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[soc-dev] GSoC next steps
Hello all, 
now that the official GSoC program is about to start here are some useful guidelines from the GSoC program organizers:

Core Steps for Mentors
1. Immediate Welcome: By May 2 you should have sent a warm welcome email. Within the first week - establish direct contact, invite them to your team’s communication channels, and introduce them to relevant meetings.
2. Set Communication Norms: Discuss expectations for frequency and clarity. Ensure they understand how their project supports community goals.
3. Provide Onboarding & Tooling: Confirm they have access to all necessary tools, the codebase, and documentation, so they are ready to begin coding on day one.
4. Foster Inclusion & Shadowing: Help them feel like a valued team member. Facilitate at least one shadowing opportunity, allowing them to observe your day-to-day operations.

Re-evaluating Contributor Fit

This period is also your opportunity to assess if your selected contributor is a good fit. We recognize the application process is fast-paced, and you may not have had time to probe deeply into their skills during that phase. If a contributor is not meeting the basic requirements, you have the opportunity to remove them from the program.

  • Skill Gaps: Unfortunately, some contributors may oversell their abilities or rely on AI to generate proposals without understanding the content. If it becomes clear they lack the fundamental skills to start their project, please take action.

  • Responsiveness: If a contributor is unresponsive and you have not been able to reach them within the first 9 days (by May 8), this is a significant concern. Please immediately notify the GSoC Program Admins. Participation in the community bonding period is mandatory, and unresponsive contributors will be removed from the program.

    If you notify us by EOD May 9 Google Admins may allow you to substitute in another contributor.

For official withdrawals:

  • GSoC Contributors who need to withdraw due to unexpected circumstances can do so themselves by using the "withdraw from program" button on their profile page via their GSoC site dashboard.
  • Mentors who need to withdraw from the GSoC 2026 program can also do so via their dashboard and profile page. However, they must first inform their Org Admins and their GSoC contributor so a replacement mentor can be arranged.

GSoC Mentor Virtual Sessions

‘What worked (and didn’t work) during proposal period’ virtual talk

This year has been particularly demanding for many organizations, driven by a surge in AI-generated pull requests and proposals, which has contributed to widespread burnout. This program is designed to support your communities and protect organization admins and mentors from exhaustion as they work to welcome new contributors.

We are seeking your feedback on the processes and guidelines that proved effective during the GSoC 2026 proposal phase. Additionally, we want to discuss which traditional methods may no longer be viable in the age of AI. While the program can evolve, we must be intentional about how and why we implement changes.

This will be an open discussion with attendees and Google Admins.
Date: Monday, May 18th
Time: 16:00 - 17:00 UTC
Meet Link: meet.google.com/snb-tpbc-fnn

Mentor Welcome Virtual Session

We are pleased to announce a Welcome Session for all GSoC 2026 Mentors and Org Admins on Wednesday, May 20th. During this session, program leads Stephanie Taylor and Mary Radomile will present some tips for success, some important reminders and will open up the floor for plenty of general Q&A from all of you.

This session will be particularly helpful for any first time Mentors or Org Admins. We hope that you can attend this virtual session!
Date: Wednesday, May 20th
Time: 15:00 - 16:00 UTC
Meet Link: meet.google.com/smk-tsaw-ebq

Evolution of GSoC program Session and survey - Coming soon

In June we will host a session to explore the possible next evolution of GSoC, guided by your insights. We are developing a brief survey (to be shared in a couple of weeks) to gather your written thoughts, which will serve as essential talking points for our discussion. Your input is vital to make these possibly considerable adjustments the best fit for most communities. The current mechanics are not sustainable, and our goal is to help you find enthusiastic new members without causing burnout. The future of community building in 2027 will look quite different than it did in 2005 or even 2022, and we want to navigate that change together.

Communication

Effective communication is the cornerstone of a successful GSoC project. Mentors, Org Admins, and contributors are all responsible for maintaining regular contact. We recommend reviewing the Mentor Discussion Panel Notes for tips on mentoring and the community bonding period.

Chat with your contributors at least twice a week, particularly during the early coding weeks, using video calls or chat channels. Proactive guidance is essential; don't leave contributors stuck or struggling alone. Projects with consistent communication consistently see better outcomes and contributors that stay involved in their communities post-GSoC

Project Size/Scope versus Project Length

Project size/scope (Small: 90 hours, Medium: 175 hours, Large: 350 hours) does not dictate project length (8-22 weeks). A medium project can be long (e.g., 20 weeks), and a large project can be shorter (e.g., 10 weeks). This provides flexibility.

IMPORTANT: Please do not extend a contributor’s project length without discussing it with them first.

During tonight's contributor welcome session, a participant noted that their project duration had been updated to 22 weeks without prior consultation. To ensure a positive experience and respect our contributors' time commitments, any changes to project timelines must be mutually agreed upon. If you need to adjust a project timeline, please reach out to your contributor directly before making any official updates. And the same goes for mentors, Org Admins shouldn’t extend a project without asking for the mentor’s okay as well.

Project Length

  • Medium & Large Projects: Org Admins (OAs) can adjust length from the default 12 weeks to anywhere between 10-22 weeks in 2 week intervals.
  • Small Projects: OAs can adjust length from the default 8 weeks to 10 or 12 weeks. Small projects cannot exceed 12 weeks.
  • Changes from the standard project length should be discussed with the GSoC contributor and aim to accommodate breaks, exams, or other commitments.
  • Organizations can choose to stick to 12-week projects or adopt other standard lengths (e.g., all 16 weeks). Orgs don’t have to extend the project lengths.

Project Size/(scope): 90 hours (small), 175 hours (medium) or 350 hours (large)

  • Project size cannot be increased (e.g., from medium to large).
  • Project size can be decreased (e.g., from large to medium or medium to small) if the contributor requests it and the mentor agrees. Please contact Google Admins who will make the change in the webapp.

Join our GSoC Alumni Discord Channel!

Many of you joined this over the last 2 years (no need to re-join), but if you haven’t joined the GSoC Alumni Discord channel, it is an exclusive, private space for all of you to connect and discuss with previous and current GSoC Contributors and Mentors. Please follow the next steps to be added into our Alumni channel:

  1. First, you need to be part of our Dev Community, please join us here: http://discord.gg/google-dev-community (If you are already a member, skip to step 2)
  2. Next, complete this form GSoC Alumni Channel and you’ll be added automatically by the end of the month to our lovely Discord community! The deadline for mentors/org admins to complete the form is June 1, 2026.

Around June 3 we will add everyone that completed the two steps above to the GSoC Alumni channel.

The Discord channel is not a support channel, please contact GSoC Admins at gsoc-support@xxxxxxxxxx for support questions related to your situation/org.

Important Dates

Use this link to add the Google Summer of Code dates to your Google Calendar.

May 1 - 24: Community Bonding Period and deadline to notify Google Admins of an inactive GSoC Contributor that you wish to remove from the program

May 18 16:00 UTC: Virtual Talk - What worked well (and what didn’t) in your Proposal Phase experiments Meet Link: meet.google.com/snb-tpbc-fnn

May 20 15:00 UTC: Virtual Talk: Mentor Welcome Session Meet Link: meet.google.com/smk-tsaw-ebq

May 25: Coding begins

June: Discussion on how to evolve GSoC to meet this new world of OSS development

October 30-Nov 1: Mentor Summit in Munich, Germany (extensive details coming in mid May)

Helpful Links



Kind regards, 
Maria Teresa

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