One national home for open‑source hardware
Open-source Hardware Infrastructure for The Netherlands
Across the Netherlands, researchers and students build their own instruments — microscopes, sensors, lab robots, ventilators. Most of it is brilliant. Most of it is also invisible.
What?
OSHNED, the Open-source Hardware Infrastructure for The Netherlands, exists to change that. We take the scattered, grassroots open-hardware islands in this country and connect them into one robust national infrastructure, so that good designs can be found, trusted, reused, and built upon.
The only difference between screwing around and science is writing it down. The only difference between science and impact is sharing it openly.
How?
What we do
OSHNED rests on four connected pillars:
-
1 · A network of hardware hubs
Each partner university hosts a Research Hardware Engineer embedded in its prototyping facility, supporting researchers on the ground and linking their lab into the national network.
-
2 · A central repository
We are extending the Research Software Directory into a searchable, trustworthy home for Dutch open-hardware designs, with a quality stamp so you can tell a work in progress from something OSHNED certified.
-
3 · Training and capacity building
Drawing on the Open Hardware Academy model, we run trainings, hackathons, and community events, and work to embed open hardware in academic curricula.
-
4 · Curation
We sweep the participating institutions to find hidden gems, document them to a common standard, and add them to the repository.
Why?
Why it matters
Open hardware makes research cheaper, more reproducible, and more democratic. It cuts duplicated effort, frees up public money for science, and lets students learn on instruments they are free to study, modify, and rebuild. It is one of the five pillars of Open Science in the UNESCO recommendations — and the Netherlands is ready to lead.
Your turn
New here?
Read more about the project, explore our vision, or browse useful reads and sign up for our monthly newsletter.
Not a researcher?
You are welcome anyway. Open hardware belongs to makers, hackers and tinkerers as much as it does to labs, and we are working out how to open more of what we do to the wider community. Sign up for the newsletter and you will hear about it first.