napari Plugin Grants

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) imaging program seeks to give biologists access to reproducible quantitative image analysis. The rise of Python as a leading platform for scientific computing and machine learning shows promise for biological applications. Yet it remains difficult for biologists to take advantage of the latest developments in deep learning-enabled quantitative analysis because of a lack of visualization and exploratory analysis tools that can support modern microscopy and large imaging datasets. Towards that end, CZI has partnered with napari, a community-built, Python-based, open source tool for browsing, annotating, and analyzing large multi-dimensional images. Since the launch of the napari hub in June 2021, the napari plugin ecosystem has been growing exponentially, with over 145 plugins available for the research community.

As napari’s plugin ecosystem grows, it is important for the napari community to find high-quality, trusted plugins—that are well documented and reliable, with intuitive user interfaces and responsive support from their developers—for their data analysis challenges. To support this goal, CZI invites applications for grants of $20,000 in total costs to improve the quality of one or more existing napari plugins through improvements to documentation, user support, usability, reliability, or other activities.

While napari is designed for a broad variety of imaging domains and welcomes plugin developers building a wide variety of tools, in this round of funding, CZI seeks to ensure that the napari ecosystem supports a critical mass of foundational image processing and analysis methods for cell biology. In addition to quality improvements, CZI invites applications for grants of $20,000 in total costs that would enable developers to convert one or more existing image analysis tools for cellular biology to one or more napari plugins.

In addition to funding, awardees will be invited to participate in training and mentorship opportunities to support their success as part of the grant program.

Scope

Applications for two types of grants will be considered in scope according to the level of maturity of the plugin:

• Quality improvement grants: $20,000 total costs (inclusive of up to 15 percent indirect costs) over 12 months to improve the quality of one or more existing open source napari plugins. Priority will be given to plugins that have strong potential for increased impact through quality improvements such as documentation, user support, usability, and reliability. Plugins supported by quality improvement grants must be available on the napari hub and source code on a public repository prior to the final grant submission date of June 2, 2022.
• Cell biology grants: $20,000 total costs (inclusive of up to 15 percent indirect costs) over 12 months to convert existing open source tools, methods, or processing steps that support common cell biology workflows into one or more napari plugins. Priority will be given to plugins that provide image analysis, processing, and quantification solutions that are currently lacking in the napari plugin ecosystem through the napari hub.

Acceptable Use of Funds

Acceptable use of funds includes, but is not limited to:

• Salary support for the applicant or a member of their project team to work on the project;
• Travel support for the applicant or a member of their project team to present on the work at conferences (for grants to organizations outside of the U.S., funds cannot be used for travel to the U.S.);
• Hackathons, sprints, outreach, or other forms of community engagement and support for community participation; and
• Operational needs such as workstations, cloud computing, or continuous integration services.

CZI staff will further support awarded proposals by convening grantee meetings and helping connect open source software developers to scientists, including other CZI-funded grantees and members of the broader scientific community. Travel support for these meetings will be provided by CZI separately from the requested grant funds.

