For two phases, the agency is seeking proposals to convert open source goods into open source ecosystems.
In a new solicitation, the National Science Foundation seeks to promote the growth of open source ecosystems in STEM subjects, according to a release. The programme will not provide funding for currently operating open-source ecosystems, tools, or products. The POSE programme will instead concentrate on assisting fresh open-source ecosystems.
The POSE program’s objectives, according to the statement, are to increase the number of academics and innovators working on and contributing to open source ecosystems and to establish risk-free and secure development and contribution channels for highly influential open source ecosystems.
The POSE programme is searching for two different sorts of proposals, as stated in the announcement:
- A one-year, $300,000 per project Phase I proposal. These proposals should specify particular steps that will be taken to scope out and plan the creation of an open-source ecosystem.
- Phase II, which can last up to two years and $1.5 million per project. The goal of these suggestions is to establish a robust open-source product that can satisfy “an emerging societal or economic need and build a community to help it develop.”
The overall estimated budget for NSF’s 30 to 50 awards is $27.8 million. Many of the projects that NSF funds “result in publicly accessible, changeable, and distributable open-source solutions, including software, hardware, models, specifications, programming languages, or data platforms that spark additional innovation,” according to NSF. Some of these open source items may be utilised in open source ecosystems, which may also involve management, a controlling organisation with governance, and users. The solicitation states that NSF’s goal for the POSE programme is to establish more managing organisations so that there will be a wider variety of open-source products adopted, as well as a greater contribution.
The agency’s Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, in collaboration with the other NSF directorates, developed the POSE initiative, which is accessible to research and innovation from all STEM open source ecosystems. The POSE programme will serve as a “pathway to translate scientific and engineering innovations,” according to the statement.
The complete proposal is due on September 7, 2023 at 5 p.m. local time. After then, deadlines will always fall on the first Thursday of September.
