2.2,UKAEA,organised,events,Within,the,UKAEA,organised,events,there,are,large,workshops,and,small,fre-,quent,project,management,meetings.,A,hybrid,format,workshop,was,held,in,Oc-,tober,2021,with,physical,participation,at,Culham,[2].,This,brought,together,rep-,resentatives,from,the,diﬀerent,project,partners,with,stakeholders,from,UKAEA,,leading,to,interesting,discussions,around,the,progress,made,and,further,input,on,the,science,use,case.,An,in,person,workshop,was,held,at,Cosener’s,house,in,Abingdon,on,the,5th,and,6th,of,September,2022.,As,with,the,2021,event,,there,were,two,primary,objectives:,to,provide,a,venue,for,the,project,partners,to,discuss,details,and,build/strengthen,links,through,summarising,progress,and,goals;,to,engage,with,external,stakeholders,from,UKAEA.,In,particular,,fol-,lowing,the,evolution,of,related,international,projects,,an,initiative,to,develop,an,exhaust,code,has,arisen,within,UKAEA.,This,proposed,code,naturally,has,signiﬁcant,overlap,with,the,physics,and,numerical,approaches,relevant,to,the,ExCALIBUR-Neptune,project.,The,workshop,provided,an,opportunity,to,ex-,plore,the,link,between,these,projects,and,,clearly,,close,collaboration,between,2,these,projects,will,bring,many,beneﬁts.,This,is,likely,to,see,the,community,around,ExCALIBUR-Neptune,further,grow,in,the,future,,which,motivates,some,of,the,suggestions,made,in,section,3.,In,addition,to,large,workshops,,project,management,meetings,are,held,regu-,larly1.,These,provide,an,opportunity,for,representatives,from,UKAEA’s,Nep-,tune,team,and,each,of,the,external,partners,to,meet,and,discuss,progress.,As,well,as,progress,reports,from,the,external,partners,,the,meetings,typically,in-,clude,some,news,announcements,from,UKAEA.,These,meetings,provide,a,use-,ful,means,for,each,of,the,external,partners,to,keep,up,to,date,with,the,work,of,others,and,to,identify,opportunities,for,collaboration,and,further,discussion.,Whilst,one,of,the,primary,purposes,of,these,meetings,is,to,monitor,progress,towards,deliverables,from,the,external,partners,,it,would,perhaps,be,a,useful,addition,to,also,include,an,item,on,the,agenda,for,the,summary,of,progress,and,activities,from,UKAEA,staﬀ,on,the,Neptune,team.,This,may,be,particularly,helpful,for,new,team,members,to,help,contextualise,their,own,work,in,relation,to,the,wider,project,,for,example.,It,can,be,challenging,to,gain,full,attendance,at,these,meetings,due,to,other,immovable,commitments,of,the,project,partners,,such,as,timetabled,teaching.,It,may,be,helpful,to,consider,how,to,record,and,disseminate,the,outcome,of,these,meetings,,for,example,sharing,minutes2,or,dis-,seminating,the,slides,containing,news,items,via,email,(or,other,dissemination,methods,such,as,Slack,,sharepoint,etc.).,2.3,Partner,organised,events,Neptune,project,partners,have,organised,and,run,a,range,of,events,both,specif-,ically,targeted,to,Neptune,members,as,well,as,for,the,wider,ExCALIBUR,(and,beyond),community.,For,example,,the,Nektar++,team,ran,a,multi-day,work-,shop,in,December,2021,for,the,Nektar++,community,and,those,interested,in,the,project,[3].,This,was,advertised,to,,but,not,speciﬁcally,targeting,,the,Nep-,tune,team,members.,A,second,Nektar++,training,event,was,held,on,the,1st,of,August,2022.,This,was,themed,around,project,Neptune,work,and,was,directly,1These,are,typically,held,every,two,weeks,but,over,some,periods,this,may,reduce,to,once,a,month.,2One,would,not,want,to,increase,bureaucratic,overhead,so,this,would,only,be,recommended,if,minutes,are,already,taken.,A,lightweight,alternative,could,be,to,automatically,record,the,Zoom,meeting,and,to,provide,a,shareable,link,to,this,to,those,that,could,not