University of Wisconsin-Madison

University of Wisconsin-Madison#

General Description#

Thanks to a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, The University of Wisconsin–Madison Open Source Program Office (OSPO) is positioned to support and grow our vibrant open source ecosystem. The OSPO’s mission is to collaborate with key stakeholders and community members to provide open source learning opportunities, promote best practices, facilitate the use of open source software in research, and make open source–fueled connections between practitioners and adopters on campus and beyond.

Core Objectives#

  • Work to sustain current open source projects on campus

  • Provide avenues for participation and contribution in open source software

  • Facilitate partnerships to raise awareness of open source software

  • Create infrastructure for starting, maintaining, sharing, and rewarding open source in research and community contexts

  • Focus efforts on improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in open source

Primary Contacts#

Kyle Cranmer is the director of the Data Science Institute. Bethany Philbrick is the OSPO Outreach Specialist, who started in February 2024.

Other context#

The UW-Madison OSPO is housed within the Data Science Institute, a well-supported, campus-wide institute identified as one of UW-Madison’s Strategic Priorities. The DSI directly taps into the vibrant community using and contributing to the open source software that powers data science, and naturally has ties to other campus entities, state and local government, and industry partners. The DSI closely collaborates with the Data Science Hub, which executes a mission for community engagement and learning opportunities for campus researchers, and UW–Madison’s Libraries, which oversee Open Access strategy and are a major player in the research technologies on campus. The OSPO began work in November, 2023.

UW–Madison 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.

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