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Student Showcase Sessions at OSPO Events §

Pattern Summary §

Create dedicated event/conference sessions where students present their open source projects, contributions or experiences working with their institution’s OSPO.

Problem / Challenge §

The lack of recognition for open source work within academia causes valuable contributions to remain invisible and potentially undermines student motivation to participate in open source projects over the long-term.

Without understanding open source's role in academia, students may overlook how open source experience can benefit their careers and academic work.

There may also be a limited awareness of the OSPO’s student-focused initiatives leading to missed opportunities for students.

Pattern Category §

  • Building University OSS Community
  • Demonstrating value as an OSPO
  • OSS Advocacy & Policy
  • OSS Education & Skills
  • Raising awareness
  • Supporting OSS development

Context §

A university with diverse departments of varying levels of OSS expertise and needs.

An OSPO has been established.

Forces §

An OSPO with the capacity to organize / co-organize events.

An event or conference has been organized by the OSPO and a program committee is in place.

OSPO staff have established connections with students and are familiar with open source projects.

OSPO staff have the capacity to support students participating in showcase sessions.

Solution §

Organize dedicated student showcase sessions as part of an open source conference or event.

Planning §

The organizing committee may need to consider the following:

  • Potential scheduling conflicts with academic commitments.
  • How to make the Call for Presenters or application process inclusive for students.
  • Whether presentation coaching or promotional assistance is needed to support students to effectively communicate their work.
  • How to encourage peer networking and establishing connections between students and faculty or industry during these sessions.
  • Whether awards or recognition should be incorporated into the event e.g. best student project, best community impact.

Showcase Format §

Showcases may feature student presentations on a wide range of topics including (but not limited to) students’:

  • Open source project contributions.
  • Internship experiences.
  • Research involving open source tools.
  • Leadership roles within the institution’s OSPO.

Presentations may be in the form of lightning talks, poster sessions, panel discussions, community building sessions, demo formats or exhibits.

Resulting Context §

  • Student participants gain recognition and professional visibility for their open source contributions.
  • They also develop valuable presentation experience.
  • Showcase sessions create a feedback loop that motivates continued student engagement with open source projects and OSPO activities.
  • Faculty and industry attendees discover talented students for potential collaboration, internship, or hiring opportunities.
  • The broader academic community develops greater awareness of student open source capabilities and the OSPO's educational impact.
  • Showcases also generate content and success stories that the OSPO can use for recruitment, grant applications, and demonstrating value to institutional stakeholders.

Additional Learning from the Georgia Tech Open Source Program Office §

At this year’s conference, we gave students more of a spotlight to present their work. Some of the students who participated in last year’s virtual summer internship program spoke about the experience and their progress on projects. It was very successful and we had greater numbers of students participating than at the previous conference.

Because of the success of the student panels, we plan to split the format next year. We hope to run our usual annual summit (where speakers present their results) and add a separate workshop focused on training.

Known Instances §

Georgia Tech Open Source Program Office, Georgia Institute of Technology

References §

Scroll down the agenda for the Open Source and Scientific Software Workshop for details of the student lightning talks.

Contributors & Acknowledgement §

In alphaetical order

  • Ciara Flanagan, https://orcid.org/0009-0005-3153-7673
  • Fang Liu, Georgia Institute of Technology, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3383-2191
  • Jeff Young, Georgia Institute of Technology,, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9841-4057