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Early Preparation of Google Summer Of Code (GSoC) 2025
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January 14, 2025
Deadline: April 02, 2025
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Early Preparation of Google Summer Of Code (GSoC) 2025
Do you have a passion for working in open-source projects, that powers the whole world and a desire to learn from the technology makers?
Do you want work on these amazing projects, while sitting at home and receiving a stipend from 750$ - 1500$ - 3000$?
If your answer is a resounding “yes,” then Google Summer of Code (GSoC) might just be the perfect journey for you!
Previously, Google Summer Of Code was only for students enrolled in some educational institution. But now, it is available for everyone, who has the passion for understanding how the technologies that we use in our daily life.
What is GSoC?
Google Summer of Code (GSoC) is an online program by Google that connects students with open-source organizations. Students can apply to work on a specific project with an organization during their summer break. They receive guidance and feedback from their experienced mentors, as well as receiving stipend & certification from Google. There are three sized projects small, medium and large projects. Depending on your skills and the difficulty of your project it may take you more or less time to meet the goals of your project.
Some well known organizations that take part in Google Summer Of Code are: GNU GCC, gnome, git, Wikimedia foundation, ruby, CNCF, Eclipse Foundation, Blender Foundation, Chromium, Django Software Foundation, R Language, Python foundation, Apache Software Foundation and TensorFlow etc.
One of the important tips that are really helping you in cracking GSoC is start as early as you can.
How GSoC Works?
We'll understand this by looking the GSoC'25 timeline:
1. Open source software projects apply to be mentor organizations
2. Google chooses the organizations to participate (194 in 2024)
3. Contributors submit project proposals to mentor organizations
4. Mentor organizations choose the contributors they’d like to accept
5. Coding begins! Contributors work on their project under the guidance of their mentor over 12 weeks (possible extensions available)
6. Contributors are paired with a mentor to help them throughout their project
- Community bonding period with orgs.
- Midterm evaluation deadline (standard coding period)
- Mentors submit final GSoC contributor evaluations (standard coding period)
Eligibility Criteria
- Over 18 upon registration for program
- Beginner contributor to open source or a student
- Eligible to work in the country in which you will reside during the coding period
- Not a resident of a US embargoed country
- Not previously accepted into GSoC more than once (a single person can become GSoC contributor ony only 2 times)
Benefits & Why Should I apply
GSoC is a place where you don’t just get to apply your skills but also get to acquire a bunch of new ones. And the learning is not just limited to technical knowledge. GSoC introduces you to a new paradigm about building code collaboratively. Not only that, GSoC is a platform which lets you build on your current skills and hone them. There is a project for all skill levels at GSoC!
Here are some of the interesting benefits:
- Getting an edge while applying for job in Google
- Amazing stiped (750$ to 1500$ to 3000$) and the confidence
- Being mentored by highly experienced developers
- Your spring-board to the open source world
- Getting involved and building your network
- Sense of achievement
- Hone your developer skills
- Lasty, an absolutely amazing learning experience
Skills Required:
Do you have some programming experience and are comfortable in at least one or two programming languages? Then, yes, you are good enough! No, you don’t need to be a Computer Science or IT major or have been coding for 5 years. Have work experience programming but spend your time studying philosophy? Yes, you are good enough to be a GSoC contributor!
Every project has a different criteria for selecting GSoC contributors and subsequently different skill level requirements. If you meet the below list of general skills you are likely to find a GSoC project to which you can feel comfortable applying
The soft skills
- You find out where to go for help with technical questions
- You take and respond well to feedback
- You can work independently
- You know when to ask questions
- You can communicate effectively
> Note: If you are not interested in Developer side, then you can also look for Google Summer Of Docs program, which are specifically tailored for technical writing people.
The Technical skills
- You can install and configure software packages on your own
- You have access to a functioning computer
- You’ve got experience using the programming language and operating system of the project
*Pro Tip:* Read the organization’s requirements or skills they are looking for in potential GSoC Contributors.
Let's Start Journey:
You can try to contact organizations now. Yes, these are for last year projects and organizations, but they remain the same organizations and mentors are also the same, but projects change, so you can start contacting mentors now from previous years projects.
Organizations are getting selected by February 21, 2025. So, when organizations get announced, you have to contact them even before Students application start.
Organizations are getting selected by February 21, 2025. So, when organizations get announced, you have to contact them even before Students application start.
If your idea is good enough, the organization will select you and you will be assigned a mentor and will work under that mentor for 03 months. On successful completion of it, you will awarded with stipend and certificate
So, prepare now and understand the system and work on Open source development using the previous ideas and contact the previous organizations and mentors
See 2025 timeline here : https://developers.google.com/open-source/gsoc/timeline
Making First Contact
Interacting with an open source group is sort of like walking in on a party where it seems like everyone else knows each other. People are discussing topics you may be interested in, or sometimes they could be discussing topics you neither know nor care about.
If you’re the type of person that would walk right up and introduce yourself at a party, then the best approach to getting started is to do what you’d do in real life. Contact the project, introduce yourself and ask questions related to your project.
- Join both the development and user mailing lists and spend a few days just reading the conversations.
- Read the mailing list archives.
- Introduce yourself! If you are new to the community you need to let people know who you are and why you are interested in contributing to the project.
- Ask questions. You should be able to come up with at least a few legitimate questions before offering your opinion on the right way to do things.
- Be humble.
- Don’t be intimidated. Don’t let a bad experience stop you from getting involved. Just relax and think about why you were snubbed and if there’s anything that you should be careful about before participating in another conversation.