• Applications may be submitted by domestic and foreign nonprofit organizations; including public and private institutions, such as colleges, universities, hospitals, laboratories, units of state and local government, and eligible agencies of the federal government. Software projects operating independently must be affiliated with an organization, as described below. Grants are not permitted to individuals; only to organizations. For-profit organizations are not eligible.
• If an application does not come from an organization eligible to receive and distribute funds (e.g., an academic institution), it may designate a fiscal sponsor (e.g., NumFOCUS, Code for Science & Society, or others). We encourage proposals that require fiscal sponsorship to contact the appropriate organizations early in the application process.
• There may be more than one application submitted by each organization.
• Each application must designate one principal investigator (PI) as the Coordinating Principal Investigator (Coordinating PI). The Coordinating PI will act as the administrative contact between CZI and all PIs on the grant (Co-PIs). The Coordinating PI must submit the application on behalf of all PIs. Grant funds will be awarded to the organization designated by the Coordinating PI (either their organization or fiscal sponsor), which will take responsibility for distributing funds to any other institutions.
• PIs and Co-PIs must each be permitted to receive grant support by the organization they are applying with. This criteria may be defined differently in different types of organizations. Examples of eligible positions are:
  • Tenure track faculty;
  • Non-tenure track faculty or staff scientists who lead a lab or are engaged in academic activities and are permitted to apply for grants by their institution;
  • Researchers with expertise in the relevant areas that are affiliated with or supported by an institution and permitted to apply for grants; and
  • Postdoctoral fellows and graduate students who are permitted to apply for grants by their institution and apply through the institution at which they will conduct the research.
    • For graduate students or postdoctoral scholars who wish to participate in a grant but are not eligible to apply for grants through their institution, applications must be submitted through one of the eligible parties listed above.
• Each application must have a minimum of one PI, but may designate up to three total PIs (one Coordinating PI and up to two Co-PIs).
• Coordinating PIs are eligible to apply for a maximum of two grants, but each one must be in a different category (one in quality improvement and one in cell biology).
• PIs may only serve as the Coordinating PI on one application of each type (quality improvement and cell biology), but may serve as a Co-PI on applications different from those they submitted.
• Co-PIs may serve as a Co-PI on multiple applications.
• PIs/Co-PIs on one application may be employed at the same or at different institutions.
• Proposals that are currently funded through other CZI grants, including Cycle 1 of the napari grant program, are eligible to apply to continue or build on previously funded work.
• We believe that the strongest teams incorporate a wide range of voices. Those underrepresented in science and technology are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Meta employees, including employees of any subsidiary Meta entities, as well as employees of Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, LLC, are not permitted to apply.
• Members of the napari steering council and napari core developers are not permitted to apply.
• CZI reserves the sole right to decide if an applicant and applicant organization meet the eligibility requirements.
• We welcome applications from any country, provided the proposed work is compliant with the United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) sanctions program. Prior to award, all grant applications will be reviewed for compliance with OFAC sanctions program, the United States Department of Commerce’s export administration regulations, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), any other applicable U.S. laws and regulations, and any corresponding laws and regulations in the country where the applicant is based. All grant agreements will also require the grantee to comply with these laws and regulations. For additional information please refer to: the U.S. Treasury Department’s resources, the International Trade Administration’s website on US Export Controls, and the Department of Justice’s website on the FCPA.

CZI suggests that you consult your home institution to determine eligibility to apply for this grant and your institutional policy on indirect costs. For questions about eligibility, please contact us in advance of the application deadline at sciencegrants@chanzuckerberg.com. Deadline extensions will not be granted.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative uses SurveyMonkey Apply (SMApply) as its grants management portal. All applications must be submitted through this portal (https://apply.chanzuckerberg.com). SMApply is configured to work best using the Google Chrome browser. It is recommended that you familiarize yourself with this portal well in advance of any deadlines. Deadline extensions will not be granted.

• Eligibility: Please refer to the above Eligibility section of the RFA announcement.
• Award period and start date: Proposed projects should be 12 months in duration with an expected start date of November 1, 2022.
• Grant amount: $20,000 USD total costs (inclusive of up to 15 percent indirect costs).
• Number of Principal Investigators (PI and Co-PIs): Each application must have a minimum of one PI, but may designate up to three total PIs (one Coordinating Principal Investigator and up to two Co-Principal Investigators (Co-PIs)).
• Institutional sign-off is required.

The application consists of the following sections (called tasks in the grants portal): Applicant Details, Organization Details, Equal Opportunity & Diversity, Project Details, Optional Attachments.

