Student Application Template
this proposal is an old one, see GSoC/2012 for a newer one
This is a suggestion for the kind of information we'll find useful from students. Remember - you're going to be committing to several months of work. The more information and planning you can provide up-front, the more we (and Google!) will have to go on when we're ranking your application.
Name
Contact/Email: where can we contact you? (IRC/IM details too, if available. We will also privately request your phone contact at some point.)
Background: something about yourself: technical skills, experience, etc. Who are you? What makes you the best person to work on this project?
Project title
Synopsis: a short description.
Deliverables quantifiable results, for example 'running a certain load test will not stall the server'
Project details: a more detailed description.
Project schedule: how long will the project take? Give a brief, clear work breakdown structure with milestones and deadlines. Make sure to label deliverables as optional or required. When can you begin work?
Other summer plans: are you getting married? Do you have a long vacation planned? Are you expecting to start a job? Be aware that if you are accepted for the summer, then Google will be paying you as though you were working full time for them. We (in Sage) will therefore expect you to be working 35-40 hours per week on your project. It is very unlikely that you will be able to combine a successful SoC with another summer job job working for somebody else.
Exams and other commitments: do you have university exams inside the SoC period? If so, that's most likely not a problem but please tell us early!
General Notes
Your proposal should be around 1500-4000 words in plain text and should clearly state what you intend to do and the necessary steps to get there. There is a limit on the number of submitted proposals, if you have several ideas, please submit several proposals. Do include URLs pointing to information that would help convince us of your chances of success: preliminary project plans or progress, other projects you've been involved with that were successful, code samples, etc.
It is better if your project is under-scoped and sure to complete; as opposed to a largeish project which may not get done.
See the ideas list for project ideas.
This page is based on application templates for Debian and X.Org.