Get Involved
Help Fix Research Software
Every stakeholder in the research ecosystem has a role to play. Whether you allocate budgets, write grants, maintain software, or make policy—you can help solve this crisis. The 0.1% contribution can be made from the University’s overhead budget, or from the grant itself. This is a bottom-up approach to solve the problem. Waiting for policy changes, while important, may not be enough.
🔬 Researchers
Make Your Voice Heard
- Include software sustainability in your grant proposals
- Cite software properly in publications (not just papers about software)
- Advocate for maintenance funding in your community
Take Action
📝 Grant Template
Copy this text for your grant proposals:
"This research depends on open-source tools [list specific software]. To ensure long-term sustainability of these critical research infrastructure components, this project will contribute to sustainable funding models such as the OpenScience Collective."📋 Copy Template
🏛️ Universities & Institutions
Lead the Change
- Establish or strengthen your Open Source Program Office (OSPO). This is a great opportunity to build a sustainable funding model for open-science maintenance.
- Recognize software contributions in tenure and promotion decisions
- Pilot the OSC model with select departments. The 0.1% contribution can be made from the University’s overhead budget. While non-significant for the University, it is a significant contribution to the software maintainers
👩💻 Software Maintainers
Prepare for Sustainability
- Track your impact with usage analytics
- Document who uses your software and how
- Connect with other maintainers facing similar challenges
Resources
📈 Impact Tracking
Tools to measure and document your software's research impact
🤝 Maintainer Network
Join our community of research software maintainers
💼 Sustainability Planning
Templates for creating long-term sustainability plans
💼 Funding Agencies
Policy Innovation
- Pilot OSC integration in select funding programs
- Require software sustainability plans in grant applications
- Collaborate internationally on sustainable funding standards
Implementation Support
📋 Policy Templates
Ready-to-use policy language for grant programs
🔍 Impact Assessment
Methods to measure software sustainability outcomes
🌍 Join the Community
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Ready to Act?
Choose your level of engagement—every contribution helps build sustainable research infrastructure.