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Announcements🔗︎

ISS 2026 Abstract Deadline is Now January 30th

The deadline is fast approaching to submit abstracts to the 2026 Improving Scientific Software Conference. The ISS Conference will be held April 6-10, 2026 in Boulder, CO with the theme of Maintaining the Joy of Software Development.

To give submitters a bit of extra time, we are extending the abstract submission deadline by one week to Friday January 30th, 2026 at 5 PM MT. We welcome anyone with an interest in improving scientific software design, quality, development, deployment, and support to submit an abstract for a talk, tutorial session, or panel. Student travel and registration support is available and submitters can also choose to participate in a conference proceeding.

We have also decided to move ISS 2026 from the previously announced NSF NCAR Mesa Lab location to our traditional home at the Center Green Campus. Due to facilities construction timeline changes, this venue is once again available to us and offers easier logistics for conference attendees. The conference will be hybrid, so virtual presentations are also welcome.

You may submit an abstract here and visit our conference website for more information.

Upcoming SEA Tutorial and Discussion: Fortran Unit Testing and pFUnit

Join the UCAR Software Engineering Assembly (SEA) at 2 pm on February 12th for a tutorial and open discussion on unit testing Fortran code with pFUnit, a Fortran testing framework developed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center for testing high-performance Fortran libraries. In this session, NSF NCAR software engineer Andy Stokely will highlight how pFUnit simplifies the process of writing tests and lowers the barrier to adopting thorough testing practices in Fortran codebases. The session will begin with a tutorial demonstrating how pFUnit can be used to develop a Fortran library using Test-Driven Development (TDD).

Following the tutorial, the discussion will expand to examine the role of unit testing in scientific and high-performance Fortran development, including how testing can improve code quality, support long-term maintainability, and enable safer refactoring as requirements evolve. The conversation will also focus on how testing can facilitate more effective collaboration between software engineers and scientists. Participants are encouraged to share experiences, challenges, and perspectives related to adopting testing practices in scientific software projects.

Discussion topics will include:

  • Applying Test-Driven Development to Fortran libraries
  • Using unit tests to define expected behavior and verify correctness
  • How testing supports maintainability and safe refactoring
  • Ways unit testing can improve collaboration between scientists and software engineers

All are welcome, regardless of prior experience with pFUnit or unit testing. If you are UCAR/NCAR staff, please use this link to add the event to your Google Calendar. If you are not staff but would like to attend, email the SEA Committee for an invite link.

Reminder: Improving Scientific Software Conference Accepting Abstracts

The 2026 Improving Scientific Software Conference is accepting abstracts through January 23, 2026. The conference is planned for April 6-10, 2026 at NSF NCAR's Mesa Laboratory in Boulder, CO with the theme being Maintaining the Joy of Software Development. We are accepting abstract submissions for talks, tutorials, and panel sessions, and presenters may attend either in person or virtually.

You have likely seen news coverage last week that the National Science Foundation (NSF) is planning a review of NSF NCAR's research and observational capabilities. The ISS Conference organizers have no additional details on the exact timing or scope of the review. We understand that this news may raise questions or concerns about any potential impacts on the conference. At this time, we do not expect any disruption and plan to continue with the conference as intended. We encourage all interested in participating to proceed with submissions. We will keep you updated if anything changes.

2026 Improving Scientific Software Conference now accepting abstracts

The UCAR Software Engineering Assembly's Improving Scientific Software Conference is returning in 2026! Next year's ISS will take place April 6-10, 2026 at NSF NCAR's Mesa Laboratory in Boulder, CO. The theme of the conference will be:

Maintaining the Joy of Software Development.

We are now accepting abstract submissions for talks, tutorials, and panel sessions. As always, we welcome anyone with an interest in improving scientific software design, quality, development, deployment, and support. Abstracts are due by: Friday January 23, 2026. We plan to provide student support as funding allows and will accept paper submissions for a conference proceeding.

You may submit an abstract here and visit our conference website for more information.

