Google Summer of Code 2008 FAQ

From Globus

How do I apply to GSoC with Globus as my mentoring organization?

Google has enabled a web application that students must use to submit their project proposals. All the gory details (and instructions) can be found in this announcement from Google. In a nutshell, students have to (1) create a profile, providing some personal information and (2) write the actual project proposal.

Should I discuss my project idea with a Globus mentor before submitting an application?

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Discussing your project idea with a mentor is not strictly required, but we strongly encourage you to do so (even if you are proposing one of the projects in our ideas list). Discussing your project with a prospective mentor makes it more likely that a mentor will agree to take on the project, since it gives the mentor a better sense of what you intend to accomplish and that your project proposal is aligned with the mentor's interests.

What should my application look like it?

Google provides a 7500-character space for students to provide a "detailed description" of the project. Although Google provides some pointers on what should be included there (see http://code.google.com/opensource/gsoc/2008/faqs.html#0.1_student_app), the contents of this field are pretty open-ended. Nonetheless, students should be prepared to provide the following:

1. A description of the project beyond what is written on the ideas list.
2. A list of the languages, libraries, toolkits, etc. you will use for this project. If part of the project will require researching technologies to decide which one is better suited, just say so (do mention what technologies you will be looking at, if you already know this)
3. A tentative list of deliverables for the project. We are not asking you to commit to specific dates, and you can certainly tweak the deliverables down the road (in fact, we expect you will do so as you interact more with your mentor and the Globus community). However, please give us an approximate idea of what you expect to produce during the summer.
4. Your qualifications for this project. Please let us know what previous experience you have with the technologies listed in point (2). Take into account that having limited knowledge on the Globus Toolkit does not disqualify you from participating; GSoC is as much about learning as it is about writing code, and you will have until the summer to get up to speed.

Do not take the project proposal lightly. As of March 31st (the original deadline for student applications), we have more candidates than we will be able to mentor (and probably more than Google has slots for us), so the proposals we receive will be ranked based on how complete and detailed the application is and how qualified the applicant is.

Who decides what projects get accepted?

Google will allocate a number of student slots for us, but does not evaluate the merits of the applications (this is left entirely up to the Globus Alliance). More specifically, the Globus mentors will be involved in evaluating the proposals and deciding how to fill the slots allocated by Globus. Take into account that, before the proposals are even evaluated, mentors have to indicate that they are willing to mentor a project and, if no mentor is willing to do this, the project proposal with be (de facto) rejected. As noted above, this is why it is important that you discuss your project proposals with a mentor first.

What happens if more than one student submits a proposal for the same project?

Google has no rules against assigning the same project idea to more than one student. However, in practice, mentors will probably prefer having a variety of projects, so it is unlikely that they will accept more than two students to the same project. If you submit a proposal for a very popular project, this means you will have to compete with other students for that slot. You will have more chances of being accepted if you...

• Submit a project proposal taken from the ideas page, but discuss it previously with a mentor (that way, the mentor can tell you if there is competition for the project and, if so, steer you in the direction of other projects)
• Submit a proposal based on a "blue sky" idea
• Submit a completely original idea (but make sure you discuss it with a mentor first)

So what are the "popular" projects?

As of March 31st, we have received a large amount of applications for the MDS + AJAX project. Unless you are highly qualified for this project, and have written a fairly detailed proposal, you may want to look at alternate projects.

We have also received several proposals for the "Integrate Globus with standard Linux distributions" where the applicants seem to be under the impression that this is an easy project. It is not. This project is hard, and will not be accepted unless you have discussed it previously with a Globus mentor.