Yanina Bellini Saibene

**Exciting News!** The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has awarded rOpenSci a
new grant to foster sustainable scientific software as a pillar of Open
Science in Latin America by building capacity and community. With this
\$340K grant, we're planning to launch a Spanish-language version of our
Champions Program, along with other new initiatives to make sustainable
software development more accessible to researchers across the region.
Let's dive into how this project will support Latin American scientists.

In open science, creating and maintaining good software has become
essential for ensuring research quality and making findings reproducible
and accessible. Latin America has been building a strong, open,
collaborative research infrastructure since the 1950s, thanks to
institutional open access policies. These policies have focused on
open-access publications and research data, but software isn't often
seen as a crucial part of research. Most researchers don't receive
formal training in software development, and there's no clear career
path for those who focus on this area.^[1](#fn:1){.footnote-ref
role="doc-noteref"}^ Further, as in academia throughout the world,
software development isn't often recognized as an academic
accomplishment.

## A Champions Program with Latin America focus

That's where the [rOpenSci Champions Program](/champions/) comes in.
Launched in 2022 - with the support of CZI - it's designed to help
individuals from underrepresented groups get involved in open science,
research software engineering, and the R programming community. Over 12
months, participants go through onboarding, training, mentorship, and
various community-building activities. They develop projects like
creating new R packages or participating in the [rOpenSci peer review
process](/software-review/), which teaches them best practices for
developing and sharing research software and invites them to become part
of an international community.

At the end of the program, participants get to choose how they want to
give back to their own communities and institutions---whether it's
through outreach, mentoring, or promoting open science practices. By the
time they finish, they're fully integrated into rOpenSci's community,
which provides them with ongoing support and opportunities for growth.

Demand is especially high in Latin America, where sustainable software
development is becoming more and more important. In just two years, the
program received 227 applications from 55 countries, with 40% of
applicants coming from Latin America. There's also significant diversity
in terms of gender and language, with over half the applicants
identifying as women or gender minorities, and 42% with Spanish as their
primary language.

Language barriers are a big challenge for Latin American researchers who
want to engage in global open science^[2](#fn:2){.footnote-ref
role="doc-noteref"}^. To break down these barriers, we plan to run a
Spanish-language version of the Champions Program, as well as localizing
rOpenSci's materials into Portuguese.

We're excited and proud that Spanish-speaking mentors *and* mentees from
previous cohorts of the Champions Program will be joining as mentors and
instructors for this language-specific program supporting future
rOpenSci Champions.

We also plan to evaluate different models to sustain the Champions
Program by conducting market research and stakeholder outreach during
2025. This will be followed by a pilot to gather feedback and refine the
model as needed.

**Look for an rOpenSci Champions Program open call for applications and
the Localization Projects announcement in 2025.**

::: {.footnotes role="doc-endnotes"}

------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.  ::: {#fn:1}
    Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (European
    Commission). Open access policies in Latin America, the Caribbean
    and the European Union. Progress towards a political dialogue. 2023.
    <https://op.europa.eu/publication-detail/-/publication/8a4852c6-bca3-11ed-8912-01aa75ed71a1> [↩︎](#fnref:1){.footnote-backref
    role="doc-backlink"}
    :::

2.  ::: {#fn:2}
    Tatsuya Amano, Valeria Ramírez-Castañeda, Violeta Berdejo-Espinola,
    Israel Borokini, Shawan Chowdhury, Marina Golivets, Juan David
    González-Trujillo, Flavia Montaño-Centellas, Kumar Paudel, Rachel
    Louise White, Diogo Veríssimo. 2023. The manifold costs of being a
    non-native English speaker in science. PLOS Biology 21(7): e3002184.
    <https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002184> [↩︎](#fnref:2){.footnote-backref
    role="doc-backlink"}
    :::
:::


<strong>
 Exciting News!
</strong>
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has awarded rOpenSci a new grant to foster sustainable scientific software as a pillar of Open Science in Latin America by building capacity and community. With this $340K grant, we’re planning to launch a Spanish-language version of our Champions Program, along with other new initiatives to make sustainable software development more accessible to researchers across the region.

Messaggi di Rogue Scholar

Fostering Open Science in Latin America: CZI Awards Funds for Sustainable Research Software Development