Helmholtz Codes! and Software Award Ceremony in Dresden

From 4 to 6 November 2026, more than 70 researchers, software engineers and maintainers from across the Helmholtz Association gathered at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) for the second Helmholtz Codes! Workshop. Over three days, attendees exchanged insights on research software development, sustainability, and future challenges. The event was jointly organised by HiRSE, HIFIS, HIDA, the Helmholtz Open Science Office, and the Helmholtz Head Office.

Day 1

The workshop opened with a highlight: The ceremony for the Helmholtz Software Award 2026. In a video message, Helmholtz President Martin Keller highlighted the importance of research software for scientific discovery, calling the software engineers and researchers who develop and maintain code the ‘unseen heroes’ of science. Sebastian M. Schmidt, HZDR’s scientific director, reinforced this in his speech, calling for greater recognition of software engineers and their work. He presented the certificates to the winners in the three award categories, congratulating them on their outstanding achievements.

The award for Best Scientific Software, endowed with EUR 5000, went to Chemotion and was accepted on behalf of the development team by Nicole Jung (KIT). ASPECT was awarded the Sustainability Prize, endowed with EUR 3000 and received by René Gassmöller (GEOMAR) and Anne Glerum (GFZ) as representatives of the project. TrixiParticles won the Newcomer Prize, endowed with EUR 2000 and accepted by Sven Berger (Hereon) on behalf of the software’s developers.

The Helmholtz Software Award is a joint initiative by HIFIS, HIDA, the Helmholtz Open Science Office and the Joint Lab HiRSE.

Photo: HZDR/Kalina Zheynova; from left to right: Sebastian M. Schmidt (HZDR), Sven Berger (Hereon), Nicole Jung (KIT), Anne Glerum (GFZ), Rene Gassmöller (GEOMAR) and Uwe Konrad (HZDR).

Following the ceremony, Alison Kennedy delivered a keynote on the evolving role of research software engineering, drawing on her experience as a Helmholtz reviewer. She observed that the field is still developing and that attitudes towards it are constantly changing, urging on practitioners to shape the future narrative.

The day concluded with a poster blitz and session, where the 17 projects funded through the ScienceServe call 2025 presented their work. The call supports projects that substantially improve the quality, reusability, visibility, and long-term availability of scientific software solutions within Helmholtz.

Day 2

The second day of Helmholtz Codes! 2026 began with a keynote by Robert Haase (ScaDS.AI) on generative AI for Code Generation. Among other things, Haase spoke about his experience with multi-agent code generation for data analysis and emphasized the potential of light-weight and small language models for sovereign IT infrastructures.

Then it was the attendees’ turn to shape the event: in a barcamp format, they were invited to pitch whatever topics they wanted to discuss with the research software community. In the morning and afternoon, groups of varying sizes exchanged views and developed ideas on:

• code sharing and reproducibility
• cyber security
• career paths and education in times of AI
• the integration of the Helmholtz Software Quality Indicator in the Helmholtz RSD and the potential of peer reviews
• unpublished research software within Helmholtz
• and AI tooling.

Tours of the HZDR and its research infrastructures and a dinner in Dresden’s old town completed the programme.

Day 3

AI remained a central topic on the final day, with Christine Mieck from the Helmholtz Head Office outlining the process and goals for the Helmholtz AI Action Plan. She stressed that the expertise of software engineers within Helmholtz should be heard in shaping the AI strategy.

In the closing session, attendees discussed the future of the Helmholtz Codes! series. There was unanimous agreement that the workshop should continue, as it provides an important platform for Helmholtz researchers and software engineers to connect with peers, share solutions, and advocate for systemic change in how research software is valued.