,attend.,3,supported,by,UKAEA.,The,cross-cutting,ExCALIBUR,project,SEAVEA,[4],has,interactions,with,Nep-,tune.,A,large,number,of,workshops,,training,events,and,seminars,are,organised,and,advertised,through,SEAVEA.,These,are,of,clear,interest,to,Neptune,project,members.,SEAVEA,oﬀer,a,mailing,list,which,is,used,to,advertise,these,events.,It,is,recommended,that,Neptune,team,members,consider,signing,up,to,this,mail-,ing,list3,or,a,similar,mailing,list,is,formed,for,Neptune,which,can,rebroadcast,adverts,for,relevant,events.,The,ExCALIBUR,project,also,advertises,relevant,events,through,its,website,at,https://excalibur.ac.uk/news-events/.,The,ExCALIBUR,website,oﬀers,the,ability,to,sign,up,for,to,a,mailing,list,for,news,and,updates,but,active,dissemination,from,the,Neptune,team,to,project,members,may,be,valuable.,3,Community,digital,environment,Since,the,start,of,the,Neptune,project,several,tools,have,been,set,up,in,order,to,build,a,digital,environment,which,supports,the,work,of,Neptune,and,the,interaction,of,its,project,partners.,These,are,discussed,in,the,report,for,task,0.1,[5],and,include:,•,Slack,:,For,informal,discussion,,quick,questions,and,advertising,of,events.,•,GitHub,organisation,:,Hosts,repositories,containing,proxy-apps,,docu-,mentation,and,project,reports.,•,ReadTheDocs,:,Provides,a,searchable,public,website,containing,relevant,documentation.,These,have,all,been,used,since,the,project,began,but,as,the,project,evolves,,team,members,change,and,the,scope,increases,,it,is,timely,to,review,the,use,of,these,tools,and,to,consider,possible,adjustments,and,alternatives.,3See,https://www.seavea-project.org/,for,the,sign,up,details.,4,3.1,Existing,environment,The,Slack,workspace,[6],has,seen,active,use,over,the,course,of,the,project,,with,around,8,000,ﬁles,and,messages,shared.,Since,the,workspace,was,established,Slack,has,changed,what,is,oﬀered,through,the,free,plan,currently,in,use.,In,particular,,when,originally,set,up,the,free,plan,oﬀered,access,to,the,most,recent,10,000,messages,and,ﬁles,,but,as,of,the,1st,of,September,2022,this,limit,has,changed,to,oﬀer,access,to,an,unlimited,number,of,messages,and,ﬁles,but,only,from,the,past,90,days.,This,is,an,important,change,and,requires,a,shift,from,the,use,of,Slack,for,recording,important,information,to,more,transient,discussions.,It,is,still,well,suited,to,advertising,events,and,for,team,members,to,seek,answers,to,quick,questions,but,it,is,important,that,team,members,are,aware,of,the,limitation4.,The,ExCALIBUR-Neptune,GitHub,organisation,[7],hosts,seven,repositories.,Of,these,,six,are,public,with,ﬁve,representing,proxy-apps,and,the,sixth,holding,the,source,ﬁles,for,the,ReadTheDocs,site.,There,is,a,single,private,repository,holding,copies,of,the,reports,submitted,by,project,partners,,reports,generated,by,UKAEA,and,other,documents,outlining,aspects,of,the,Neptune,project.,Whilst,this,provides,a,useful,resource,for,team,members,there,are,a,number,of,ways,that,the,use,of,this,resource,could,be,enhanced.,The,public,view,of,the,organisation,(i.e.,to,those,that,are,not,members,of,the,organisation),is,rather,incomplete,and,does,not,give,a,good,indication,of,what,work,is,carried,out,within,the,organisation.,There,are,several,possible,solutions,to,this,,with,some,,such,as,a,dedicated,website,,outlined,below.,An,interim,measure,may,be,to,create,a,public,repository,within,the,organisation,which,consists,of,instructions,for,how,to,become,a,member,,provides,documentation,details,which,can,be,made,public,and,gives,a,summary,of,what,the,project,is,for,and,a,link,to,the,ExCALIBUR,page,[8].,This,could,also,be,integrated,into,the,ReadTheDocs,website.