Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems
The POSE program supports the creation of open-source ecosystems to develop technology solutions for societal challenges, focusing on forming managing organizations for sustainable innovation and broader adoption.
This grant is no longer accepting proposals
U.S. National Science Foundation has archived this opportunity.
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation
Due Dates: January 14, 2025 (Phase I) | September 2, 2025 (Phase I & II) | September 1, 2026 (Phase I & II, recurring) | January 12, 2027 (Phase I, recurring)
Funding Amounts: Phase I: up to $300,000 (1 year); Phase II: up to $1,500,000 (2 years); ~30–50 awards; total program ~$27.8M
Summary: Supports the formation of new managing organizations to build sustainable, high-impact open-source ecosystems (OSEs) around existing open-source research products in STEM.
Key Information: POSE does not fund new open-source product development or existing well-resourced OSEs; proposals must focus on ecosystem building for already-developed open-source products.
Description
The Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems (POSE) program from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is designed to accelerate the translation of research results into broad societal impact by supporting the establishment of managing organizations for new open-source ecosystems (OSEs). These ecosystems are intended to facilitate the distributed, community-driven development and maintenance of open-source products—including software, hardware, models, specifications, and data platforms—with the potential for wide adoption and significant societal or national benefit.
POSE is not intended to fund the initial development of open-source products or support already well-resourced open-source communities. Instead, it targets the transition of robust, existing open-source research products into sustainable, community-driven ecosystems that can catalyze innovation and address critical needs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
Two proposal tracks are available:
- Phase I (OSE Scoping and Planning): Focuses on scoping, planning, and training activities to inform the transition of promising open-source products into sustainable OSEs.
- Phase II (OSE Establishment and Expansion): Supports the establishment and growth of a sustainable OSE around an open-source product with an existing community of users and contributors.
