The application window for Open Source organizations to be involved in the 2024 GSoC is now open with a deadline of February 6. This year Google is looking to bring more open source projects in the AI/ML field into the program and has introduced a shorter time commitment. 

Now in its 20th season, Google Summer of Code has seen a shift in emphasis in the past couple of years. It's original motto of GSoC "flip bits not burgers" put the emphasis on the activity of coding - although the rubric suggested other tasks that could be done by participants. Now the emphasis seems to be more about forming lasting relationships between new volunteers and open source organizations and the program is no longer restricted to students. The program is now open to anybody aged 18 and over who wants to get involved with open source as a new contributor the latest description of the program is:

During Google Summer of Code, participating contributors are paired with mentors from open source organizations, gaining exposure to real-world software development techniques. Contributors will learn from experienced open source developers while writing code for real-world projects! A small stipend is provided as an incentive.

In a nutshell, Google Summer of Code can be considered as a matchmaker between those who are eager to code and open source organizations that need more contributors. It is also highly effective in this role as these statistics reveal: 

Widening eligibility has paid off and reporting on the 2023 program Stephanie Taylor wrote:

"we have had one of our most enthusiastic groups of GSoC contributors with 841 GSoC contributors completing their projects with 159 open source organizations". 

Feedback from contributors and mentors in the 2023 season has resulted in a new option for project time commitment. In addition to  medium at ~175 hours and large at ~350 hours, 2024 will also have small at ~90 hours so that that many potential contributors who want to learn about open source development but can’t dedicate all or even half of their summer to the program can now take part.

For 2024 GSoC is looking for more open source projects in the  artificial intelligence or machine learning fields.

Announcing that open source projects and organizations can  apply until February 6, 2024 at 18:00 UTC, Stephanie Taylor posted:

We welcome all types of organizations and are very eager to involve first-time mentor orgs in GSoC. We encourage new organizations to get a referral from experienced organizations that think they would be a good fit to participate in GSoC.

Open source organisations new to GSoC are encouraged to check out its Mentor Guide, and view this short video from 2017 on why open source projects are excited to be a part of the GSoC program:

While GSoC welcomes open source projects big, small, and everything in between it also stipulates that:

"open source projects wishing to apply need to have a solid community; the goal of GSoC is to bring new contributors into established and welcoming communities. While you don’t have to have 50+ community members, the project also can’t have as few as three people."

For the same reason projects need to be  2 years old  or more.

GSoC will publicly announce the organizations chosen for GSoC 2024 on February 21 and at the time would-be contributors should start exploring their application idea before the contributor application period, which runs from March 18 - April 2.

More Information

Google Summer of Code 2024 Mentor Organization Applications Now Open

Google Summer of Code

About Google Summer of Code

Google Summer of Code 2024 Celebrating our 20th Year!

Related Articles

Google Summer Of Code Re-Imagined

Forward Planning For Google Summer of Code 2023

Success For Google Summer Of Code

Google Summer Of Code Opens Up To Non-Students

Why Students Participate in Summer of Code

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