• Applicant Details: Complete all fields in this task; all fields are required. The information entered should be for the Coordinating Principal Investigator (Coordinating PI), who will be the person submitting the application on behalf of the team. The Coordinating PI will take responsibility for managing the group collaboration and be the administrative point of contact for CZI and any partners. Information about the Co-Principal Investigator(s) on the project should be entered where requested in the Project Details part of the application.
  • Name and email (auto-filled): To edit your name or email, please do so in your account information by clicking your name in the upper right corner and clicking My Account in the dropdown menu.
  • Degree(s)
  • Current Employer/Affiliation (enter n/a if self-employed/unemployed)
  • Title/Position
  • Department or equivalent
  • Applicant Organization: Organization that would be directly receiving and distributing funding if a grant is awarded (e.g., academic institution, fiscal sponsor). Note that this may be different from the Applicant’s main affiliation/current employer.
  • Career status: Select early-career (0 to 6 years), mid-career (6+ to 10 years), or neither.
    • Early-Career Definition: In the context of this RFA, an early-career investigator is someone who has been in an independent position for zero to six years at the time of application, i.e. started their first independent position between June 1, 2016 and June 2, 2022. Graduate students and postdocs who are eligible to apply should select this option.
    • Mid-Career Definition: In the context of this RFA, a mid-career investigator is someone who has been in an independent position for more than six to 10 years at the time of application, i.e. started their first independent position between June 1, 2012 and May 31, 2016.
  • Short narrative biography of the Coordinating PI (maximum of 100 words).
  • ORCID iD: Enter in format XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX. ORCID iDs are unique, digital identifiers that distinguish individual scientists and unambiguously connect their contributions to science over time and across changes of name, location, and institutional affiliation. ORCID iDs will be used to streamline reporting in our applications and grant reports to reduce the burden on grantees. For more information, please visit https://orcid.org/register. (Please contact us at sciencegrants@chanzuckerberg.com if you wish to opt-out).
• Organization Details: Complete all fields in this task; all fields are required. The information entered should be for the organization that would be directly receiving and distributing funding if a grant is awarded (e.g., academic institution, fiscal sponsor). Note that this may be different from the Applicant’s main affiliation/current employer.
  • Organization:
    • Name, Street address, City, State/Province, Country, Website
    • Organization type: Academic, Other Nonprofit, Government, Fiscal Sponsor, or Other
    • Tax ID: Enter your organization’s Employer Identification Number (EIN), as assigned by the Internal Revenue Service in the 9-digit format (XX-XXXXXXX; 10 characters total). Foreign organizations or others who do not have an EIN should enter 44-4444444.
  • Organizational/Administrative Contact: List the name and contact information for the administrative contact to discuss additional information needed, if selected for award.
    • First name, Last name, Title/Position, Email.
  • Signing Official: List the name and contact information for the person authorized to sign on behalf of your organization.
    • First name, Last name, Title/Position, Email.
  • Press Contact / Public Relations Official: List the name and contact information for the person to discuss press releases and media.
    • First name, Last name, Title/Position, Email.
  • Institutional Approval Form: Upload as a single PDF. This form should be reviewed and signed by a person authorized to sign on behalf of your organization agreeing to the stated institutional and investigator requirements and commitments on data, resource sharing, and publication policies, as well as endorsing/verifying your application materials and confirming their ability to receive funding for the project. In the event of an award, all funds will be awarded to the Coordinating PI institution as the prime institution, and the Coordinating PI institution will be responsible for ensuring compliance of all of the terms, including compliance of all partners/subcontract institutions. These policies are non-negotiable. This form should only be signed if the organization is able to comply with the terms as stated. While CZI does not require sign-off by all of your partner institutions, please refer to what your institution requires. Note: digital signatures are permitted as long as the document is not encrypted or password-protected.
• Equal Opportunity & Diversity: CZI Science supports the science and technology that will make it possible to cure, prevent, or manage all diseases by the end of this century. Everyone is affected by disease, yet different communities are affected by or experience disease in different ways. Moreover, due to systemic barriers, the scientific enterprise itself is not a place where all voices and talents thrive. We believe the strongest scientific teams — encompassing ourselves, our grantees, and our partners — incorporate a wide range of backgrounds, lived experiences, and perspectives that guide them to the most important unsolved problems. To enable our work, we incorporate diverse perspectives into our strategy and processes, and we also seek to empower community partners to engage in science.

