By Johannes Sterz Demel | February 26, 2026
Hooray! GNU Radio has once again been accepted as a mentoring organization for Google Summer of Code 2026. This means that we will soon be accepting proposals from students/contributors who want to spend their summer hacking on GNU Radio.
While we have updated our ideas list with projects ranging from GPU acceleration to GNU Radio 4 ports, we encourage you to propose your own project ideas! If there is a feature you’ve always wanted in GNU Radio or a specific area of DSP you’re passionate about, we want to hear it. Our ideas list is a great starting point, but some of the most impactful GSoC projects come from contributor-led initiatives.
Application opens on March 16, and the deadline for submission is March 31, 18:00 UTC. Students are strongly encouraged to get in touch with the community ahead of time. We’re happy to give you feedback on your proposal or answer questions that you may have.
Once you have an idea—whether it’s from our list or your own creation—take a look at the Student Info page and GSoC Manifest to learn more about the process. Note that if you’re considering using AI tools, consult the GSoC AI guidance first. Next, introduce yourself on our community channels, let us know who you are, what you want to do and how you think you are going to achieve it! The GSoC landing page and student/contributor guide also contains some useful information.
GSoC 2026 continues with the flexible format introduced in recent years. Most importantly, projects can be either 175 or 350 hours, and the coding period length can be anywhere from 10 to 22 weeks. The formal requirements for contributors have also been relaxed, meaning that you no longer need to be enrolled at a university to be eligible. However, you have to be an open source beginner.
GSoC is a great opportunity for you to get involved with the FOSS community and earn some money while enhancing your coding skills. We at GNU Radio are looking forward to reading your project proposals. Good luck!