NSF proposals need to include a Data Management and Sharing Plan, which asks researchers to think ahead about how the data their projects produce will remain accessible and useful to others. The same reasoning extends to research software. When a project develops simulation tools, models, or scripts that others could use to reproduce or build on its results, the lasting value of that work depends on whether the tools remain usable after the award ends. This rarely happens by default: dependencies break, platforms evolve, and documentation written for the original team can fall short for new users. Depositing source code in a public repository is a valuable archival step, comparable to depositing a dataset, but it seldom secures long-term usability or ongoing maintenance.
We encourage research teams in the natural hazards engineering community to address these challenges by including a short Software Sharing, Integration and Maintenance Plan in proposals that develop computational tools, such as standalone applications, libraries, or scripts. We see this plan as a way to strengthen a proposal: it shows deliberate thinking about reproducibility and broader impacts, and it improves the odds that the tools will see use beyond the project.
The plan can be a single page that concretely addresses the following points:
Sharing in a usable form: versioned releases, installation instructions, and documentation written for users outside the original project group, with worked examples of typical applications;
Interoperability: the input and output formats and data standards the tool will follow, and how it will fit into workflows the community already uses;
Confidence in results: verification and validation examples, and automated tests that help future maintainers preserve the tool's correctness;
Licensing: an open-source license that permits others to use, modify, and redistribute the software;
Maintenance: who maintains the tool during the award, and how it will remain functional afterwards. For example, through transition to community maintainers or integration into an actively maintained ecosystem.
The NHERI SimCenter develops and maintains an open-source ecosystem of simulation applications and workflows for natural hazards engineering, designed from the outset to incorporate tools contributed by the research community. Tools integrated into this ecosystem are maintained as part of the SimCenter's ongoing work: they stay compatible with evolving workflows and reach users through the SimCenter's applications, documentation, examples, and training. Integration can range from adopting compatible input and output formats to full incorporation into SimCenter applications, and the SimCenter's role in long-term support and maintenance grows with the level of integration.
If you are preparing a proposal that will produce such tools, we encourage you to contact us early, so we can discuss together the appropriate level of integration and the SimCenter's role in your plan. Teams requesting a letter of collaboration are encouraged to include a Software Sharing and Maintenance Plan in their proposal and to discuss it with us beforehand; this allows the letter to describe a concrete, mutually understood collaboration. Keep in mind that documentation and integration work take effort from the people who know the software best. We recommend setting aside sufficient time of your team for these activities. The SimCenter regards helping teams connect their tools to the community's shared ecosystem as part of its mission, and we will work with each team to find an integration path that fits the project's scope and resources.