  We request demographic information associated with applications submitted to CZI in response to our open calls. This information helps us learn from the RFA process, as well as improve our strategies to help ensure members of underrepresented or marginalized groups in science are aware of and able to apply to CZI opportunities. Please note that answering all questions below is voluntary, and demographic information will not be used to make final grant funding decisions. All responses will be shared only with limited personnel, who will use that information only for the purposes described in this paragraph.

  If you have any additional questions about why we ask this, what we do with the data, or to share suggestions for improvement, please reach out to sciencegrants@chanzuckerberg.com.

  The information below may be entered for the Coordinating PI. Please note that completing the below is voluntary, and demographic information will not be used to make final grant funding decisions.

  • What is your race/ethnicity? (optional)
  • What is the year of your last academic degree? (optional)
  • What is your gender? (optional)
  • Are you transgender? (optional)
  • Are you a member of the LGBTQ community? (optional)
  • Do you have one or more disabilities? Please specify (optional)

  The information below may be entered for the Co-Principal Investigators listed (if any and up to two maximum) in the Project Details section. Please note that completing the below is voluntary, and demographic information will not be used to make final grant funding decisions. Please also let your Co-Principal Investigators know if you choose to enter the below in case they object to your providing that information to CZI.

  • Do any of the Co-Principal Investigators self-identify as one of the following? Woman, Man, Non-binary/Third gender, Prefer not to state, Prefer to describe (optional)
    • If yes, how many of the listed Co-Principal Investigators self-identify as one of the above gender identities? Please do not include requested information on a per person basis; we are looking for aggregated information (optional)
  • Do any of the Co-Principal Investigators self-identify as one of the following? Two or More Races, Black and/or African American, Asian, White, Hispanic or Latinx, Middle Eastern or North African, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, American Indian or Alaska Native, Prefer not to state, Prefer to describe (optional)
    • If yes, how many of the listed Co-Principal Investigators self-identify as one of the above race/ethnicities? Please do not include requested information on a per person basis; we are looking for aggregated information (optional).
• Project Details: Complete all sections in this task.
  • Project Title: Auto-filled. If you need to edit your project title, navigate to your application summary page; click on the three dots to the right of the application title (next to the Preview link); and select Rename from the dropdown menu (maximum of 60 characters, including spaces).
  • Project Purpose: One sentence (maximum of 200 characters including spaces). Please use a third-person voice.
    • Example: To develop a series of workshops to increase utilization of microscopy in biomedical research.
  • Award Type: Single selection: Quality Improvement or Cell Biology award (please see above Opportunity section for definitions).
  • Previous Funding:
    • Did you previously apply for funding for this or a related proposal under the CZI napari Plugin Accelerator RFA? Yes/No. If yes, provide the application number: e.g., NPA-0000005345.
    • Did you previously receive funding for this proposal under the CZI napari Plugin Accelerator RFA? Yes/No. If yes, provide the application number: e.g., NPA-0000005345.
  • Co-Principal Investigators: Indicate the number of Co-Principal Investigators (maximum of two), not including the Coordinating PI. Do not include the Coordinating PI in this section. For each Co-PI, please provide:
    • Co-PI name, Title/Position, Degrees, ORCID iD (format: XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX), Email, Career status
      • In the context of this RFA, an early-career investigator is someone who has been in an independent position for zero to six years at the time of application, i.e. started their first independent position between June 1, 2016 and June 2, 2022. Graduate students and postdocs who are eligible to apply should select this option. A mid-career investigator is someone who has been in an independent position for more than six to 10 years at the time of application, i.e. started their first independent position between June 1, 2012 and May 31, 2016.
    • Organization Name, Country, Website
    • Type of organization (drop down menu: Academic, Other Nonprofit, Government, or Other).
    • Tax ID: Enter your organization’s Employer Identification Number (EIN), as assigned by the Internal Revenue Service in the 9-digit format (XX-XXXXXXX; total of 10 characters). Foreign organizations or others who do not have an EIN should enter 44-4444444.
  • Budget Description: A brief, estimated summary of how you will use the budget (maximum of 100 words).
  • Opportunity: Describe the needs for the napari community that this project will address. For Quality Improvement awards, specify the napari plugin(s) and the shortcomings in plugin quality that this award will address. For Cell Biology awards, specify the gaps or shortcomings in the napari plugin ecosystem that this award seeks to fill (maximum 100 words).
