The 2023 NASA Space Apps Challenge was held on October 7-8, 2023. This challenge is now closed.

Summary

2023 is the Year of Open Science! Sharing success stories is a great way to showcase the wonderful open science work accomplished by the global community, and provides real-world examples of successful ways to integrate open science into the scientific workflow. Your challenge is to tell an open science success story in a creative way using any form of storytelling—from singing to poetry to dance to puppetry to acrobatics and beyond!

Background

Open science is a movement sweeping across the globe
With inclusive and accessible values at its core
Tell a tale of sharing data or of an open-source space probe
We seek stories of openness with creativity galore!

Technological advancements in the realms of data, software, and collaborative tools are enabling transformational, interdisciplinary science, and changing scientific research. Open science practices can advance science and inclusivity simultaneously, and together we can build a more equitable scientific community. The movement to open science is gaining momentum, with the announcement from the U.S. White House, alongside many federal agencies and other organizations, that 2023 is a Year of Open Science and NASA establishing the Transform to Open Science (TOPS) mission dedicated to accelerating adoption of open science principles.

Sharing success stories is a great way to showcase the wonderful open science work from the broader community, and provides real-world examples of successful ways to integrate open science into the scientific workflow. However, open science is a multifaceted entity, encompassing the sharing of research products (e.g., all data and code used to obtain scientific results) as well as practicing science openly (e.g., working more collaboratively and with a diverse set of researchers). These many aspects of open science are often implemented differently across scientific domains. For these reasons, it is important to have a bank of success stories that cover various domains and aspects of open science.

Objectives

Your challenge is to tell an open science success story in a creative way to:

Showcase an excellent example of open science
Contribute to a bank of examples across disciplines and across aspects of open science so all scientists can envision how they can practice science openly
Promote open science to the scientific and broader public communities

As you develop your story, think about the best way to creatively convey the information. Example formats for your story include:

Written text (e.g., a poem)
Visual art (e.g., a comic)
Video (e.g., a musical piece, dance, acrobatics, puppetry)
Audio (e.g., oral storytelling, musical piece)

Other formats that allow for digital viewing/listening/reading are very welcome!

Potential Considerations

As you develop your story, you may (but are not required to) consider the following:

Your story does not have to include all aspects of open science—including just one aspect is fine! Open science encompasses all steps of the scientific workflow, as well as more nuanced aspects like collaboration and inclusivity. If you’d like a reference for the steps in an open science workflow, take a look at the NASA TOPS Open Science 101 curriculum (see Resources). It consists of five individual modules that roughly align with a scientific workflow: the Ethos of Open Science, Open Tools, Open Data, Open-Source Software, and Open Results.
Note that NASA TOPS may share your story more broadly in its quest to promote open science!

For data and resources related to this challenge, refer to the Resources tab at the top of the page.

2023 NASA Space Apps Challenge

Open Science Storytelling!