Summer of Code Applications
Applying for a Google Summer of Code project with Xiph.Org
Prospective students: please fill out a copy of this template for your application, answering each question in plenty of detail. The more information the better - though we might ask you later for more details anyway.
Our list of suggested projects is at http://wiki.xiph.org/index.php/Summer_of_Code. You're welcome to suggest other projects, though, if you think you have a good idea. Feel free to jump on irc (irc.freenode.net, #xiph) if you'd like to discuss things before submitting a project proposal.
To be accepted, you must join the project at least peripherally ahead of time. Checking out the code, compiling and submitting sample code are highly recommended bug fixes even better :) Join the mailing list for the component you want to work on and introduce yourself. Hang out with us on IRC. Give us a chance to get to know you. Don't be shy. Multimedia programming is technically demanding and while we do everything we can to help our students, we need to understand what your background is, what you know and what we'll need to work on before we can properly evaluate your application.
To reiterate: The absolute best thing you can do is to pick a small project or bug and contribute some code. That will give you and us an idea what it's like to work together.
Name and Contact details
Your name and email address here. IRC nick if you have a regular one.
Your background
You're a student! Tell us about what you're studying, where, and so on. Tell us what your interests are, what (if any) work you've previously done in the field of multimedia, and so on.
If you've worked on free software before, that's great. Tell us what you've worked on, what you've done for those projects, etc.
Project
What project would you like to work on? If it's one from our list of suggestions, don't just copy the title from there - tell us a bit about what approach(es) you'd like to take to this project. If it's not from that list, tell us as much as you can about what you want to do.
Project outcomes
Go into more details here: what do you think you'll be able to get done in the three months available? Name specific goals: features, percentage performance improvements, etc.
Schedule
Give us a rough outline of how you want to schedule your work over the three months. If you're going to be away for any part of that, let us know now - it's not a problem if you're heading off on holidays for a week or two, but we have to be convinced you're going to put enough time in. When will you start? What milestones do you want within the project? How much time will you be able to put in? Is this the only thing you'll be doing during the term or do you have other commitments?
Why should we select you?
Google's Summer of Code project is enormously popular - unfortunately, we'll have to reject many more proposals than we'll be able to accept. So this is your chance to tell us what makes YOU the best person for us to pick.