Eligibility

Are there any age restrictions on participating?

Yes. You must be 18 years of age or older by April 26, 2010 to be eligible to participate in SUMO in 2010.

Who's eligible to participate as a student in SUMO?

In order to participate in the program, you must be a student. SIDE-Labs defines a student as an individual enrolled in or accepted into an accredited institution including (but not necessarily limited to) colleges, universities, masters programs, PhD programs and undergraduate programs. You are eligible to apply if you are enrolled in an accredited pre-university educational program provided you meet all of the other eligibility requirements. You should be prepared, upon request, to provide SIDE-Labs with transcripts or other documentation from your accredited institution as proof of enrollment or admission status.

Computer Science does not need to be your field of study in order to participate in the program.

You may be enrolled as a full-time or part-time student. You must also be eligible to work in the country in which you'll reside throughout the duration of the program, e.g. if you are in the United States on an F-1 visa, you are welcome to apply to SUMO as long as you have U.S. work authorization.

Who's not eligible to participate as a student in SUMO?

SIDE-Labs employees, interns, contractors, family members, or residents and nationals of countries with whom we are prohibited by French law from engaging in commerce, are ineligible to participate. Mentoring organizations that are taking part in SUMO may add additional stipulations regarding which students may participate in the program under their auspices.

What are the eligibility requirements for mentoring organizations?

Mentor organizations must be organizations or individuals running an active and viable open source or free software project whose applications are approved by SIDE-Labs's Open Source Programs Office. Organizations based in countries with whom we are prohibited by French law from engaging in commerce, are ineligible to participate.

What are the eligibility requirements for mentors?

SIDE-Labs does not have specific eligibility requirements for mentors, as we know our mentoring organizations will be best able to determine the selection criteria for their mentors.

I have been accepted in to an accredited post-secondary school program, but have not yet begun attending. Can I still take part in the program?

As long as you are enrolled in a college or university program as of June 21, 2010, you are eligible to participate in the program. Accepted students will be asked by SIDE-Labs to provide proof of enrollment after acceptance.

I graduate in the middle of the program. Can I still participate?

As long as you are enrolled in a college or university program as of June 21, 2010, you are eligible to participate in the program.

I would like to participate in SUMO as both a mentor and a student. Is this possible?

We've given this question a lot of thought, and we've decided it is best not to allow participants to act as a mentor to another SUMO student while they are working on their own SUMO student project. We want to make sure that each project and student receives sufficient attention, and we're concerned that this split in focus could create a bad experience for those involved. Please choose whether participation as a mentor or a student is more appealing to you and plan to apply accordingly.

How much time is required to participate as a student in SUMO?

The amount of time you will need depends on both the scope of your project and the requirements of your mentoring organization. While your organization may offer some flexibility around milestone completion dates, you should expect your project to be your primary focus this summer. If you have a great internship starting soon or you're planning a month long backpacking trip, you likely won't be a good candidate for the program.

How much time is required to participate as a mentor in SUMO?

While the answer to this question will vary widely depending on the number of students a mentor works with, the difficulty of the proposals, and the skill level of the students, most mentors from past GSoC projects have let us know that they underestimated the amount of time they would need to invest in SUMO. Five hours per student per week (one hour a day) is a reasonable estimate.