Advocacy Programs
Open science and open source software represent more than just technical practices—they embody a philosophy of knowledge sharing, collaborative innovation, and equitable access that aligns deeply with Jesuit educational values. These principles drive breakthrough discoveries, amplify research impact across disciplines, and create pathways for meaningful participation in the global research enterprise. Our advocacy work champions these transformative approaches both within Saint Louis University and across the broader academic community.
At its core, open science democratizes knowledge creation and dissemination. When researchers share their data, code, and methodologies openly, they accelerate the pace of discovery while enabling others to build upon their work in ways never before possible. This collaborative approach not only strengthens individual research projects but also addresses complex global challenges that require coordinated efforts across institutions, disciplines, and borders. Our advocacy emphasizes how open practices create more robust, reproducible, and impactful scholarship.
Internal Advocacy
Within Saint Louis University, we serve as catalysts for cultural change toward more open and collaborative research practices. Our formal recognition as a university program brings visibility and legitimacy to open science initiatives, signaling institutional commitment to these values. Through our experiential learning programs, we demonstrate tangible benefits of open approaches—students develop professionally relevant skills while creating software that serves real research needs and contributes to the global commons.
Our consulting services provide another powerful advocacy tool, helping individual researchers and departments navigate the transition to open practices. By reducing barriers and providing practical support, we enable more faculty to experience firsthand the benefits of open scholarship. Success stories from these consulting relationships become compelling evidence for broader adoption across campus.
Educational outreach represents a cornerstone of our internal advocacy. Through workshops, seminars, and informal conversations, we help faculty, staff, and students understand not just the "how" of open science but the "why." We address common concerns about competitive disadvantage, intellectual property protection, and career implications, providing evidence-based responses that acknowledge real challenges while highlighting substantial benefits.
We also advocate through strategic partnerships with other campus units. Collaborating with the library on open access initiatives, working with technology transfer on open source licensing strategies, and partnering with graduate education on research training creates a network of support that reinforces open science messages across multiple touchpoints in researchers' professional lives.
External Advocacy
Beyond our campus, we actively participate in regional, national, and international conversations about the future of research and scholarship. Our external advocacy amplifies successful practices developed at SLU while contributing to broader movements that benefit the entire research ecosystem.
Conference presentations and academic publications allow us to share our programmatic innovations with peers at other institutions. We present at venues like the Research Software Engineers Conference, FOSSY, The United Nations OSPOS for Good symposium, and disciplinary meetings to demonstrate how academic institutions can effectively support open science through structured programs and dedicated resources.
We maintain active relationships with key organizations in the open science ecosystem, including the US Research Software Alliance, HELIOS Open, CURIOSS, and various open source foundations. These partnerships enable us to stay current with best practices while contributing to policy discussions that shape the future of open research infrastructure.
International outreach extends our advocacy to global audiences through virtual events, collaborative projects, and cross-institutional partnerships. Saint Louis University's campus in Madrid is a key partner, engaging in the dynamic and unfolding requirements for Open Science in the European Union. Open science faces different challenges and opportunities in different national contexts, and our participation in international networks helps develop more inclusive and culturally responsive approaches to open scholarship.
Community Building
Central to all our advocacy efforts is intentional community building that creates sustainable networks of open science practitioners, especially open source software developers and research software engineers. We recognize that lasting change requires not just individual conversions but supportive communities that can maintain momentum and provide ongoing resources for open science adoption.
Our Slack community serves as a hub for ongoing conversation and mutual support among researchers interested in open practices. This space facilitates peer learning, resource sharing, and collaborative problem-solving that extends far beyond any single workshop or consulting session.
We organize and host networking events that bring together researchers from different disciplines and career stages who share interests in open science. These gatherings create opportunities for collaboration while building personal relationships that sustain open science communities over time.
Measuring Impact
Our advocacy efforts are guided by systematic assessment of their effectiveness and impact. We track both quantitative metrics—such as participation in training events, adoption of recommended practices, and growth in our community networks—and qualitative indicators of cultural change within research environments.
Regular surveys of faculty and students help us understand evolving attitudes toward open science, identify persistent barriers to adoption, and recognize emerging opportunities for advocacy interventions. This feedback directly informs our program development and resource allocation decisions.
We document success stories and case studies that demonstrate concrete benefits of open science adoption, creating compelling narratives that support our advocacy messages. These stories help potential adopters envision how open practices might benefit their own research while providing evidence for institutional leaders considering policy changes.
Long-term tracking of research outputs, collaboration patterns, and career outcomes for program participants helps us understand and communicate the sustained impact of open science practices. This longitudinal perspective strengthens our advocacy by providing robust evidence for the professional and scholarly benefits of open approaches to research.