Call for Applications: NASA Free Open Science Course 2026
Aspiring researchers, students and science professionals have an opportunity to strengthen their knowledge of modern research practices through NASA’s Open Science Essentials (OSE) course.
It is a free, self-paced online programme available to the public.
NASA describes Open Science Essentials as a concise introduction to the principles, practices and tools that support more transparent, accessible and reproducible research. The course is designed for learners across disciplines and takes about two hours to complete.
What Participants Will Learn
The course introduces participants to key areas of open science, including:
- Open data and data-sharing practices
- Open research results
- Open-source software and tools
- Open peer review
- Collaborative research
- FAIR data principles
- Research and data-management planning
- Open licensing and repositories
- Version control and persistent identifiers
- Ethical and legal considerations in open science
NASA says the training is intended to give learners a broad foundation that can help make research more transparent, reproducible and accessible.
Who Can Take the Course?
The opportunity is open to a broad audience, including students, researchers, scientists, educators, research managers and professionals. There is no requirement to be a NASA employee, and the training is freely accessible to the public.
Free Certificate and Digital Badge
Learners who complete the Open Science Essentials training can earn a NASA Open Science digital badge, providing a credential they can showcase as evidence of their foundational knowledge of open science.
The course is free, online and self-paced, allowing participants to complete the training according to their own schedules.
How to Register
Interested participants can access NASA’s Open Science training through the agency’s official learning resources. NASA also offers Open Science 101, a more comprehensive five-module programme that takes approximately 12 hours and builds on the foundational knowledge provided by Open Science Essentials.
NASA Open Science Training Courses
Course: NASA Open Science Essentials
Format: Online and self-paced
Duration: About 2 hours
Cost: Free
Eligibility: Open to the public
Credential: Digital NASA Open Science badge
This is a useful opportunity for anyone looking to add practical open-science knowledge and a NASA-backed digital credential to their professional or academic profile.
