Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems | 24 606

Opportunity Information: Apply for 24 606

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems (POSE) program is designed to help promising open-source research outputs grow into durable, self-sustaining open-source ecosystems (OSEs) that can deliver technology solutions with real national or societal impact. NSF is targeting the gap that often appears after a research team releases an open-source product: the code, model, hardware design, specification, programming language, or data platform may be technically strong and publicly available, but it may not yet have the governance, community structure, processes, and operational infrastructure needed to attract broad adoption and sustained, distributed contributions over time. POSE focuses on turning those open research artifacts into ecosystems with a leadership team, a formal managing organization, clear governance rules, secure and efficient development practices, and a growing base of external contributors and users across academia, industry, and government.

A central point of POSE is what it does and does not fund. It is not a program for building new open-source tools from scratch or paying primarily for feature development of an existing tool. It is also not meant to bankroll open-source projects that are already mature, well-resourced, and broadly established. Instead, POSE funds the creation of new managing organizations and the practical scaffolding that enables community-driven development to thrive: governance models, contributor onboarding, maintenance workflows, release and quality processes, security practices, community coordination mechanisms, and the infrastructure required to keep an ecosystem healthy and sustainable. NSF positions this as a translational pathway that complements, but is distinct from, commercialization-oriented NSF efforts like I-Corps and SBIR/STTR. Where those programs help translate research into startups and products, POSE helps translate open-source research artifacts into a managed ecosystem that can scale through open collaboration.

The solicitation offers two proposal tracks. Phase I, called OSE Scoping and Planning, is meant for teams with an open-source research product that already has a small external user community, even if there are not yet meaningful external developer contributions. Phase I funding supports the groundwork needed to plan a successful ecosystem: scoping activities to understand what governance, operational structure, and community mechanisms are required, plus training for teams learning how to build and run an ecosystem. Importantly, Phase I awardees are not required to apply later for Phase II. Phase II, called Establishment and Expansion, is meant for projects that already have small but real communities of both external users and external content developers. Phase II supports the actual transition into a sustainable and robust OSE, with the expectation that the team has already done the planning and can present a detailed execution plan for community-driven, distributed development and for deploying the open-source tools into operational environments. A prior Phase I award is not required to apply to Phase II; teams can come in directly to Phase II if they have already completed scoping and planning through other means.

Eligibility to submit is broad within the U.S. context and includes U.S.-based for-profit organizations (including small businesses), non-profit non-academic organizations (such as museums, observatories, research labs, and professional societies tied to education or research), state and local governments, U.S.-accredited institutions of higher education (two-year and four-year, including community colleges), Tribal Nations that are federally recognized, and other eligible entities as defined by NSF. If a proposal from a U.S. institution of higher education involves funding work at an international branch campus, the proposer must clearly explain why the branch campus is beneficial and why the work cannot be performed at the U.S. campus.

PI eligibility depends on the proposing organization type. For institutions of higher education, by the deadline the PI, co-PI, and other Senior/Key Personnel generally must hold a tenured or tenure-track role, a primary full-time paid research or teaching appointment, or a staff leadership role in an Open-Source Program Office (or equivalent) at a U.S.-based campus; individuals primarily appointed at overseas branch campuses are not eligible. Foreign academic collaborators may participate if they provide essential expertise, but they may not receive NSF funding. Likewise, individuals with primary appointments at non-U.S.-based non-profit or for-profit organizations are not eligible for funded roles. For all other eligible proposing organizations (for example, a company or non-profit), the PI must be an employee of the proposing organization, normally resident in the United States, and acting in that employee capacity while carrying out PI responsibilities (temporary travel outside the U.S. is allowed).

Key administrative details include that this is an NSF discretionary grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number 24-606) in the science and technology research and development category, with an award ceiling of $1,500,000 and an expectation of about 50 awards. The original closing date listed is 2025-01-14. Overall, POSE is best understood as NSF support for building the organizational and community machinery around an existing open-source research product so it can scale safely, securely, and sustainably, rather than funding the core technical build itself.

• The National Science Foundation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 47.041, 47.049, 47.050, 47.070, 47.074, 47.075, 47.076, 47.079, 47.083, 47.084.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-09-14.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-01-14. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 50 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for 24 606

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