[Bioperl-l] Google Summer of Code: Call for Bio* Volunteers

[Chris Fields]

We had co-mentors last year for most projects (though in general there  
is one primary mentor).  Not sure if the same will occur for this year.

chris

On Feb 13, 2009, at 11:25 AM, Joshua Udall wrote:

> Ditto here.  I would be happy to mentor a student or pitch in some  
> other way.
>
> Josh
>
> On Fri, Feb 13, 2009 at 10:14 AM, Mark A. Jensen <maj at fortinbras.us>  
> wrote:
>> If my newbie status is not a barrier, I would be pleased to mentor a
>> student. If it is a barrier, I would be pleased to look at  
>> applications
>> or what have you.
>> Mark
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Hilmar Lapp" <hlapp at gmx.net>
>> To: "bioPerl List" <bioperl-l at lists.open-bio.org>
>> Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 11:53 AM
>> Subject: [Bioperl-l] Google Summer of Code: Call for Bio* Volunteers
>>
>>
>>> Google is committed to run the Summer of Code program [1] again this
>>> year. It will be for the 5th time.
>>>
>>> In broad strokes, the program funds what you might call remote  
>>> summer
>>> internships for students to contribute to an open-source software   
>>> project.
>>> Participating projects (or umbrella organizations) provide   
>>> project ideas
>>> and supply mentors that guide the work on those.  Students apply  
>>> to a
>>> project within the program with specific project  ideas, based on  
>>> those
>>> suggested or based on their own idea, get ranked  by the mentors  
>>> of the
>>> project, and those accepted into the program get  paired up with  
>>> mentors.
>>> Projects are chiefly about programming, the  coding period is 3  
>>> months
>>> (Jun-Aug), and there is no travel required  by either student or  
>>> mentor. The
>>> program is global; other than the US  trade restrictions that  
>>> Google is
>>> under, there are no restrictions as  to where student or mentor  
>>> reside. The
>>> main motivations behind the  program are to recruit new  
>>> contributors to
>>> open-source projects, and  to produce more open-source code. See  
>>> the program
>>> FAQs [2] for more  information.
>>>
>>> I've had the honor of being part of the program for the last two   
>>> years,
>>> administering NESCent's participation as an organization [3]  and  
>>> in 2007
>>> mentoring a student. I have to say I find it the most  awesome  
>>> open-source
>>> program since sliced bread (or the invention of  BLAST if that  
>>> means more to
>>> you). Despite that and sadly enough, there  has been a dearth of
>>> participating bioinformatics projects (though  some notable ones,  
>>> such as
>>> CytoScape have participated).
>>>
>>> There have been two Bio* Summer of Code projects under the NESCent
>>> umbrella, one in 2007 [4] and one in 2008 [5]. I would be willing to
>>> volunteer to take the lead on and administer a full-blown   
>>> participation of
>>> O|B|F as a Bio* umbrella organization, provided 1) at  least one  
>>> Bio* person
>>> volunteers to serve as backup administrator, and  2) enough Bio*
>>> contributors volunteer to serve as prospective mentors.
>>>
>>> Mentoring involves participating in creating the page of project  
>>> ideas
>>> (I'd provide template and guidance), corresponding with applicants  
>>> who
>>> have questions, participating in student application ranking, and  
>>> for
>>> primary mentors (those directly assigned to a student) based on   
>>> empirical
>>> evidence at least 5hrs/week of time spent with the student  to  
>>> help him/her
>>> get over obstacles or avoid wrong paths.
>>>
>>> I think almost all mentors would concur that the experience was very
>>> gratifying, but as a mentor you will be spending a non-negligible   
>>> amount
>>> of time with the student. I think it is the student-mentor   
>>> pairing and
>>> interaction, not the stipend, that in the end makes the   
>>> participation for
>>> students uniquely productive in terms of learning,  and different  
>>> from
>>> simply contributing to the project of choice (which  they could  
>>> always do).
>>>
>>> For a personal impression for how the program is from a mentor
>>> perspective, I'll let Chris Fields speak who was the mentor for  
>>> the  2008
>>> phyloXML in BioPerl project. From a student's perspective, I'll   
>>> leave it to
>>> the 2007 Biojava student Bohyun Lee (blee34-at- mail.gatech.edu)  
>>> and the
>>> 2008 BioPerl student Mira Han (mirhan-at- indiana.edu) to comment  
>>> (if they
>>> are still on the list).
>>>
>>> So if you think this is a good idea for Bio* to be part of, if  
>>> you  would
>>> like to help in some way, if you can see yourself as a mentor,  or  
>>> if you
>>> are a lurking would-be student, please let yourself be  heard.  
>>> Email either
>>> to the list or to me.
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>>
>>> -hilmar
>>>
>>> [1] http://code.google.com/soc/2008
>>>
>>> [2] http://code.google.com/opensource/gsoc/2009/faqs.html
>>>
>>> [3] http://hackathon.nescent.org/ 
>>> Phyloinformatics_Summer_of_Code_2007
>>> http://hackathon.nescent.org/Phyloinformatics_Summer_of_Code_2008
>>>
>>> [4] http://biojava.org/wiki/BioJava:PhyloSOC07
>>>
>>> [5] http://bioperl.org/wiki/PhyloXML_support_in_BioPerl
>>> --
>>> ===========================================================
>>> : Hilmar Lapp  -:-  Durham, NC  -:-  hlapp at gmx dot net :
>>> ===========================================================
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> Bioperl-l at lists.open-bio.org
>>> http://lists.open-bio.org/mailman/listinfo/bioperl-l
>>>
>>>
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>
>
>
> -- 
> Joshua Udall
> Assistant Professor
> 295 WIDB
> Plant and Wildlife Science Dept.
> Brigham Young University
> Provo, UT 84602
> 801-422-9307
> Fax: 801-422-0008
> USA
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