Show-Me State Times

Saint Louis University's Innovative Software Lab, Open Source with SLU (OSS), has received a second round of funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. This new grant aims to support OSS in achieving financial independence by the 2026-27 academic year.

Established in 2022 through an initial grant from the Sloan Foundation, OSS was founded by Kate Holdener, Ph.D., an assistant professor of computer science at SLU. The lab engages students in open-source software development for research projects that assist SLU faculty.

“We are very thankful to the Sloan Foundation for this grant,” Holdener said. “With this new round of funding, we will deepen the roots of Open Source with SLU and work toward making this a permanent facility within the University.”

Daniel Shown, OSS Program Director, highlighted their progress: “Dr. Holdener had an idea, and we tested that idea. The great news is we have found methods and patterns that work. Now we’re working on bringing these to more partners and making the program a long-term success.”

OSS provides hands-on experience for undergraduate computer science students who work under graduate student mentorship as part of their curriculum. It addresses challenges such as providing practical software engineering education and supporting custom research software development.

“OSS addresses two significant challenges in universities: providing experience-based software engineering education and supporting the development and maintenance of custom research software,” Holdener said.

The team includes 20 graduate students and three part-time developers who have created tools like MeltShiny for computational chemistry and Seeing-Is-Believing for language education.

Earlier this year, OSS released its first project to an external partner. Shown expressed optimism about future collaborations: “Our graduate students are getting real experiences as technical mentors and trusted partners for our clients,” he said. “They are ready to be leaders."

SLU researchers can request open-source software development or updates for research purposes via oss@slu.edu.

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is dedicated to advancing scientific knowledge through grants in various fields including science, technology, engineering, mathematics, economics, diversity initiatives, technology empowerment projects, and public engagement with science.