On September 23rd-24th, 2025, the first French official academic OSPO was inaugurated by Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA).
For several years now, the Université Grenoble Alpes has been involved in supporting scientific communities around open source software via its unit Grenoble Alpes Data.
Research Software is a pillar of research, alongside publications and data. All scientific disciplines are involved in software development, and most of the code produced by research laboratories is open source. As part of an international drive to raise the profile of its open source activities, Université Grenoble Alpes decided to launch its own OSPO.
“In academic, it is essential to take inspiration from what is being done elsewhere. Even if perimeters are not completely similar, since UGA is interested in open source software developed in laboratories for research purposes, we nevertheless share a lot of the same issues addressed in the GGI Handbook and globally by all OSPOs. For example, the issue of software dependencies and license compatibility or the dissemination of open source development best practices.”
Credits
Alexis ARNAUD, Coordinateur Cellule Data, UGA
Lucie ALBARET, Responsable des services à la recherche, UGA
Joanna JANIK, Responsable service Sciences ouvertes, CNRS
Violaine LOUVET, Ingénieur de recherche, CNRS
OSPO Alliance highly welcome this initiative which will hopefully pave the way to many other academic OSPOs in France as introduced during the inauguration, by Pierre-Yves Gibello, OW2.
More information about the event: https://ospo-uga.sciencesconf.org/
Link to the broadcast: https://videos.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/live/events/