Stanford University#

General Description#

From their website:

OpenSource@Stanford is the organizational hub that coordinates, facilitates, and supports open source activity at Stanford, primarily in the research enterprise. Through programs, workshops, guides and other informative materials – as well as an active registry of open source projects at the University – we aim to improve scientific inquiry by making software more transparent, reliable, and open.

Our community-driven approach ensures active engagement with researchers on best practices for developing, maintaining, and contributing to open source research projects. Part of our job is to listen to what is already working well, and help good ideas and good practices get escape velocity to reach different disciplines.

We also focus on lowering the barriers to creating, developing, and disseminating open source software. We know that prioritizing equity, diversity, and inclusion will bring about meaningful change to how research is conducted, produced, and spread.

Core Objectives#

  • Advise on OSS licenses and practices

  • Connecting centers of excellence across disciplinary boundaries, encouraging best practices

  • Highlight OS contributions

  • Connect with other OSPOs

  • Share learnings

  • Catalyze a community of open source developers

  • Grow open source projects and presence

  • Enhance diversity and inclusiveness

Primary Contacts#

Other context#

Stanford is one of six U.S. higher education institutions recently selected by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to launch campus OSPOs. Sloan is supporting a total of 12 university OSPOs, including projects selected in earlier funding rounds. It began in the fall of 2023.

There is also an Open Source Lab at Stanford.