Partner Program · Orthogonal Research & Education Lab

OREL Summer Cohort

A combination of Google Summer of Code, open science and open-source development training, and professional development — established in 2017.

Partners: Google Summer of Code · INCF · OREL · DevoWorm · OpenWorm Foundation

OREL Summer Cohort: A combination of GSoC, Open Source, and Professional Development

Orthogonal Research and Education Laboratory (OREL) and DevoWorm host Google Summer of Code (GSoC) cohorts, sponsored and supported by the International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility (INCF) and The OpenWorm Foundation.

Under the guidance of OREL Lab Head Scientist & DevoWorm Senior Contributor Dr. Bradly Alicea, nearly 30 candidates have successfully completed the GSoC program since 2017, with associated Summer Cohort opportunities creating additional learning and professional development experiences for even more learners.

Google Summer of Code provides opportunity for students to enhance their coding skills, gain experience in open-source development, collaborate with mentors and the open-source community, and potentially contribute to projects that have a broader impact.

People 2026

OREL Summer Cohort Leadership

  1. Bradly Alicea — Director of Science, GSoC Lead Mentor OREL; OpenWorm Foundation
  2. Jesse Parent — Research Coordinator & Cohort Professional Development OREL; JOPRO
  3. Morgan Hough — Senior Contributor OREL; NeuroTechX

2026 Google Summer of Code Project Mentors

  1. Sarrah Bastawala — Former GSoC Contributor OREL
  2. Mehul Arora — Former GSoC Contributor OREL

2026 GSoC Contributors & OREL OpenSourceDev Scholars

To Be Announced!

Applicant Information

See also: Google Summer of Code — How it Works (For Most Accurate and Up to Date Information)
Advice from Mentors: Applying to Google Summer of Code

Google Summer of Code

Eligibility
The program is open to university students aged 18 and above, enrolled in an accredited institution.
Project Selection
Participating open-source organizations propose project ideas, and students apply to work on specific projects. The selection process involves a review of project proposals, student applications, and interviews.
Duration & Stipend
The program runs for approximately three months during the summer. Successful students receive a stipend for their work, which is paid by Google.
Mentors
Each student is assigned at least one mentor from the participating organization. Mentors provide guidance, support, and technical expertise throughout the project.
Coding Period
Students work on their projects remotely, collaborating with their mentors and the open-source community. They write code, submit regular progress reports, and communicate with their mentors.
Community Bonding
Before the coding period officially starts, there is a community bonding period where students get to know their mentors and the open-source community.
Evaluations
Students undergo midterm and final evaluations to assess their progress and eligibility to continue in the program.
Completion
At the end of the program, students submit their final code and documentation. Successful participants receive a certificate of completion and gain valuable experience working on real-world projects.

History & Alumni

2025

GSoC Contributors & OREL OpenSourceDev Scholars

  • Jayadratha Gayen "DevoTG: Dynamic Graph Neural Networks for Modeling C. elegans Development"
  • Lalith Baru "NDP-HNN: Modelling Neural Developmental Programs of C. elegans Using Growing Hypergraph Neural Networks"
  • Vidhi Rohira "SustainHub: Adaptive Agent-Based Model for Open-Source Community Sustainability"

Mentors: Dr. Bradly Alicea, Sarrah Bastawala, Mehul Arora, Morgan Hough, & Jesse Parent

News: Welcome to our Google Summer of Code scholars for 2025! →

2024

To be added.

2023

  • R. V. Rajagopalan Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham OREL: "Exploring Open Source Sustainability via Agent-based Modeling"
  • Vrushali Nandurkar Indian Institute of Technology Madras OREL: "Virtual Reality for Distributed Research"
  • Sushmanth Reddy Mereddy Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham DevoWorm: "D-GNNs: developing DevoGraph for computational developmental biology"
  • Himanshu Chougule Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) DevoWorm: "D-GNNs: developing DevoGraph for computational developmental biology"

Mentors: Dr. Bradly Alicea, Mayukh Deb, Jesse Parent, Ankit Grover & Brian McCorkle

2022

Preprint: Open-source Community Sustainability using Agent-based Models

Mentors: Dr. Bradly Alicea & Jesse Parent

2021

Materials:
Paper: "DevoLearn: Machine Learning Models and Education that Enable Computational Developmental Biology" - Mayukh Deb, Ujjwal Singh, Mainak Deb, and Bradly Alicea
Website: GitHub: DevoLearn

  • Mainak Deb Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University DevoWorm: "Improving DevoLearn"

Mentor: Dr. Bradly Alicea

2020

  • Mainak Deb Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University DevoWorm: "Pre-trained Models for Developmental Neuroscience"
  • Ujjwal Singh IIT Delhi DevoWorm: OpenDevoCell Integration

Mentor: Dr. Bradly Alicea

2019

Publication: Braitenberg Vehicles as Developmental Neurosimulation (ALIFE 2022)
Video Series: Developmental Braitenberg Vehicles Study Group

GSoC Contributors

  • Stefan Dvoretskii Technical University of Munich OREL: "Bra-Gen Brain"
  • Vinay Varma Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University DevoWorm: "Semantic Segmentation of the Embryogenetic Process"

Developmental Braitenberg Vehicle Cohort

  • Ziyi Gong Duke University OREL
  • Ankit Gupta IIT Kharagpur OREL
  • Jesse Parent University at Albany, SUNY OREL

Mentor: Dr. Bradly Alicea

2018

  • Sam Felder University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign OREL: "Contextual Geometric Structures"
  • Cheng-Hsun (Jim) Hsueh National Yang-Ming University OREL: "Contextual Geometric Structures"
  • Arnab Banerjee Pune University DevoWorm: Developmental Networks and XML Frameworks for the C. elegans Embryo

Mentor: Dr. Bradly Alicea

2017

  • Siddharth Yadav IIT New Delhi DevoWorm: "Image processing with ImageJ (segmentation of high-resolution images)"

Mentor: Dr. Bradly Alicea