A novel way of joining astronomers with software and data science experts
We are excited to announce a new LSST Discovery Alliance initiative: Project Dovetail. Project Dovetail is designed to accelerate and strengthen astrophysics research programs by providing astronomers with easy and affordable access to short-term, specialized, professional support from software and data science engineers.
Launched in late 2024, Project Dovetail is currently in an exploratory, shared-risk phase while we seek funding to launch the full pilot. During this phase, we are responding to a vital need that we have uncovered, by testing the value of small engagements. With an initial aim to accelerate astrophysics with the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) conducted with the Simonyi Survey Telescope, our vision is for Project Dovetail to evolve into a self-supporting service that offers a model for data-intensive discovery that can be applied across a wide variety of scientific research domains.
Key Project Dovetail characteristics
- An efficient collective of experienced, geographically distributed software and data engineers with complementary expertise to provide services to astrophysicists via short-term contract work.
- Solution architects (PhD astrophysicists with industry engineering experience) who find, define, assign engineers to, and oversee engagements with scientists.
- LSST Discovery Alliance handles agreements and payments between institutions and engineering contractors.
- Astronomers will not face a burdensome proposal process; Engagements will instead be defined in collaboration with solution architects and allocated based on fit and mutual resource availability.
Initial key players (January 2025)
- Dr. Beth Willman (LSST Discovery Alliance), co-PI, LSST-DA CEO
- Dr. Destry Saul (Hamden Saul Solutions), co-PI, Managing Director, Solution Architect (industry software specialization)
- Dr. Ross Fadely (RH Data and Consulting), Solution Architect (data science specialization)
- Dr. Gregory Poole (Swinburne University), Solution Architect (training, software deployment, and project management specialization)
- Dr. Jeno Sokoloski (Columbia/LSST Discovery Alliance), Science Advisor, LSST-DA Chief Scientist
Examples of services
- software automation and stability improvements to reduce the time astronomers spend on repetitive or crash recovery tasks;
- packaging and user interfaces to improve software accessibility to researchers and students;
- improving existing code to run efficiently at large data scale and/or on HPC platforms;
- cloud deployments to expand the reach of current tools;
- advice on cutting-edge technologies to jump-start new projects and guide them around pitfalls.
Getting involved
- Astrophysicists – to learn more about obtaining engineering services through Project Dovetail, please reach out to Destry Saul ([email protected]). Or find us at the LSST Slack channel #project-dovetail.
- Potential donors – to learn more about how to help Project Dovetail change the way scientists and engineers work together, please reach out to Beth Willman ([email protected])
- During its exploratory phase, Project Dovetail is only available to researchers at LSST Discovery Alliance member institutions.
- During the pilot phase, LSST Discovery Alliance member institutions will receive first access to resources, in the event of resource limitations compared to demand.