OneSciencePlace (OSP) is built on open-source software and open standards, and we're committed to a unified open-source distribution for institutional self-hosting. That work is planned, with proposal funding currently under review. When funded, the distribution will enable institutions to deploy and operate OSP on their own infrastructure — and to contribute to its development.

Current status: managed deployment available; open distribution planned, with proposal funding under review.

Why open source

Open-source distribution reflects our commitment to academic transparency, reproducibility, and long-term community sustainability. It also enables institutions with self-hosting requirements or policy constraints to deploy OSP on their own infrastructure and contribute to its development.

Scope of the Open Distribution

The following components are planned for the initial public release: 

  • Commonly used applications (Jupyter, RStudio, Linux Desktop, and others).
  • Core web application and user interface.
  • App runtime and container launch system (single-port web apps; GUI via embedded VNC/DCV/Xpra in the container).
  • Identity connectors (OIDC/SAML, LDAP) and per-system identity mapping.
  • Compute integration for standalone VMs/hosts (no scheduler) and Slurm clusters.
  • Data integration for POSIX and S3/object; policy-based job archiving.
  • FAIR publishing components (metadata and DOIs).
  • Documentation.
  • See roadmap and vision

Some provider-specific operational tooling and automation may remain part of the managed deployment.

OneSciencePlace integrates with established open-source platforms including Tapis. The system architecture reflects lessons learned from prior community efforts such as Hubzero, SeedMeLab, CIPRES, Apache Airavata, and Tapis. 

Community Governance

The public repository will include:

  • Issue tracking
  • Contribution guidelines
  • Roadmap visibility
  • Structured security disclosure process

Governance structures will be established in alignment with open, community-driven research infrastructure principles. Release milestones will align with funded development phases and institutional collaboration.

Self-Hosted vs Managed Deployment

The planned open distribution will enable institutional self-hosting. The managed deployment option provides infrastructure operations, upgrades, monitoring, and security hardening. Both paths are supported — the right choice depends on your institution's infrastructure, staffing, and policy requirements. We are happy to help you evaluate which fits best.

Interested institutions today. While the open distribution is pending funded development, institutions considering self-hosting in the future are invited to contact the OSP team. Early conversations help us understand deployment requirements, policy constraints, and integration needs — and ensure the distribution reflects the needs of the institutions most likely to adopt it.

Ready to collaborate? Contact the OSP team

Want to understand how OSP is deployed today? Explore projects and deployments