,It,would,also,be,helpful,to,provide,pointers,to,associated,projects,and,repositories,holding,proxy-apps,not,directly,owned,by,the,ExCALIBUR-Neptune,organisation.,The,ReadTheDocs,site,[9],has,not,seen,much,development,since,its,creation,and,it,currently,holds,a,list,of,symbols,and,acronyms,,a,brief,guide,to,writing,4It,is,not,uncommon,for,answers,to,quick,questions,to,include,important,details.,It,is,perhaps,helpful,to,consider,how,to,record,relevant,questions,and,answers,in,a,more,permanent,and,accessible,venue.,Options,include,through,github,issues,,a,wiki,or,a,website,depending,on,the,degree,of,ﬂexibility,desired.,5,documentation,and,the,ExCALIBUR-Neptune,charter.,It,would,be,helpful,to,expand,the,content,hosted,here,to,include,details,which,can,be,made,public,,such,as,the,systems,of,equations,considered,etc.,As,ReadTheDocs,takes,re-,StructuredText,ﬁles,as,input,,one,may,wish,to,leverage,a,tool,such,as,pandoc,[10],to,convert,the,existing,LaTeX,ﬁles,to,RST.,The,ReadTheDocs,approach,to,documentation,has,proven,popular,among,many,projects,,including,those,closely,linked,to,Neptune,such,as,Hermes-3,,and,can,provide,a,useful,place,to,provide,information,about,how,to,interact,with,the,project5.,One,may,need,to,be,careful,about,using,a,single,ReadTheDocs,site,as,a,repository,for,all,informa-,tion,as,this,may,become,unwieldly,and,hard,to,maintain.,Instead,one,may,wish,to,develop,a,series,of,these,each,with,a,diﬀerent,focus,,such,as,documenting,the,physics,system,,project,management/environment,details,,proxy-apps,etc.,3.2,Possible,environment,enhancements,The,online,presence,of,ExCALIBUR-Neptune,is,relatively,minimal,,with,one,page,on,the,ExCALIBUR,website,,the,public,GitHub,organisation,and,the,brief,ReadTheDocs,site,being,the,primary,search,results.,Whilst,these,all,serve,a,useful,purpose,,there,is,currently,no,clear,description,of,how,to,get,involved,in,the,project,,for,external,people,to,view,contemporary,work,or,how,to,get,started,with,the,project.,A,dedicated,website,,say,through,GitHub’s,ability,to,serve,static,html,,maintained,by,the,community,is,one,way,to,provide,such,an,online,presence.,Such,a,site,would,be,directly,in,control,of,the,Neptune,team,and,would,oﬀer,an,ideal,venue,to,showcase,the,work,of,the,team,to,the,public,,advertise,events,of,interest,to,the,Neptune,team,and,partners,and,to,provide,a,summary,of,what,the,project,entails,and,how,people,can,contribute/collaborate.,As,the,project,progresses,and,there,are,interactions,with,other,work,,such,as,the,Edge,Boundary,code,at,UKAEA,,this,website,could,provide,a,useful,starting,point,for,new,collaborators,and,can,link,to,other,relevant,resources,such,as,the,ReadTheDocs.,This,approach,is,used,by,established,codes,such,as,BOUT++,[11],and,has,been,found,to,add,value,despite,the,additional,maintenance,costs,it,brings.,As,noted,in,section,2,other,ExCALIBUR,projects,provide,mailing,lists,which,can,be,used,to,advertise,events,of,interest,to,the,community.,Within,Neptune,5For,example,how,to,join,the,slack,,how,to,get,access,to,the,organisation,etc.,6,there,is,use,of,emails,,but,no,formal,mailing,list,that,can,be,used,by,all,team,members,,with,Slack,playing,this,role,instead.,It,may,be,worth,considering,the,introduction,of,a,more,formal,self-managed,mailing,list,which,can,be,used,by,members,to,advertise,relevant,events.,Archives,of,the,mailing,list,,if,accessible,,may,also,be,useful,to,provide,new,members,a,way,to,review,past,communica-,tions.,3.3,Environment,recommendations,In,the,previous,two,sub-sections,a,small,number,of,suggestions,and,recommen-,dations,have,been,made.,The,primary,motivation,for,these,suggestions,is,to