If you’ve been involved in an open source community before then you are probably aware of the initiative put forth each year by Google and the Google Summer of Code. Just in case you’re not aware, here’s the idea:

Google Summer of Code Background

Each year Google helps to coordinate and encourage post-secondary students to spend their “summer” working in an open source project. (Google Summer of Code) Google has the goal to increase awareness of the vast network of available open source projects in the world; give students real-life exposure to real-world software development scenarios; and ultimately create more open source code for the benefit of everyone. Successful students receive a $5,500 USD stipend which allows them to focus full-time efforts on their open source code project for the full 3 months. The entire program is done online and requires no travel.

This is the 12th year for Google to offer Google Summer of Code (GSoC) but perhaps even more importantly, this is the first year where Mautic will be applying to be a part of the fun. That’s right! Mautic will be submitting an application to be considered for the GSoC 2016 program.

Typically this is an extensive application process and requires a good amount of time and energy to be successful. Many applications are received and only a few are selected each year for inclusion. Due to the young(er) Mautic community some might think the Mautic community is not ready for such a commitment and responsibility, but Mautic’s application and GSoC project for 2016 will be lead by an expert.

Mautic Application Leader

Chad Windnagle has volunteered to lead the Mautic application this year. Chad has years of experience working with Google and the Summer of Code project as a result of his background volunteering in the Joomla! ecosystem. He understands the requirements for applying as well as successfully executing a GSoC program and the Mautic community is fortunate for someone of his caliber to lead this initiative. The application period for Mautic extends from 8-19 February 2016 with the student application portion being available from 14-25 March 2016.

Get Involved!

If anyone has questions, ideas or interests in learning more about GSoC or in particular Mautic’s application or focus areas please contact Chad directly at [email protected] for more information. (Hint: there might be a faster response found on the Mautic Slack chat).

There will be more details, timelines, and suggestions shared once the application is received and accepted by Google. At that time more information will be published on the Mautic blog along with various social media channels.