  • Impact and Metrics: Describe the impact to date of your project, citing relevant metrics around usage and adoption, where applicable (maximum of 200 words).
  • Project /Work Plan: A summary description of the proposed work the applicants are requesting funding for, including resources the applicants will provide that are not part of the requested funding (maximum of 200 words).
  • Priority Areas: For Quality Improvement awards, specify and describe one or more priority areas of improvement (please see the following bullets and the below Selection Process section of the RFA announcement for more details): Documentation, User Support, Usability, and Reliability. For Cell Biology awards, please describe plans for all areas.
    • Documentation Plan: A description of the proposed work on documentation for the plugin(s) supported by this award (please see the below Selection Process section of the RFA announcement for definitions). Specify any activities that will be undertaken to establish or improve the documentation of the plugin(s), the expected outcomes, and how the work fits into the project goals (maximum of 200 words).
    • User Support Plan: A description of the proposed work on user support for the plugin(s) supported by this award (please see the below Selection Process section of the RFA announcement for definitions). Specify the activities that will be undertaken to establish or improve the user support of the plugin(s), the expected outcomes, and how the work fits into the project goals (maximum of 200 words).
    • Usability Plan: A description of the proposed work on usability for the plugin(s) supported by this award (please see the below Selection Process section of the RFA announcement for definitions). Specify the activities that will be undertaken to establish or improve the usability of the plugin(s), the expected outcomes, and how the work fits into the project goals (maximum of 200 words).
    • Reliability Plan: A description of the proposed work on reliability for the plugin(s) supported by this award (please see the below Selection Process section of the RFA announcement for definitions). Specify the activities that will be undertaken to establish or improve the reliability of the plugin(s), the expected outcomes, and how the work fits into the project goals (maximum of 200 words).
  • Milestones and Deliverables: List expected milestones and deliverables, and their expected timeline. Be specific and include (where possible) any goals for metrics the plugin project(s) are expected to reach upon completion of the grant. Please use a third-person voice (maximum of 200 words).
  • Existing Support: List current and recent financial or in-kind support for the plugin project(s), including duration, amount in USD, and source of funding. Include in this section any previous funding for these plugin projects received from CZI (maximum of 200 words).
  • napari hub Pages: Provide links (up to five) of any existing plugins that will be supported by this award. All URLs should be in the format https://example.com.
    • Optional for Cell Biology awards; minimum of one and maximum of five for Quality Improvement awards; each to be filled with a URL to the napari hub. To add another URL/row (up to five), click the box at the end of the row.
  • Code Repositories: Provide links (up to 10) to the primary code repositories associated with the plugin(s) and any additional code repositories that are relevant to the plugin(s) (e.g. the napari plugin and the original package that the plugin implements). All URLs should be in the format https://example.com.
    • Minimum of one (required); maximum of 10; each to be filled with a URL to a code repository (e.g. a GitHub URL). To add another URL/row (up to 10), click the box at the end of the row.
  • Additional Links: Provide any links (up to five) to additional resources, such as project homepage, documentation, tutorials, user support site, videos, or other resources. All URLs should be in the format https://example.com.
    • No minimum; maximum of five; each to be filled with a URL to a relevant website. To add another URL/row (up to five), click the box at the end of the row.
• Optional Attachments: Upload in PDF format; attachments should be uploaded in a combined single PDF. Include up to a maximum of three pages of additional information. This section can include figures, charts and tables, references for the project, or any additional material in support of the project. Uploading any additional information is completely optional and not required.

The formatting and component requirements, including word and page limits indicated above, will be enforced by the review team. Any submitted materials that exceed the word and page limits or do not follow the requirements will not be considered during the application review process.

QUESTIONS?

For administrative and programmatic inquiries pertaining to this RFA, please contact sciencegrants@chanzuckerberg.com. For technical assistance with SMApply, please contact support@smapply.io, or while logged into SMApply, click on the information “i” link in the upper right corner and submit a help request ticket.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s core values center around people, technology, collaboration, and open science. We adhere to those values in both proposal selection and evaluation of progress.

