Evolving the ONR Program: A Lighter, Community-Driven Approach to Open Science

When we first launched the Open Neuromorphic Research (ONR) program, our ambition was clear: to validate and highlight high-impact, reproducible research through a formal, community-driven peer review process. We wanted to set a gold standard for open science in our field.

However, as the program rolled out, we confronted a practical reality. Operating a full-scale manual peer-review pipeline—recruiting reviewers, assigning papers, managing deadlines on OpenReview—proved too heavy of a lift for a volunteer-run community. While the spirit of the initiative remained vital, the mechanics were slowing us down.

Today, we are excited to announce a strategic pivot. We are keeping the spirit of ONR alive but evolving the system into something much lighter, faster, and more closely tied to how our community already interacts.

From Formal Review to Community Feed

Instead of a formal peer-review pipeline, ONR is becoming a dynamic, community-highlighted research feed powered by our Discord server.

Here is how the new process works:

1. Automated Intake: Our custom Discord bot actively listens to arXiv for new preprints related to neuromorphic computing.
2. Openness Check: Before a paper is ever posted, the bot automatically checks its declared license. If the license is reasonably open, the paper is shared in the new #onr-research channel.
3. Community Signal: This is where you come in. The community discusses the paper and reacts using the 🔥 (flame) emoji.
4. Registry Inclusion: If a paper hits a specific engagement threshold within 24 hours, an AI-assisted summary of the community’s discussion is generated, and the paper is staged for inclusion in the Research Registry on our website.

Repurposing the Badge: Gold & Silver Openness Tiers

With this shift, we are also changing the meaning of our ONR badge.

Previously known as “Community Approved,” the badge implied that ONM was passing editorial judgment or vouching for the scientific accuracy of a paper’s findings. Moving forward, the badge is officially renamed to ONR Openness Verified.

To accommodate the varying licensing needs of academic and industrial research, we are introducing two tiers:

• 🥇 Gold Standard: Awarded to projects using fully permissive, OSI-approved open-source licenses (e.g., MIT, Apache 2.0, GPL, CC-BY).
• 🥈 Silver Standard: Awarded to projects that provide open access to their code and data, but include restrictions on commercial use or derivatives (e.g., CC-BY-NC, academic-only licenses).

This is a deliberate distinction. The badges now serve as a factual, transparent signal that the resource generated significant organic interest and that its code and data are genuinely accessible. It is an observational record of open science in action, not an institutional endorsement.

Get Involved Today

This lighter engagement layer allows us to do what we do best: highlight open research, share ideas rapidly, and build a cohesive ecosystem without the administrative friction.

Head over to the ONR Hub to see the newly updated feed, or jump straight into the #onr-research channel on Discord to start throwing flames on the papers that excite you the most.