About
The Transform to Open Science (TOPS) mission is a NASA initiative designed to rapidly transform agencies, organizations, and communities to an inclusive culture of open science. TOPS is part of NASA’s Open-Source Science Initiative.
Why do open science?
The world is changing rapidly. Everyday new problems emerge and it takes groundbreaking scientific discoveries to solve them. To stay ahead, the pace of science must accelerate and science needs to be even better, more accurate, and faster to enable the truly transformative breakthroughs that will help us thrive. Closed science, hoarding information and resources, silos of knowledge holds science back by limiting who can participate. We need more voices that work together and share knowledge and resources. Only then will we find new and better solutions. NASA’s Transform to Open Science (TOPS) mission will allow us to create a scientific culture that is ready for 21st century challenges. Open Science will broaden participation, increase accessibility to knowledge, and embrace new technologies that can respond to these changes at scale. We hope you will join us in creating an open science infrastructure in your organization. TOPS will show you how!
We know that Open Science creates a more equitable system and broadens participation in science. Reducing barriers to entry for excluded, disenfranchised, and marginalized communities enables more diverse voices and areas of expertise to engage in scientific debate and take part in discovery and innovation. Leveraging more researchers will advance discovery, increase collaboration, and create new knowledge. All these things are essential for scientific discovery in the 21st century.
Read through these open science stories to learn why some scientists choose open science.
Strategic Objectives
Open Science creates more advanced and inclusive research faster, builds a more just and equitable world, and ensures that minds from all walks of life can participate in science. TOPS is NASA’s ambitious plan to accelerate open science practices. It’s a 5 year journey that will
- Accelerate major scientific discoveries
- Broaden participation by historically excluded communities
- Increase understanding and adoption of open science principles and techniques
Standing on the shoulders of giants
TOPS is by no means the first or only initative enabling open science. Many scientists have been practicing open science to varying degrees for decades! TOPS is building upon all of the work that has been done so far and that has paved the way to make open science a reality on a large scale.