Applications will be evaluated based on the current and potential impact, documentation, user support, usability, and reliability of the plugin(s) involved and the feasibility of the proposal—each of which will be assessed through quantitative and qualitative factors. Relevant materials will be provided by the applicants and obtained by CZI from publicly available sources where possible (e.g., the napari hub, Github, image.sc, etc.). Independent expert review will be solicited, and final decisions will be made by CZI staff in consultation with our expert advisors.

Impact will assess the potential of the project to provide easy access to reproducible, quantitative bioimage analysis, in alignment with our mission to support the science and technology that will make it possible to cure, prevent, or manage all diseases by the end of the century. Impact will be assessed qualitatively and quantitatively. Reviewers will evaluate:

• Usage of the plugin as evidenced through downloads, citations, and other metrics.
• Alignment of the plugin(s) to areas currently prioritized by CZI Science.
• Scalability of impact through interoperability with other napari plugins and scientific python tools.
• Opportunity for the plan of work to improve the impact of the plugin(s).

Documentation will assess the resources available to users of the plugin(s) to evaluate whether the plugin is relevant to their needs, how to use the plugin, and where to find additional resources. Reviewers will evaluate:

• The comprehensiveness of the plugin(s)’s description and metadata on the napari hub.
• The availability and discoverability of in-depth guides and tutorials.
• Opportunity for the plan of work to improve the documentation of the plugin(s).

User support will assess the availability and quality of user support available to users of the plugin. Reviewers will evaluate:

• Clear presence of user support channels.
• Timeliness of responses to bug reports, feature requests, questions by the plugin developer and user community.
• Opportunity for the plan of work to improve the user support of the plugin(s).

Usability will assess the opportunity for the project to ensure plugin(s) can be used by researchers with a wide range of physical abilities, computing resources, and programming knowledge. Reviewers will evaluate:

• Ease of installation of the plugin through the standalone napari desktop application.
• Conformance to best practices for a11y in user interface design.
• Opportunity for the plan of work to improve the usability of the plugin(s).

Reliability will assess the capability of the plugin(s) to deliver a reliable user experience and reliable scientific results. Reviewers will evaluate:

• Availability of the plugin in the standalone napari desktop application (through conda-forge).
• Adoption of npe2, the second generation napari plugin engine.
• Existence and coverage of automated testing.
• Availability of source code under an OSI-approved open source software license.
• Opportunity for the plan of work to improve the reliability of the plugin(s).

Feasibility will assess the plan of work described in the proposal and whether it can be accomplished given the requested budget, additional funding sources, and key personnel involved. Reviewers will evaluate the following based on qualitative materials:

• Specificity and clarity of plan of work to be accomplished.
• Proposed use of funds (relative to plan of work).
• Likelihood of the work being accomplished.
• Plan for tracking and validating progress against goals.

Alongside qualitative materials, expert evaluation may utilize metrics when available and applicable such as:

• Number of downloads of the plugin(s) from PyPI and conda-forge.
• Mentions of the plugin(s) in public forums such as Twitter and image.sc.
• Traffic and engagement of users on the napari hub.
• Number of bug reports, feature requests, and pull requests by the user community.
• Volume of support requests in public forums and timeliness of responses.
• Number of citations or mentions of the software project in scientific literature.

There is no expectation of any specific number of awards for this RFA program. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative reserves the sole right to not recommend the funding of any applications. CZI does not provide individual feedback on decisions for unfunded proposals.

