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Welcome to The University of Texas at Austin Open Source Program Office (UTAustin-OSPO)

The UTAustin-OSPO is the center of open source activity, connection, training, and support to enable open source practices as a key part of the university mission. With financial support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (G-2023-20944), the UTAustin-OSPO is a university-wide collaboration led by staff at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC). The UTAustin-OSPO provides a central hub for open source support empowering researchers to leverage training, events, and other resources and creating additional opportunities for engagement among faculty and students in advancing the open source ecosystem. 

The UT-OSPO is also a member of the The University of Texas System Open Source Program Office (Texas-OSPO), which supports the creation, use, and management of open source software across the UT System. The initial pilot includes staff from UT Austin, UT Dallas, UT El Paso, and UT San Antonio.

Open source software is software released under a license that grants others the rights to access, use, distribute, and modify the source code. Open source software development in academia can benefit researchers by allowing for greater sustainability, transparency, collaboration, and impact, and is often required by funding agencies. 

TAKE OUR ENGAGEMENT SURVEY and let us know what you would like to see at the OSPO!

Join us for the the Texas-OSPO premier event, The Open Source Program Office Symposium, Incubator, and User Meeting (OSPOSIUM). The OSPOSIUM brings together a broad community of scientists, engineers, students, and researchers from across the UT System who use—or are interested in using—open source software to advance their research. The meeting will feature a full day of talks and panels highlighting work to date, as well as opportunities to connect, collaborate, and help shape future Texas‑OSPO activities. To broaden participation in the OSPOSIUM from across the University of Texas System, we are supporting up to ten Travel and Participation Stipends for students. The stipends are intended to cover registration, travel, and accommodation expenses incurred for attending the OSPOSIUM in Austin. Applications are due by July 6, 2026.
 

Learn about UTAustin-OSPO