Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems | 23 556

Opportunity Information: Apply for 23 556

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 that can produce real-world, broad societal and national benefits. NSF points out that many NSF-funded efforts already release open, reusable products, not just software but also hardware designs, models, specifications, programming languages, and data platforms. POSE focuses on what happens next: moving beyond a standalone open-source artifact into a coordinated ecosystem with clear leadership, an accountable managing organization, a defined governance model, a distributed development approach, an active contributor community (external intellectual content developers), and a wide user base spanning academia, industry, and government. The central idea is that open-source impact scales more reliably when there is intentional structure around stewardship, contribution pathways, release processes, and community growth, rather than relying on informal or ad hoc volunteer coordination.

A key point in the solicitation is what POSE does and does not fund. It is not a program to build new open-source tools from scratch or to pay primarily for ongoing feature development of an artifact. It also is not meant to subsidize existing, well-resourced open-source communities that already have strong governance and funding. Instead, the program targets the creation of new managing organizations that can catalyze distributed, community-driven development and responsible maintenance. In that sense, POSE is positioned as an alternative translation pathway alongside NSF programs that help convert research into startups (such as I-Corps, PFI, SBIR, and STTR). Where those programs push toward venture formation and commercialization, POSE pushes toward ecosystem formation and long-term open governance and operations that make open-source solutions usable, trustworthy, and sustainable in operational settings.

POSE supports ecosystems across any STEM domain, as long as there is an existing open-source product (or a related class of products) with credible potential for wide adoption and societal impact. NSF emphasizes outcomes like expanding the pool of researchers and innovators participating in open-source ecosystem work, improving coordination of external contributions, and enabling safer and more secure development and maintenance practices so that open-source tools can be confidently adopted in real environments. The program also stresses that managing organizations should build the processes and infrastructure for efficient and secure ongoing work, which commonly includes contribution workflows, release and maintenance practices, governance and decision-making mechanisms, and community onboarding and engagement.

The solicitation offers two proposal tracks, reflecting different stages of readiness. Phase I, called OSE Scoping and Planning, is meant for teams that have an open-source research product with a small external user community, even if they do not yet have a meaningful external contributor base. The purpose of Phase I is to fund structured discovery and planning activities that clarify whether an ecosystem is feasible and how it should be designed. Phase I proposals are expected to describe the current state of the product and articulate the long-term vision and potential impact of an ecosystem built around it. They must also lay out specific scoping activities covering ecosystem discovery, governance and organizational design, approaches for continuous development/integration/deployment, and strategies for building both a user community and a contributor community. The scoping work should help teams answer practical readiness questions: whether the product is suitable to transition into an ecosystem, whether there are early adopters prepared to use it, and whether there is a realistic path to building a distributed developer community that can help maintain and extend the core technology. Phase I awards are capped at $300,000 total and can last up to one year, with a project description limit of 7 pages. NSF notes that Phase I in this solicitation is a specific category and applicants should submit it as a "Research" proposal type (it is not the general NSF "Planning" proposal type referenced elsewhere in NSF policy guidance).

Phase II, called Establishment and Expansion, is aimed at teams whose open-source product already has both external users and some external content developers, and who are ready to formalize and scale into a sustainable ecosystem. Phase II proposals are expected to be built on prior scoping and planning (though not necessarily funded by NSF through a Phase I award). The core goal is to support the transition from a promising open-source tool into a robust ecosystem with community-driven distributed development and deployment into operational environments. Phase II proposals must include a community outreach plan that details how the team will engage and grow the contributor community that will develop and maintain the technology, and they must identify user communities and/or organizations positioned to act as early adopters. Beyond stating the current context and long-term vision, Phase II proposals are expected to provide a cohesive, execution-ready plan for ecosystem establishment and growth, governance and organizational structure, continuous development/integration/deployment practices, evaluation methods to assess ecosystem effectiveness, and concrete activities addressing security and privacy, community building, and long-term sustainability. Phase II awards are capped at $1,500,000 total with durations up to two years, and the project description can be up to 15 pages.

Administratively, POSE is an NSF discretionary grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number 23-556) in the Science and Technology and other Research and Development activity category, listing CFDA numbers 47.041, 47.049, 47.050, 47.070, 47.074, 47.075, 47.076, 47.079, 47.083, 47.084. The opportunity anticipated around 50 awards, with the maximum award ceiling matching the Phase II cap of $1.5 million. Eligibility is listed broadly as "Others" with additional details referenced in the solicitation. The original closing date shown for submissions was September 7, 2023, for both Phase I and Phase II proposals. Finally, NSF makes it explicit that Phase I awardees are not required to submit Phase II later, and Phase II applicants do not need to have received a Phase I award to apply, which keeps the program open to teams that have already done ecosystem planning through other means.

• 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 Feb 01, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 07, 2023 Phase I and Phase II Proposals. (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 (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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