,improve,the,visibility,of,the,project,and,the,work,of,the,team,,such,that,it,is,easier,for,new,collaborators,to,join,,the,onboarding,process,for,new,team,mem-,bers,is,more,eﬃcient,and,the,community,around,this,work,can,grow.,Here,we,explicitly,summarise,these,recommendations,for,ease.,1.,Further,enhance,the,public,facing,aspects,of,the,project’s,online,presence.,This,can,most,easily,be,achieved,by,the,introduction,of,a,public,website,advertising,the,work,of,the,project,team,and,providing,instructions,for,how,to,get,involved.,2.,Improve,the,public,visibility,of,documentation,around,key,aspects,of,the,project,work.,This,can,most,easily,be,achieved,by,expanding,the,content,provided,through,ReadTheDocs,and,this,can,start,with,pandoc,conversion,of,existing,reports,and,documents,where,possible,to,make,these,public.,3.,Provide,a,summary,of,project,work,directly,relevant,to,Neptune,but,not,contained,within,the,GitHub,organisation.,This,can,be,facilitated,by,the,introduction,of,a,website.,4.,Provide,a,means,to,widely,advertise,relevant,events.,Currently,this,is,achieved,through,Slack.,Whilst,this,is,reasonable,,it,limits,the,reach,of,the,adverts,to,those,monitoring,the,workspace.,Advertising,events,through,a,website,(with,RSS,feed),and/or,providing,a,mailing,list,which,team,members,and,the,wider,public,can,subscribe,to,may,improve,the,reach,of,such,adverts.,7,Whilst,these,recommendations,involve,additional,maintenance,work,they,are,important,to,help,the,community,grow.,4,Summary,A,range,of,community,events,have,been,held,and,digital,tools,to,support,commu-,nity,interactions,have,been,constructed.,These,have,supported,the,development,of,a,coherent,community,and,allowed,links,between,partners,to,form.,There,is,a,potential,challenge,for,the,project,in,terms,of,staﬀ/team,member,turnover,and,it,is,important,that,thought,is,given,to,how,community,interactions,and,processes,are,preserved,in,light,of,this,turnover,and,how,the,growth,of,the,com-,munity,is,supported.,Digital,tools,provide,an,ideal,way,to,support,this,and,some,suggestions,for,further,improvements,in,this,area,have,been,made6.,6The,author,of,this,report,,D,Dickinson,,would,of,course,be,more,than,happy,to,help,support,these,developments,where,useful.,8,5,References,[1],ExCALIBUR,team.,ExCALIBUR,workshop,:,July,2022.,https://,excalibur.ac.uk/spf-workshop/.,[2],Neptune,team.,Neptune,workshop,:,October,2021.,https://excalibur.,ac.uk/events/neptune-workshop/.,[3],Nektar++,development,team.,Nektar++,workshop,:,December,2021.,https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/,e/nektar-workshop-2021-tickets-97980766109?aff=,ebdsoporgprofile.,[4],SEAVEA,Team.,Software,Environment,for,Actionable,and,VVUQ-,evaluated,Exascale,Applications.,https://excalibur.ac.uk/projects/,seavea/.,[5],Benjamin,Dudson,,Peter,Hill,,Ed,Higgins,,David,Dickinson,,Steven,Wright,and,David,Moxey.,Task,0.1,report,on,environment.,https://github.com/ExCALIBUR-NEPTUNE/Documents/blob/main/,reports/2047356/TN-01.pdf.,[6],ExCALIBUR-Neptune,Slack,workspace.,https://excalibur-neptune.,slack.com.,[7],ExCALIBUR-Neptune,github,organisation.,https://github.com/,ExCALIBUR-NEPTUNE.,[8],Neptune,page,on,ExCALIBUR,website.,https://excalibur.ac.uk/,projects/excalibur-fusion-use-case-project-neptune-neutrals-plasma-turbulence-numerics-for-the-exascale/.,[9],Neptune,team.,ExCALIBUR-Neptune,ReadTheDocs.,https://,excalibur-neptune.readthedocs.io/en/latest/.,[10],Pandoc,software.,https://pandoc.org.,[11],BOUT++,team.,BOUT++,Website.,https://boutproject.github.io.,9

:pdfembed:`src:_static/TN-16-1_ExcaliburNeptuneCommunityEnvironment.pdf, height:1600, width:1100, align:middle`