Seven projects receive Open Educational Resource Grants

McMaster faculty and staff members are receiving grants for innovative projects that create and integrate free, high quality open textbooks and course materials to improve teaching and learning.

By Jaime Rivard, McMaster University Libraries July 11, 2025

Seen from behind, a student walks toward the doors to Mills Memorial Library on a fall day.
Seven projects led by McMaster faculty and staff members are receiving grants for the creation and integration of free, high quality open textbooks and course materials to improve teaching and learning.

Seven projects led by McMaster faculty and staff members are receiving grants for the creation and integration of free, high quality open textbooks and course materials to improve teaching and learning.

The McMaster Open Educational Resources (OER) Grant Program is supported by the Office of the Provost, McMaster University Libraries, McMaster Students Union, and the MacPherson Institute.

It provides successful applicants with funding to create new OER or to adopt, adapt or customize existing OER.

Many of these OER projects lead to significant cost savings for students. The program also offers an honorarium for instructors to peer review existing OER.

Here are the 2025-26 OER grant recipients:

  • Heather O’Reilly | Assistant professor, Interdisciplinary Science | Faculty of Science
    Creation: Introduction to Data Science for the Life Sciences
  • Christopher Rowley | Assistant professor, Physics and Astronomy | Faculty of Science
    Creation: Simulating Life: Physics for Medicine and Biology with Python
  • Muhammed Fethullah Simsek | Assistant professor, Biology | Faculty of Science
    Creation: Fundamental Concepts of Development Course Resource
  • Seshasai Srinivasan | Associate professor, School of Engineering Technology | Faculty of Engineering
    Creation: Interactive Open Educational Resources for Cloud Computing
  • Ben Taylor | Academic skills program coordinator | Student Success Centre
    Adaptation: Writing and Academic Skills Pressbook
  • Michael Welland | Associate professor, Engineering Physics | Faculty of Engineering
    Creation: Experiential Learning of Numerical Methods
  • Yingnan Zhao | Assistant professor, Finance & Business Economics | DeGroote School of Business
    Creation: Financial Modelling: Theory and Practice with Python and Excel

To learn more about the McMaster OER Grant program and the McMaster OER committee, visit the program’s website, LibGuide or email oer@mcmaster.ca.

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