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Re: GSoC 2015 mentoring organization application


From: Carnë Draug
Subject: Re: GSoC 2015 mentoring organization application
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2015 00:55:17 +0000

On 10 February 2015 at 20:15, Jordi Gutiérrez Hermoso
<address@hidden> wrote:
> [...]
> So, we've decided that we're doing it? If so, I propose we request no
> more than four slots, possibly only three.

I really don't think this is an issue.  The problem is not too many
students, or a low maintainers to students ratio.  The problem is the
lack of maintainers with enough interest on the project of the students.

I have proposed before that it would be best if we only accept students for
projects where we have at least one maintainer already working on it.
By doing this, the work of the student is constantly being reviewed by the
mentor since the mentor will need the student work to continue his own work.
This has two advantages: 1) the work of the student is actually being
merged into Octave, 2) the student gets a lot more feedback.  And this
is the whole point of GSoC, 1) having work done into Octave, and 2)
educating students on FOSS development.

I don't know about labs of Mathematics and Computer Science, but this is
what already happens with summer students in Biochemistry and Biology.
Summer students often don't have their own independent project.  Instead
they help PhD students or post-docs with their projects.  This has the
disavantage that some students feel that they're only cheap labour.

I used to think this was a bad thing but looking back, not anymore.  The
work of summer students who had their own small and independent projects,
even with a supervisor who was knowledgable on the subject (but working on
a separate project), were always a waste (for the lab at least).  This was
either because once the student left there was no one with interest to
continue it (of course a summer is not enough to finish anything), or because
their work was crap since they had no decent supervision.  Supervising such a
student becomes a burden.  Instead, supervising should feel like you saved
time.  Also, the feeling of being "cheap labour" is mostly to blame on the
mentor.

Carnë



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