Choosing an Organization
For Choosing an organization you need to find your passion.
Ask yourself:
* What skills do you currently possess or wish to acquire?
* Which open-source organizations align with your interests or curiosity?
* What type of project excites you the most?
You can explore keywords or topics that pique your curiosity on the internet or social media platforms. Additionally, joining online forums or chat groups related to open source or specific technologies can provide valuable insights from fellow enthusiasts.
Once you’ve pinpointed your interests, it’s time to find open-source organizations that resonate with you. Search the specific technologies on the GSoC page, here:
Search google summer of code and you will find organizations on its page
Writing a proposal
Some of the tips for writing the proposal:
- See previous accepted proposal.
- Contact with the relevant organization before writing proposal.
- Communicate with the mentors for taking help in writing and reviewing proposal.
### Writing a proposal
- Name and Contact Information
- Title
- Synopsis
- If the format allows, start your proposal with a short summary, designed to convince the reviewer to read the rest of the proposal.
- Benefits to Community
- Deliverables
- Related Work
- Biographical Information
- Follow the Rules defined by that organization.
Being Turned Down
You’ve done your homework, found an exciting project, and you’ve written the best proposal you could. And you didn’t get into GSoC.
What to do now?
First, don’t take it personally. Just like when you apply for a job, there are reasons why you might not get in, some that have nothing to do with you. Mentors may not be available, the organization may not have enough space for your project or it may just not be the right time for your proposal.
- Stay connected
- Try a new organization
Ask for feedback on your proposal
Some example questions to politely ask if your proposal is turned down include:
* Was there a mismatch with my skills and the project requirements? If so, what skill areas can I work on to be better qualified next year?
* Did I engage enough with the community during the application process?
* Do you have any suggestions on how to improve my pre-application communication?
* Was my project plan clear? Do you have any suggestions on how I can better communicate my ideas via the project plan next year?
Approach an organization about doing the project anyway
For those GSoC contributors with the drive to forge ahead without GSoC financial support, you may find that a community really is interested in your project anyway. Don’t be afraid to approach your community, GSoC org admin or mentors you communicated with about future contribution.
Perhaps you can work on a smaller portion of your idea over a longer period of time on your own, or find another project better suited.
Keep trying
Just keep trying. The next proposal just might be accepted…
“Never give up. It took me 3 years and 12 proposals to finally get into the program. If none of your proposals gets accepted, sit back and relax. You have a whole year ahead to improve your role with the open-source community by writing more code.”
Kamran Khan, Ubuntu, GSoC Student
Important links:
GSoC proposal archive:
- This is the post from the GSoC student Muhammad Mahad from FAST NU Pakistan selected in GNU GCC in 2023 & 2024:
Do read this another post by last year's Pakistani GSoC fellow Hammad Abdullah
Google summer of code
Half the battle is getting accepted.
How It works:
Students submit proposals to participating organization.Mentors collectively accept or reject proposals. Once you're selected you have to pass 3 evaluations,spread evenly throughout the summers.You also get paid a portion of the total stipend after each successful evaluation.
After the final evaluation your mentor decides if your code gets merged with the organization's main code base.you also receive your passing certificate, reference letter and goodies after final evaluations.
Perks:
1) You get to work with industry leaders and leading academics
2) Good pay
3) An official referral from google which you use when you
apply for a job at google (you can use it only once. Whenever you want)
4) You become a Gsoc Alumni which means you're free to attend google open source meetups which take place around the world (San Fran,Zurich,barcelona,London,Dehli etc etc )
5) You're invited to their San Fran HQ to meet the opensource team (they don't pay airfare)
What you need:
1) Need to be enrolled in a University program( any program-BS,MS,PhD) during the summers. they ask for a proof of enrollment.
2) Good programming skills. Should know how to use Version control.
3)Good communication skills
What you don't need:
1)GPA
What you should do:
1) Look up the list of accepted organizations and their project ideas.
2) If you find an idea interesting and you're confident in your skills, then email the org or the mentor (depends on whose contact is given) and ask for guidance.
3)You can also present your own idea if you believe it's
significant.but only if you're really confident.
3) Some organizations ask you to do some small tasks to prove your skills. Some require advanced expertise- because their projects are highly specialized, just proving you have the expertise is enough to get you in.
4) If you get positive feedback from your mentor/org then start writing the proposal. If you don't get positive feedback, start writing it all the same.There are many good blogs out there on writing the perfect proposal. Quora has great tutorials.I'm also attaching a successful proposal from 2016 (you can find more online)
5) When you're done writing your initial proposal, ask your mentor to provide feedback. (Write your proposal in google docs, its easier for the mentor to give feedback). Getting feedback is probably the most important part of applying. The more feedback you get the better your chances.
Important info:
In GSoc, mentors makes all the decisions. Which proposals get accepted, who passes their evaluations, who fails them. It's at your mentor's discretion.Google is not involved. So it's really important to be on good terms with your mentor.
Last year 5/8 people who got selected from Pakistan were from NUST (H12).That's because there's a lot of Gsoc awareness there. Successful seniors tutor juniors every year and the cycle continues. I hope all of you get selected Inshallah. If you have any questions write them in the comments. I'll do my best
links:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NIYgCbklTCxBjk8r_NcVMzdZ-KGH1D4OtCbJiX-6H0I/edit
https://google.github.io/gsocguides/student/writing-a-proposal
https://google.github.io/gsocguides/student/writing-a-proposal
Search Google summer of code and go through the details: https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/
Also follow Google Summer of Code on Quora.
Also follow Google Summer of Code on Quora.