Open Source Hardware is a practice to ensure that devices can be built, modified and enhanced, under minimally restrictive licences. It supports multiple open science objectives including reproducibility in research and robustness of research methods because the generation of scientific data in most cases requires some form of hardware. It supports the green transition by countering planned obsolescence, promotes design quality and has a track record as the most effective way to ensure open access to new technological developments. Meanwhile it promotes competitiveness, efficiency, reliability, traceability, resilience and cost-effectiveness for both science and innovation.

The new questions emerging in the biological sciences can often require instrumentation that does not yet exist or is hard to access even though the actual requirements are clear and feasible. This situation has driven the screening unit to develop new devices and instruments and to build and adapt those already described by the open source hardware community to ensure that experimental needs are met.

If your experimental requirements involve instrumentation or components that are not available, or available but not in sufficient quantity, and could potentially be built, feel free to contact us via the links on menu side-bar.

References

Global Open Science Hardware Roadmap 2018 pdf

https://home.cern/tags/open-hardware

Compact programmable illuminator plate developed at the screening unit for long-term optogenetic modulation.