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supporting-grant-proposals-with-an-open-source-component.md

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Supporting grant proposals with an open source component

Pattern Summary

Provide a range of supports and resources to support funding proposals with an open source software component.

Problem / Challenge

  • There has been a growth in recognition of the value of open source software amongst funders.
  • Increasingly, funders require software to be released as open source and to make research outputs publicly available.
  • Principal Investigators (PIs) are not always aware of related best practices or options relating to open source software (OSS).
  • Faculty and researchers may not know how best to demonstrate that their publications, data and/or software will meet these requirements in their funding applications.

Pattern Category

  • Demonstrating value as an Academic OSPO
  • Funding & Financial Support
  • OSS Advocacy & Policy

Context

A university or research institution that submits grant proposals to federal, state or private funding sources.

PIs, other leaders, and central institution or departmental grants offices are involved in the preparation of grant applications.

Forces

Teams working on proposals face competing pressures and time constraints when submitting proposals and their primary concern is the proposal narrative and budget.

Other components of a grant application (e.g. open source, OSS) is outside their area of expertise and/or their area of concern.

Other offices that focus on grant submissions may not know of the university OSPO and how it can support their funding applications.

Solution

Include the OSPO in the development of grant proposals to improve their prospects for success.

The solution below outlines basic core activities to consider.

Raising awareness with key stakeholders

Develop approaches for marketing OSPO support in this area with relevant faculty, researchers and senior leadership.

Ideally, awareness raising activities should be conducted well in advance of any funding application deadlines. OSPO support for grant proposals can be communicated in:

  • Information updates at departmental meetings.
  • One-to-one consultations.
  • Engagement with student groups.
  • The OSPO website.
  • Engagement with research support offices.

Promotion of the OSPO may also be enhanced by collaborating with aligned teams working in the areas of open science, open access etc.

Provide options for support with grant proposals

Depending on capacity, options for grant support may include:

  • Direct contribution to the proposal narrative (typically rare, and also highly concise given space constraints).
  • Consultation that leads to changes in the proposal narrative by the leadership team.
  • Letters of support or appendices that outline the services of the OSPO and other relevant teams (e.g. open science, open access), through associated templates.
  • Letters or appendices of commitment that outline specific contributions from the OSPO toward the deliverables of the proposal.
  • Recommendations regarding third party experts, organizations, etc. that could improve the chances of funding approval.
  • Including OSPO personnel as members of the proposal team.

Resulting Context

Offering support with grant proposals develops and strengthens relationships with faculty, researchers and students.

Marketing the OSPO’s services and providing support with funding applications also leads to long-term engagement with research teams to advance their open source software.

The OSPO can also act as a connector between unconnected research teams tackling similar issues.

Possibly better reactions from reviewers interested in the open source components of proposals.

Additional learning from Carnegie Mellon University OSPO

We regularly work with CMU’s Open Science team to provide information about our services.

To date, faculty have directly contacted the OSPO for proposal support. The CMU OSPO offers to meet with the leadership team, which has often taken advantage of this opportunity.

In some cases, requests have come from departmental or college-level research support departments seeking additional expertise in support of faculty proposals.

In all cases, the OSPO asks for a copy of the proposal, which is reviewed for any mention of or opportunity related to open source software.

We’ve also noted a greater awareness and appreciation for the CMU OSPO and we’ve used this as an opportunity to introduce projects to other services such as Bitergia and Scarf.

Known Instances

References

Contributors & Acknowledgement