W3C Google Summer of Code 2013 Application Template

The following template shows how we want you to structure your application to participate in GSoC with W3C. Please submit a clean, concise application that answers all the questions in the template.

If you need further explanation because you don't understand what we're asking for in any of these sections, please contact bertails@w3.org and msporny@digitalbazaar.com by email for help, or drop into irc.w3.org:6665 #w3c and ask manu-db or betehess for help.

Please include the following sections in your application. Strip out everything in italics and replace it with your own information.

Personal Details

Name: Your_Name_Here

Email: name@domain.com

Personal Website: http://yourdomain.tld

Skype ID or SIP address: For voice conversations

IRC nick: If you have been talking to people in the #w3c channel on IRC, include your IRC nickname here so the mentors will recognize you.

Github account: A link to your github account, if you have one

Phone number: If all contact methods fail because you are in an internet-free zone at some point, we can try your phone. Enter your phone number (with country code) here.

School Name: The name of your university.

Years completed: What year will you have just finished when you start GSoC?

Programming Languages: Enter the programming languages you know along with how proficient you are in them (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced). For example: PHP (Intermediate), JavaScript (Beginner), Python (Beginner)

Project Description

Link to project description: Please document your proposal on a website that you control formatted in HTML5. Include a link to the page in your application.

Describe your idea in detail: Whether you took the idea from our list of suggestions, or it's something you've come up with on your own, propose your project here. Please be as detailed as possible, including the problem you want to solve, the scope of the project (be specific about features) and the approach you'll take.

What have you done so far with this idea: Include any work or research on this project you have already done. Sharing the project idea on the appropriate mailing list in advance of your application is a good idea; if you have done so, summarize the list response to your project idea/approach. Note: summarize the discussion here; do NOT just link to the mailing list archive.

Anticipated challenges: Identify any challenges or risks there are to the project not being as successful as you hope or not being complete by the end of the GSoC term.

Potential mentors: If you have identified a person(s) to mentor you on this project, please name him/her here. If you have already been in communication with this person(s), please summarize your discussions so far (i.e., have you asked for feedback on the scope, have you already started talking about code approaches?). If you have not spoken with any mentors yet, but are interested in working with someone specific, say who and why. If you have no preference on who mentors you, just write, "No preference."

Schedule of Deliverables

Milestones and deliverables schedule: What are the milestones and deliverables for your project? It should take the form of a list with dates and deliverables. A task and/or milestone for each week of the development period is a good idea, since it will help your mentor keep you on track to complete your project. For example:

Month/Date - Revise project plan with mentor, set up development environment
Month/Date - Determine how to structure plugin, begin coding
Month/Date - Submit first draft code for review

etc. You get the idea. The more detailed you are, the more convinced we'll be that you've thought about this project realistically. If accepted, the first thing you'll do will be to work with your mentor to define a very specific commitment regarding deliverables and schedule to determine eligibility for full student payment at the halfway mark and at the end of the program. This will help limit disappointment for both mentors and students.

Other commitments: Do you have any other commitments during this time that could impact your ability to be online, coding and/or communicating with your mentor? Include school, work and family commitments.

Open Source Development Experience

Coding Experience: Explain all relevant prior experience that you have had with programming for an open source project. Languages, toolkits, IDEs, how do you work best (group or individual-based work, etc.). This may be other closed source projects, but giving a link to previous open source work that you've done would be ideal.

Work Experience

Work Experience: List any work experience you've had relevant to the proposed project, blogging, or software development. If you've bagged groceries, it's probably not relevant, but it shows that you can work in a collaborative environment, so a full resume isn't a bad idea! You can include paid jobs, internships, academic assistantships, etc. Identify for each job what your responsibilities were and how your success was measured (deadlines/deliverables, or just being there?).

Academic Experience

Academic Institution: Identify your college/university by name, and give its location (city, state/province/etc, country).

Current Program: Identify your major, what degree type you are working on (BA, MS, PhD, etc), and what year you are (freshman, junior, 2nd year candidate, etc).

Anticipated Graduation: Give the year you expect to complete your program.

Academic Performance: List what you're studying in university/college that is relevant, how you're doing in your program, etc. Please be specific about which programming courses you've completed. An official transcript is not necessary, but cutting and pasting the course names and grades you've earned so far will help us understand your background better and tailor project scope accordingly.

GSoC for Credit: Are you planning to use your GSoC project as an independent study for college credit? For this question, write "Yes" or "No". If yes, please include the title of your independent study and the name and email address of the professor who would be your independent study advisor.

References: Please give the names and email addresses of up to 4 computer science professors (and/or relevant employers) who can vouch for your experience.

Why W3C

You're applying to work with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) during GSoC because: Tell us why you chose to apply with us. Be as specific as possible.

After GSoC, you envision your involvement with W3C will be: Over? Ongoing? Evolve into being a core participant or committer? Tell us what you envision your participation with the W3C will be like after GSoC2013 comes to an end?

Helpful Links for Students

Other

This template is based heavily on the WordPress GSoC template, much thanks to the WP Community for putting that together.