Open Source in Science
The Sloan Foundation's Open Source in Science program funds initiatives that strengthen open source tools, practices, and roles in scientific research, focusing on institutional capacity and sustainable software development.
Funder: Sloan Foundation
Due Dates: Rolling (Letters of Inquiry accepted year-round)
Funding Amounts: Grants typically up to $750,000 over two years; larger grants possible; major grants (>$250K) approved quarterly.
Summary: Supports tools, institutions, and practices that advance open source development and adoption in scientific research.
Description
The Sloan Foundation's Open Source in Science program aims to adapt and extend open source best practices into academic technology development, focusing on the unique workflows and incentives of scientific research. The program does not fund individual open source projects; instead, it supports initiatives that build institutional capacity, improve publication and archiving practices for scientific software, and develop roles and career paths for those building and maintaining research software and hardware. Special emphasis is placed on supporting tools, economic models, and incentives that enable the production, maintenance, and adoption of open source research outputs, especially as technologies like AI evolve.
Areas of focus include:
- Building institutional support within academia for open source work (e.g., launching Open Source Program Offices)
- Improving scholarly communication, citation, and archiving of scientific software
- Developing and recognizing roles such as research software engineers, data scientists, and software curators
- Exploring optimal models for human-AI collaboration in scientific software practices
