Project OSHIE - Open Science Hardware Instruments for scientific experiments

Open transfer using open source hardware

The OSHIE project aims to investigate the use of free and open hardware for scientific tasks (Open Science Hardware - OSH) for the German science system. The project develops the tools to enable scientists to access and use OSH and demonstrates the benefits of OSH-based projects for the scientific community with lighthouse projects. The use of free and open software, also known as open source software, is a concept that is already well established in the academic and commercial world. The proposed project focuses on the use of open source hardware in science - the so-called Open Science Hardware. By using free and open hardware, scientists are given the opportunity to design and manufacture scientific tools that are customised to their experiments and measurement tasks. The project aims to raise awareness of OSH in the German science system. The aim is to create a community in which scientists from different disciplines and citizens can jointly develop OSH-based solutions for scientific tasks. The project develops the necessary conceptual framework for trust in OSH and its operational readiness. We create the necessary digital tools for collaboration in such an OSH community and network it with international OSH initiatives.

In contrast to proprietary solutions for scientific tasks, considerable advantages can be achieved by using OSH:​ 

1. OSH concepts are freely available and can be further developed and modified by users. This ensures flexible and individual adaptability to the respective scientific task. 
2. OSH-based devices enable a much deeper understanding of the underlying principles of action and measurement, which leads to a better understanding of their possibilities and limitations. 
3. OSH solutions can be produced locally, minimising dependence on global value chains.
4. OSH can activate new and diverse user groups within and outside the scientific system, which together follow the idea of the open source movement and contribute to the development and further development of innovative scientific hardware in a community-based approach.
5. Experiments and measurements become reproducible and traceable, which enables independent researchers to check, confirm or refute scientific results.

The project aims to create a community in which German researchers are enabled to independently develop, improve, share and produce new tools for their scientific experiments and measurement tasks based on an open science approach. In such an OSH community, we bring together scientists from different fields with their expertise to jointly create open and free innovations for their scientific work. Through OSH, the scientific community is empowered to create customised solutions for their research tasks in a do-it-yourself approach. Free and open access to these solutions leads to iterative improvement and enables customisation of devices to specific experimental setups and measurement tasks.