Consulting #

Open Science Labs (OSL) connects organisations with independent partners that provide professional support for open-source software, research software, scientific computing, technical education, and related projects.

Our role is to help bring the right people together.

Rather than operating as a traditional consulting company, OSL is building a network of consulting partners that can evaluate projects, define a scope of work, and deliver professional services directly to clients.

If your university, research group, nonprofit, company, open-source project, or community needs technical support, tell us what you are trying to accomplish.

We can help identify an appropriate path and, when possible, connect you with a partner that has relevant expertise.

Discuss your project

How our consulting network works #

1. Tell us what you need #

Contact OSL with a short description of your project, repository, research workflow, or technical problem.

Helpful information includes:

the project or repository;
what you would like to accomplish;
important technical or scientific requirements;
your preferred timeline;
your approximate budget or funding constraints;
whether the work needs to be public;
whether confidential information or restricted systems are involved.

You do not need to prepare a complete specification before contacting us.

2. We explore the right route #

OSL reviews the enquiry at a high level and considers whether one of our consulting partners may be a suitable fit.

When appropriate, we can make an introduction. If an existing partner does not match the request, we may explore other organisations or specialists in our network.

We cannot guarantee that a suitable provider will be available for every project.

3. Meet the consulting partner #

The consulting partner evaluates the project with you and determines whether it can take on the engagement.

Depending on the project, the partner may discuss:

scope and deliverables;
milestones and acceptance criteria;
technical approach;
timeline and budget;
intellectual property;
confidentiality;
maintenance and support;
other project-specific requirements.

4. Agree on the delivery and administrative structure #

In many cases, the client and consulting partner will contract and manage the engagement directly.

For some projects, however, the engagement may benefit from fiscal, administrative, payment, or contracting infrastructure. When appropriate, OSL may explore whether one of its fiscal hosts can support the arrangement.

The appropriate structure is determined case by case. Fiscal-host support is not automatic, and OSL cannot guarantee that a particular client, partner, or engagement will be eligible. Any such arrangement remains subject to the relevant fiscal host's scope, review, approval, fees, compliance requirements, and contractual terms.

When no fiscal-host arrangement is used, the client and partner establish their own contractual, financial, legal, tax, confidentiality, intellectual-property, and delivery arrangements.

Open Science Labs is not automatically a party to agreements between a client and an independent consulting partner.

5. Build something useful #

The partner delivers the agreed work in collaboration with the client, maintainers, researchers, or other stakeholders involved in the project.

OSL encourages approaches that strengthen open-source ecosystems, promote maintainability, and contribute improvements upstream whenever practical.

Optional fiscal-host support #

OSL has established fiscal-host relationships that support different parts of its mission. When an engagement would benefit from additional financial or legal infrastructure, OSL may be able to help explore an appropriate fiscal-hosted route.

Depending on the project and the fiscal host, this may include support such as:

receiving and managing project funds;
invoicing and payment processing;
paying eligible contributors or service providers;
financial administration and compliance;
where permitted by the fiscal host, review and signature of formal agreements.

OSL currently works with Open Source Collective for open-source initiatives and with The GRAPH Network for certain non-open-source projects. The appropriate route depends on the nature of the engagement and the eligibility requirements of the relevant fiscal host.

Fiscal-host support is an optional, case-by-case arrangement. Becoming an OSL consulting partner does not automatically provide access to a fiscal host, and clients or partners should not assume that OSL or a fiscal host will become a party to an engagement until the proposed structure has been reviewed and approved.

Learn more about OSL's fiscal hosts.

Areas our partners may support #

Capabilities vary between partners and projects, but consulting engagements may include areas such as:

Open-source maintenance #

bug investigation and fixes;
dependency updates;
compatibility work;
test improvements;
continuous integration;
technical debt reduction;
issue and pull-request workflows;
release preparation;
maintenance planning.

New features and integrations #

new library functionality;
APIs and command-line interfaces;
integrations with external tools and services;
import and export formats;
workflow automation;
prototypes;
upstream contributions.

Packaging, releases, and distribution #

Python packaging and PyPI releases;
conda and conda-forge;
R packaging;
containers;
release automation;
version and dependency management;
installation testing;
release documentation.

Research and scientific software #

turning scripts and notebooks into reusable software;
research software architecture;
reproducible computational environments;
scientific testing and validation infrastructure;
research data pipelines;
interoperability;
performance optimisation;
software citation metadata;
archival releases;
sustainable research software practices.

Software engineering can improve reliability, reproducibility, transparency, and maintainability, but does not replace scientific, clinical, regulatory, or domain-specific validation.

Documentation and contributor experience #

user and API documentation;
tutorials;
developer guides;
contribution guidelines;
maintainer documentation;
onboarding;
release processes;
architecture documentation;
project roadmaps.

Open-source strategy and sustainability #

upstream contribution strategy;
project sustainability;
maintenance planning;
contributor workflows;
governance;
reducing single-maintainer dependencies;
release and compatibility policies;
long-term planning for grant-funded software.

Mentoring, workshops, and training #

Depending on the partner and available expertise, engagements may include:

open-source contribution training;
developer workshops;
research software practices;
technical mentoring;
packaging and release training;
contributor onboarding;
training around specific open-source technologies.