• Funds from this award are intended to support research activities. Grants are made to institutions on behalf of the named award recipients, and reasonable flexibility on how these funds are utilized is allowed, provided that funds are used to support research activities related to the project.
• For awarded projects, financial statements and progress reports will be due at the conclusion of each grant year, and occasionally more frequently. Specific deliverable requirements will be outlined in the award notification. Grantees of funded projects will be required to participate in regular meetings, including annual meetings. Travel support for these meetings will be provided by CZI separately from the requested grant funds.
• Grantees may obtain funds for their research from other funding sources, provided that there is no conflict with meeting the terms of the CZI award.
• Unused research funds may be carried over to the following year, and requests for no-cost extensions will be considered at the end of the overall project period and upon receipt of an annual report.
• Indirect costs cannot exceed 15 percent of direct costs. Indirect costs may not be assessed on capital equipment or subcontracts, but subcontractors may include up to 15 percent indirect costs of their direct costs.
• International grantees must use all grant funds exclusively for activities conducted outside the United States of America.
• Ethical conduct: CZI advocates the highest standards for the ethical conduct of research. In addition to requirements of their own countries, grantees must adopt procedures for the use of animals in research and for the ethical treatment of human subjects and tissue donors, including obtaining their or their appropriate proxy’s written informed consent. CZI regards the policies of the National Institutes of Health as a strong model for such procedures.
• Data, publication, and dissemination policies: To accelerate scientific discovery and collaboration, CZI supports a consent, sharing, and publication policy for open and rapid dissemination of proposal results, including methods, data, and reagents, and a policy for software development that maximizes accessibility, reuse, and shared development. Under rare circumstances, exceptions to the above may be considered where there are specific situations that make meeting these goals impossible or counterproductive to the project.
  • Software code: CZI requires sharing of software code developed by its grantees generally to be made publicly available on GitHub (or a similar public service). All new code must be released under a permissive open source license (MIT, BSD 2-Clause, BSD 3-Clause, or Apache v2.0). All pre-existing and derivative code must be licensed under the most permissive license possible, given the licensing terms of the pre-existing code. All analysis packages must be released through the appropriate language-specific package manager (e.g., PyPi for Python, Bioconductor and CRAN for R) with documentation, example data, and interactive demos (e.g., Jupyter notebooks), and the use of Docker or similar container technologies to ensure portability and reproducibility. Software code supported by CZI should be archived for long-term digital preservation and citability, when applicable.
  • Content and data sharing: CZI is committed to developing and using platforms that disseminate data openly and freely. Any datasets either curated or generated through the proposal must be made as publicly available and easily accessible through an appropriate data repository as legally permissible, when applicable, under an Open Definition conformant license. Ideally data sets would not include personally identifiable information, but if they do, consent to sharing the data must be obtained. Metadata, documentation, and intended use cases, as appropriate, must be made available under an Open Definition conformant license, preferably CC0 or CC BY/CC BY SA for content that requires explicit attribution.
  • Publications: To encourage rapid dissemination of results, any publications related to this funded work must be submitted to a preprint server (such as bioRxiv, medRxiv, arXiv, or any appropriate preprint repository), at or before the first submission to a journal. Experimental protocols must be made publicly available through a protocol sharing service, such as protocols.io. CZI requests that scientific publications, preprints, and presentations that result from this award acknowledge support from this funding.
  • Intellectual property rights: CZI does not require assignment of ownership to any data, published results, or any other intellectual property that results from the work funded by these grants but will have the same rights generally granted to others. CZI supports and promotes policies that enable results and technologies to have the broadest reach and impact. To this end, all newly developed software must be made available through permissive open source licenses as described more fully above. Other technology and intellectual property rights (such as patents) must be made freely available for all academic and non-commercial use, and where intellectual property rights are commercialized, they must generally be subject to non-exclusive commercial licenses that enable broad availability and dissemination.
• Applications selected through this process will either be funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Foundation (CZIF) or recommended for funding through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF).

All submitted applications will be kept confidential, except (1) as necessary for our evaluation or to comply with any applicable laws; and (2) to the extent that the application is made public or available to others without a duty of confidentiality through no fault of CZI. Notwithstanding, successfully funded proposals may be made publicly available and/or shared with other grantees or collaborators. Unfunded proposals will remain confidential as provided herein; however, information, including brief summaries of the proposed projects, project metrics, and the types of organizations that have applied for funding, may be made publicly available in aggregate form. Application materials will not be returned to applicants.