Free and Open Source Project Fund Playbook

The Free and Open Source Project Fund (FOSSProF) is a grant program run by the Johns Hopkins University Open Source Programs Office (OSPO) that provides funding and support to open source software projects and practitioners at JHU. This playbook is provided as a resource for JHU OSPO staff as well as staff at academic OSPOs or similar offices who would like to run a grant program similar to FOSSProF in support of campus open-source software development.

The Open Source Programs Office (OSPO) is a center of competency for open source at Johns Hopkins University (JHU), committed to fostering an engaged open source community among faculty, researchers, staff, and students in the JHU ecosystem. The OSPO provides support, resources, tools, consulting, and training for those engaged in creating, advancing, and sustaining open source initiatives.

The Free and Open Source Project Fund (FOSSProF) is a funding program that is open to faculty, researchers, staff, and students at the University that are working on creating, developing, or contributing to open source projects. Through FOSSProF, the OSPO works with OSS practitioners on campus to identify, design, and execute projects that: improve software quality, functionality, or documentation; increase visibility, adoption, or community engagement; and establish or evolve project governance.

The FOSSProF program can assist OSPO staff in answering questions such as:

• What challenges are faced by OSS projects created in the campus environment?
• What are the factors that contribute to the success of OSS projects on campus?
• How can the OSPO best support the needs of OSS projects on campus?

The first iteration of FOSSProF, held during the 2023-2024 academic year, was generously funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

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