University of Wisconsin–Madison

Propose a Project

Have an open source project that could use dedicated help? Propose your project and we’ll pair it with a student intern who can move the work forward alongside you.

Professor lecturing to a class in a lecture hall. Photo by Vitaly Gariev

PROJECT PROPOSALS ARE CURRENTLY CLOSED. WHEN REOPENED, ALL INTERESTED PARTIES MUST FILL OUT A FORM AT A LINK PROVIDED HERE.

If you have any questions, please contact us at: ospo@datascience.wisc.edu

Why propose a project?

If your project could benefit from dedicated contributors, we invite you to submit a proposal outlining your needs and how an intern could help. Proposed projects gain a semester of focused development time, with interns contributing code, documentation, testing, and community-building work, while your intern gains practical open source experience on research and tools that matter.

Program overview

The Open Source Program Office (OSPO) runs a semester-long internship program that pairs open source projects at UW-Madison with student interns. Proposed projects are matched with an intern whose interests align with the work. As the project lead, you’ll set the scope, assign tasks, and provide feedback, while your project gains a dedicated contributor and a stronger connection to the next generation of open source practitioners.

What’s expected of you

Role

As the project lead, you’ll act as a mentor for your intern. You will be defining the goals of the work, scoping tasks, and providing regular feedback on their contributions throughout the semester.

Time commitment

The internship program is a semester long.

Support

OSPO provides all funding for the internships. It also facilitates the hiring and HR onboarding process for the selected interns.

How to propose a project

If your project could benefit from dedicated contributors, submit a proposal outlining your project, the work you’d like support on, and how an intern could help.

We are currently accepting project proposals for the fall cohort.

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