Welcome GSoC and Outreachy applicants!

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Welcome prospective Google Summer of Code and Outreachy applicants! Open Data Kit is participating in Outreachy and Google Summer of Code this summer. Both programs provide opportunities for newcomers to computing and open source to complete paid internships. Please read through this post carefully to learn how to get started!

If you are a student and eligible for GSoC, please apply to GSoC even if you find us through Outreachy! Only apply through Outreachy if you are not eligible for GSoC.

About Open Data Kit
Open Data Kit (ODK) is a free and open-source set of tools which help organizations author, field, and manage mobile data collection solutions. Data collection is a key component of social good efforts ranging from polio elimination to rainforest conservation and ODK helps thousands of organizations collect data quickly, accurately, offline, and at scale. Read more on the website!

Communication
If you have any questions about internships in general, please ask in the comments for this post! Administrators may split some of the longer threads into their own topics if needed but please start all general internship forum conversations in this thread. For questions or comments about specific projects, please comment on the project posts listed below.

We prefer you use the forum for communication so all time zones can have a chance to respond. If you have a question that needs a real-time answer or just want to chat, you can find us on the developer Slack in the #internships channel. Questions about your initial contributions should go in the channel for the project you are contributing to.

We aim to have all conversations in public to increase transparency and knowledge sharing. In this spirit, please refrain from messaging community members directly!

Projects
These high-level descriptions should serve as a starting point for your project proposals:

Getting Started

  • Read over this post very carefully and ask below if you have any questions
  • Look over the ODK website and ODK documentation to familiarize yourself with the project
  • Read the contributor guide for the project you are interested in (ODK Collect, ODK Briefcase or ODK Services)
  • Find an issue tagged "quick win" or "contributor friendly" that you want to work on and comment with @opendatakit-bot claim to assign yourself to it. Make sure to accept the GitHub email invitation to the ODK organization that you get!
  • Join the developer Slack and talk to community members in #internships about internships and the project channels about your contributions. Remember, if it doesn't need to be real time, comment on this forum post or on one of the project posts.

Applying to be an Open Data Kit intern
If you are eligible for GSoC, you will apply through GSoC starting March 12th. If you are not eligible for GSoC but are eligible for Outreachy, you will apply through Outreachy.

We recommend starting to discuss your project ideas in the project-specific forum threads above as soon as you can! The earlier you start your application and share a draft, the stronger it will be.

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It has been great getting to know prospective interns in #internships on Slack and on the various GitHub repositories. Congratulations to all who have recently made their first open source contributions! :star_struck:

Applications for Google Summer of Code will be accepted on the GSoC website March 12-27. Applications for Outreachy are accepted on the Outreachy website February 12-March 22. Please remember that all students eligible for Google Summer of Code should apply through the GSoC website even if they discovered ODK through Outreachy. Check your GSoC eligibility here.

Your proposal is your opportunity to describe what you would build over the summer, how you would build it and to set a timeline for different deliverables. It is important that your proposal be realistic, specific and include incremental deliverables. Project mentors select interns primarily based on the content of the proposals.

If you haven't already, please read through Google's guide on writing a proposal (this also applies to Outreachy applicants). Your proposal should include all of the sections described in the guide. The project plan with deliverables and deadlines is the most important part and should be the longest. Consider including interface sketches as appropriate and be sure to include plans for testing and documentation.

You are highly encouraged to share a proposal draft either on the project forum threads linked to above or in the #internships Slack channel. Getting feedback early will allow you to strengthen your proposal. It also helps mentors get to know you and see how they would work with you.

We are looking forward to your proposals. Congratulations to all of you for going through this process! Taking the initiative to explore open source projects, contribute to them and craft a proposal is a big achievement. :clap::clap::clap:

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Google Summer of Code applications are now officially open on the GSoC website! Outreachy applicants, your application link is here!

Here are some answers to questions you might be having.

Q: I have submitted a pull request (PR) fixing an issue for the project of my choice but it is still in review. What should I do?
A: Thank you for your contribution and for your patience! The review process is described at https://github.com/opendatakit/collect/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#the-review-process. A tester and committer will review your PR as soon as possible. You are only required to make one PR for your application so consider working on your proposal as the PR is reviewed. If you would like to take on another issue, make sure it is not a quick win -- you are already an experienced contributor and can take on something more challenging!

Q: Can I get feedback on my project plan?
A: You are very strongly encouraged to share your proposal ideas, questions and drafts as soon as possible. The best place to have those conversations is on the forum thread for your project of interest. Consider sharing a Google Doc with public commenting rights so that mentors and community members can provide feedback. Sharing your proposal openly and soliciting feedback is a great way to practice working the open source way.

Q: Can I pitch my own project idea?
A: If you have a project idea that you think would be well-scoped for 3 months and provide significant benefit to all users of ODK tools, consider writing a short pitch and sharing it for mentors to review. Please note that there is limited mentor capacity and that the 4 projects listed above are priorities. Share your idea early and mentors will let you know as soon as possible whether or not it looks like a possibility. In general, we encourage you to focus on the 4 projects listed above.

If you have any other general questions about writing your proposal, please ask them below. :arrow_double_down:

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@LN when writing the proposal what are the necessary requirements that should be included? Thank you

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@Didicodes if any of this is unclear, please ask a specific question so that we can best guide you!

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I have 2 projects on Android apps combined which does the same work as ODT. Do I show you the proposal ? I can share the codes for it too.

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Waiting for mentors to reply at the earliest.

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Welcome to ODK, @PROJAT.BANERJEE! While a student-proposed project could be a possibility from a long-time community member or if proposed early on in the Google Summer of Code season, at this time it is too late to refine the idea and get a mentor by the March 27th deadline. If you are interested in GSoC, please look at one of the 4 projects outlined above!

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Link does not open my side. Is any one else experiencing this?

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It works for me. you can just google Google Summer of Code Guides

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