Posted by Josh Simmons, Open Source Programs Office
One of the goals of the Open Source Programs Office is to encourage more people to contribute to open source software. One way we achieve that goal is through our student programs, Google Summer of Code (for university students) and Google Code-in (for pre-university students).
Over 15,000 students from more than 100 countries have worked with 23,000 mentors and contributed to 560+ open source projects.
This is why we’re excited to announce the next round of both of our student programs!
Google Code-in begins for students November 28, 2016
For the seventh consecutive year, Google Code-in will give students (ages 13-17) a chance to explore open source. Students will find opportunities to learn and get hands on experience with tasks from a range of categories. This structure allows students to stretch themselves as they take on increasingly more challenging tasks.
Getting started is easy: once the contest begins, simply choose an interesting task from our participating organizations’ lists and complete it. Mentors from the organizations are available to help online.
Google Code-in is for students asking questions like:
- What is open source?
- What kinds of stuff do open source projects do?
- How can I write real code when all I’ve done is a little classroom work?
- Can I contribute even if I’m not really a programmer?
With tasks in five different categories, there’s something to fit almost any student’s skills:
- Code: writing or refactoring
- Documentation/Training: creating/editing documents and helping others learn more
- Outreach/research: community management, outreach/marketing, or studying problems and recommending solutions
- Quality Assurance: testing and ensuring code is of high quality
- User Interface: user experience research or user interface design and interaction
Google Summer of Code student applications open on March 20, 2017
Google Summer of Code (GSoC) provides university students from around the world with an opportunity to take their skills and hone them by contributing to open source projects during their summer break from university.
Students gain invaluable experience working with mentors on these open source software projects, earning a stipend upon successful completion of their project.
We’re proud to keep this tradition going: we’ll be opening student applications for Google Summer of Code 2017 on March 20, 2017. Applications for interested open source organizations open on January 19, 2017.
Students, it’s never too early to start preparing or thinking about your proposal. You can learn about the organizations that participated in Google Summer of Code 2016 and the projects students worked on. We also encourage you to explore other resources like the student and mentor manuals and frequently asked questions.
You can learn more on the program website.
Share the news with your friends and stay tuned, more details are coming soon!