These examples are not a fixed catalogue. If your need is not listed, contact us and tell us about it.

Our first consulting partner #

SciStitch #

SciStitch is the first consulting partner in the Open Science Labs consulting network.

SciStitch began as OSL's initial internal structure for professional consulting. As the initiative evolved, we decided to move toward a decentralised partner model: dedicated organisations can focus on professional consulting and service delivery, while Open Science Labs continues focusing on its broader mission around open source, open science, community, education, mentorship, and social impact.

This structure also allows OSL to collaborate with multiple consulting organisations over time instead of limiting the initiative to a single internal team.

Services, availability, pricing, project acceptance, and delivery are normally determined directly by SciStitch. If a specific engagement would benefit from OSL's fiscal-host infrastructure, OSL and SciStitch may explore an appropriate fiscal arrangement, subject to the relevant host's review and approval.

Why a partner network? #

Open Science Labs is a community, not a conventional software agency.

A partner-based model keeps that distinction clear while still helping organisations find professional support.

It also gives OSL the flexibility to build relationships with organisations and specialists with different areas of expertise.

Over time, we hope this can create a broader ecosystem connecting:

organisations that need help → professional service providers → open-source projects → maintainers and contributors

This can create value across the ecosystem:

organisations gain access to specialised expertise;
consulting partners find meaningful projects;
open-source projects receive professional engineering and maintenance;
where appropriate, eligible engagements may be able to use fiscal infrastructure facilitated by OSL;
maintainers and contributors may gain new opportunities to collaborate and grow professionally.

Participation in paid work is never automatic and depends on the consulting partner, project requirements, funding, contributor readiness, and the arrangements established for each project.

Our principles #

Open whenever practical #

We encourage upstream contributions, open standards, reusable solutions, documentation, and public technical knowledge whenever the project allows it.

Respect project communities #

Existing maintainers, governance structures, contribution processes, and community decisions should be respected.

Build for maintainability #

Professional delivery should consider what happens after the initial task is completed. Tests, documentation, packaging, release processes, and handover can be as important as the feature itself.

Support people as well as software #

Open source is sustained by people. We are particularly interested in relationships that can strengthen maintainers, researchers, contributors, communities, and the long-term sustainability of the projects involved.

Keep relationships clear #

OSL, consulting partners, clients, and community programmes have different roles.

Professional consulting should not depend on unpaid volunteers or create commercial delivery obligations for participants in OSL internships, mentorship programmes, or community activities.

Looking for something different? #

Our current partners may not cover every technology, scientific discipline, country, or type of engagement.

That should not stop you from contacting us.

If you need a different type of consulting or professional support, we may be able to:

identify another potential partner;
connect you with an affiliated project or specialist;
explore collaboration with another organisation;
introduce you to someone in the wider open-source or research software ecosystem;
suggest a different route when OSL is not the appropriate place for the request.

An introduction from OSL does not guarantee that a provider will accept the project, and clients remain responsible for evaluating whether an independent partner is appropriate for their needs.

Discuss another consulting need

Become a consulting partner #

We would like this initiative to grow beyond a single organisation.

Companies, cooperatives, research software groups, independent specialists, nonprofits, and other organisations with professional expertise in open source, science, research software, education, or related technical areas are welcome to discuss becoming part of the OSL consulting network.

We are particularly interested in partners that:

understand open-source communities;
respect upstream projects and their maintainers;
value transparent and maintainable engineering;
are comfortable collaborating across organisations;
support open science, education, research, or social-impact work;
can provide professional services through an appropriate legal and financial structure, either independently or, where eligible and approved, with fiscal-host support facilitated by OSL.

Partnership does not mean that OSL guarantees projects, revenue, clients, or exclusive access to opportunities.

Our goal is to build a network in which organisations can discover appropriate expertise and collaborators more easily.

Contact Open Science Labs about becoming a consulting partner

For the OSL community #

This initiative is also part of a broader goal: creating more pathways between community participation and professional open-source work.

Consulting engagements are managed by the partner delivering the service, including decisions about staffing, compensation, contracting, and contributor participation.

Where appropriate, a partner may decide to collaborate with contributors from the OSL ecosystem.

However:

community participation does not create an entitlement to paid consulting work;
internships and volunteer programmes are separate from commercial engagements;
contributors should not be expected to fulfil client obligations without an appropriate professional arrangement;
each consulting partner determines how it selects and works with contributors.

We hope that, as the partner network grows, it can create more opportunities for people to gain experience, collaborate across organisations, and build sustainable careers around open source and research software.

Start a conversation #

If your organisation needs help with open-source software, research software, scientific workflows, technical education, or another related challenge, contact us.

You can come to OSL even if you do not know which partner would be the best fit.

Tell us about:

your organisation or project;
the problem you are trying to solve;
the technologies involved;
your expected outcome;
your timeline;
your approximate budget;
whether you already have a contracting and payment structure or may need fiscal-host support;
any scientific, security, privacy, or regulatory requirements.

We will review the enquiry and, when possible, help identify an appropriate next step.

Primary contact: team@opensciencelabs.org