Open Source Sabbatical
After the Open Source Programme Office was founded in January 2024, the Munich Open Source Sabbatical is now officially being introduced. Professionally qualified programmers can participate in open source projects for a limited time and improve them.
This sabbatical is not only open to employees of the City of Munich, but also to external software developers. To support external developers, the city offers financial compensation for the loss of earnings during the sabbatical.[1][2]
Project selection
Interested programmers can apply for the sabbatical with their project. Applications from women are particularly encouraged.
The selection of open source sabbaticals is open to ideas from external and internal developers.
- They can be bug fixes or features for projects from the City of Munich's in-house development portfolio.
- Software projects that we already use.
- Other published free projects, if they offer a benefit for the city.
Financial compensation
The sabbatical is attractively remunerated so that the programmers can take time off work from their employer. The participants are not bound by instructions.[2:1]
The following compensation options are currently offered
External software developers
A permanent position is generally possible with a six-month material reason.
A fixed-term permanent position is possible via the digital consulting company of the City of Munich digital@M. Our target for financial compensation is 60% of the usual salary.
A work contract or service contract is difficult to realise due to the pre-award consultation, the preparation of the award and contract documents and a call for tenders for the contract by the awarding authority
Employees of the LHM
Temporary assignments within LHM offer employees development opportunities and can be realised at short notice. The prerequisite is the consent of the department that is assigning the employee. The open source sabbatical is also possible as an internship during vocational training or dual study programmes, provided the project fits in with the training plan.
A direct appointment within LHM is possible, provided that the necessary position has been created and there is a possibility of compensation at the departing department.
Interested parties can send their applications informally to opensource@muenchen.de, stating the software project and the start date.
The City of Munich is looking forward to receiving your applications!
Sabbaticals
Integreat-Chat
The first Open Source Sabbatical in the first half of 2025 was awarded to the integreat-chat project in order to integrate a multilingual chat service into the Integreat App. This service is intended to be available around the clock for people seeking advice in Munich.
By using Llama 3.3 and Google Gemma 3, effective communication is ensured, capable of responding to both simple and complex queries. The entire software is open source, and the source code is publicly available on GitHub.
The project’s results so far are promising: in roughly 50% of cases, the chatbot provides helpful and appropriate responses to queries. Translation quality has been rated at 4.9 out of 5, while answer quality is rated at 4.0 out of 5. Additionally, the relevance of linked content has been rated at 4.8 out of 5. The consistently positive feedback from users shows that the chatbot not only makes the Integreat App more interactive but also provides real added value for the integration and support of people with a migration background.
This sabbatical also places emphasis on usability and accessibility to ensure that all Munich residents, regardless of their background or language skills, can make the best possible use of the advantages of the Integreat App.