FORCE2019

Open source software is a key ingredient of modern science. Hundreds of software packages, libraries and applications have become essential tools for biomedical research. However, despite their importance, the majority of these tools are undervalued and often lack funding for maintenance, growth, development and community engagement ,  especially after their initial phase.

In 2019, we designed and launched a new grant program to support open source projects that are critical to science. Funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative will provide projects with resources to support their tools and the communities behind them, whether fixing bugs, improving documentation, addressing usability, managing the project, or building community. To complement existing efforts, we will be supporting both domain-specific tools, and cross-cutting foundational tools and infrastructure. We will also not require that proposed work be linked to novel research. In designing this program, we sought advice from several experts on scientific software and open source sustainability, in an effort to ensure that this program meets the needs of its community.

This talk will cover the challenges faced and lessons learned during the design and launch of the program. It will also be an opportunity for participants to engage with us and critically analyse possibilities for supporting scientific open source software in the future.