UCC x PLUG: Developing Open Source Tools for Research

Come learn about how YOU (yes you!) can make an impact by helping develop open source tools for research.

Scientific infrastructure extends beyond physical facilities to include open, community developed software. Modern research depends on packages, libraries, repositories, and workflows built collaboratively through version control, testing, and code review across institutions and disciplines.

This work is continually being improved and maintained rather than discrete outputs like peer-reviewed manuscripts. Drawing on experience in free and open source software, examples from plant disease epidemiology and agricultural data science show how such tools support data generation, acquisition, analysis, and decision making. Sustained through distributed development and maintenance, and shaped by funding and governance, these systems now form essential infrastructure for science.