In-person registration is now closed for ISS 2025

Registration for in-person attendance has now closed for this year's ISS Conference. Thank you to all who have signed up to join us in Boulder next month; we look forward to seeing you! If you have not yet registered but would still like to attend, virtual registration will remain open until the end of the day on April 3rd.

See our ISS 2025 Conference Site for more information about registration and our virtual conference program for a listing of all planned talks, tutorials, and events.

ISS 2025: Program and registration are available now

The online program is now available for the 2025 Improving Scientific Software Conference. Our 4-day program includes a number of talks and two tutorials, along with two keynote presentations (details to be announced soon). We would like to thank all who submitted an abstract to this year's event!

Remember that registration is open now for the conference, which will take place April 7-10, 2025 in Boulder, CO and virtually. In-person registration closes on Friday, March 21, so make sure you register soon if you plan to join us in Boulder. Virtual registration will close on April 3. We have also extended the reduced-rate conference hotel booking deadline to March 19th. For more information along with the link to the registration portal, visit the ISS 2025 website.

Registration is now open for ISS 2025 Conference

The Improving Scientific Software (ISS) Conference committee is pleased to announce that registration is now open for our 2025 Conference, taking place April 7-10 in Boulder, Colorado. ISS brings together software engineers, scientists, developers - any individuals with an interest in scientific software design - to share novel experiences and best practices, develop connections across divisions and institutions, and advance our community.

Participants may register either for in-person or virtual attendance. In-person registration will close on March 21st, while virtual registration will close on April 3rd. For more information and the link to the registration page, see the ISS 2025 Conference website.

ISS 2025 Abstract Submission Deadline Extended to Jan 30

The abstract submission deadline for the annual Improving Scientific Software Conference, which will take place April 7-10, 2025 in Boulder, CO and virtually, has been extended to 5 PM MT on Thursday, January 30. Thank you to all who have already submitted an abstract. The theme of ISS 2025 is From Legacy to Leading-Edge: Transforming Software Design in Science to Meet Tomorrow’s Challenges, a focus which feels more relevant to us than ever. We are accepting submissions for talks, as well as tutorial and panel sessions.

As a reminder - travel and registration support will be available for a select number of accepted student (undergraduate and graduate) submissions. For more details on the Conference, abstract submission, and student travel support, please visit our conference website.

SEA Panel Discussion on Language Interoperability

The UCAR Software Engineering Assembly will hold a panel of lightning talks followed by a discussion on language interoperability at 3 PM MT on Wednesday February 26, 2025.

The discussion can include more traditional Fortran-C/C++ interoperability, but we're especially interested in interoperability of compiled codes with interpreted languages such as Python and Julia. For example, the Earth System Modeling Framework (ESMF) team is considering building out capabilities to facilitate the coupling of model components written in Python or Julia with those in Fortran, C and C++.

We currently have the following panel speakers, who will present ~5 minute lightning talks on related experiences and perspectives:

  • Bill Sacks - thoughts on prospective ESMF capabilities to facilitate the coupling of model components written in Python and Julia with C/C++/Fortran code
  • Kyle Shores - team maintains a lot of C++ code with C interface exposed for Fortran and Python interoperability
  • Orhan Eroglu - GeoCAT experiences leveraging Python-Fortran (via f2py) and Python-C++ (via Cython) interoperability

There is still room for 1-2 more panelists, so please reach out to the SEA committee if you may be interested. If you are NCAR/UCAR staff, you can use this calendar link to save this event. If you are external to the organization but wish to attend, contact our admin team for a registration link.

Support Available for Students with Submissions to ISS 2025

Abstract submission is open until January 24, 2025 for the annual Improving Scientific Software Conference, which will take place April 7-10, 2025 in Boulder, CO and virtually. The theme of ISS 2025 is From Legacy to Leading-Edge: Transforming Software Design in Science to Meet Tomorrow’s Challenges. We are accepting submissions for talks, as well as tutorial and panel sessions.

The ISS Committee is pleased to announce that travel and registration support will be available for a select number of accepted student (undergraduate and graduate) submissions. For more details on the Conference, abstract submission, and student travel support, please visit our conference website.