📖This page is the OSPP Community Guide. Before registering for the program, please read and understand this guide carefully.
📑Registering for the event means you agree to the OSPP Participation Agreement.
If you have any questions, please contact the organizing committee: org@summer-ospp.ac.cn.
1. What is OSPP
☀️ Introduction to the Open Source Promotion Plan
The Open Source Promotion Plan （OSPP）is a summer program organized by the Open Source Software Supply Chain Promotion Plan of the Institute of Software Chinese Academy of Sciences （ISCAS) in 2020. It aims to encourage university students to actively participate in the development and maintenance of open source software, cultivate and discover more outstanding developers, promote the vigorous development of excellent open source software communities, and assist in the construction of open source software supply chains
Officially launched in 2020, the program is now in its 7th edition.
In collaboration with leading open source organizations, the program offers development tasks centered on the evolution and maintenance of critical open source software projects and is open to university students worldwide. Students may apply for projects based on their interests and, upon selection, contribute under the guidance of project maintainers (organization mentors). Depending on project scope and delivery outcomes, participants who successfully complete their projects will receive remuneration and a certificate of completion.
Since its launch in 2020, OSPP has focused on improving the resilience and reliability of the open source software supply chain and addressing critical gaps across the ecosystem. Over the past six years, the program has engaged 288 open source organizations, which collectively published 3,487 project tasks. A total of 12,257 students from 1,026 universities worldwide participated in the program and successfully delivered solutions to 2,794 real-world project challenges. These outcomes have been incorporated into upstream releases and adopted in production environments. Through continuous collaboration, the initiative has gradually established a sustainable ecosystem in which industry contributes to open source communities, communities cultivate talent, and talent continuously empowers industry.
Starting in 2026, the Open Source Software Supply Chain Promotion Plan officially enters its 2.0 era—embracing the AI era with foundational software as its technical foundation and RISC-V as its ecosystem focus.
Driven by real-world requirements and hands-on engineering practice, OSPP is committed to cultivating urgently needed talent in foundational software. The program places strategic emphasis on RISC-V ecosystem development, with focus areas including operating systems, compilers, toolchains, databases, virtualization platforms, and artificial intelligence. By reinforcing open collaboration and technical innovation, the initiative continues to accelerate the maturity and long-term growth of the RISC-V ecosystem.
📍 Event Schedule
2. Eligibility for Participating Organizations
Enterprise Eligibility
Enterprises may participate if they satisfy at least one of the following criteria:
Own RISC-V hardware and/or software products
Hold membership in RISC-V International (RVI)
Demonstrate upstream contribution records enabling or improving support for the RISC-V architecture in open source software
Open Source Organization Eligibility
Open Source Promotion Plan primarily supports organizations working on foundational software.
Supported project domains include the following categories of core foundational software:
Open source organization repositories must adopt an OSI-approved open source license or other open licenses recommended by OKF.
3. Benefits for Participating Communities
📸 Enhance community exposure and brand recognition by participating in the OSPP.
🧑💻 Attract talented university developers to join and bring fresh energy to the community.
🧬 Advance the ecological development and maintenance of the open source community.
4. Community Participation Process
⚠️ All stage operations are conducted in the system
The community liaison serves as the bridge for communication between the organizing committee and the community throughout the event, responsible for coordinating and advancing various stages.
(1) Community Registration (Rolling)
Classic Track
Liaisons can register and log in to a community account via the community login portal on the homepage, submit community information, and confirm registration upon approval by the committee.
If the community liaison also functions as a mentor, please register with different email address.
Communities with an existing account should log in with the original account to update information for review.
Ensure the accuracy and validity of community information to avoid registration failure due to inaccuracies.
Pioneer Program (Click to visit)
The 1st Pioneer Program adopts invitation-only model administered by the organizing committee.
Invited communities submit technical directions (1–3) through the System
Students identify unresolved problems within the selected direction and submit lightweight proposals
(submitted directly through community-designated submission channels)Communities organize proposal discussions on a regular basis and select both proposals and participating students
(2) Project Submission
Classic Track
Project Types
The Open Source Promotion Plan 2026 organizing committee supports projects related to core foundational software (see the supported scope above) and the RISC-V ecosystem.
Projects outside the supported scope may be independently sponsored by participating organizations. Such projects are classified as Organization-Sponsored Projects, under which the organization assumes responsibility for completion remuneration.
Details are as follows:
For Organization-Sponsored Projects, the organization shall fund the completion remuneration for students and enter into a cooperation agreement with the organizing committee.
Organizations shall select “Organization-Sponsored Project” in the System and complete project submission. After the submission deadline, a cooperation agreement containing project information will be generated automatically and made available in the System for download, signature, stamping, and upload.
Completion remuneration for Organization-Sponsored Projects shall be provided by the organization and follow the standard remuneration rules of the program. The funding will be used exclusively for payment of completion remuneration and applicable taxes for designated projects. If a project is not successfully completed, the organization is not required to provide funding for that project. The final payable amount shall be determined according to the List of Completed Projects for Organization Sponsorship issued by the organizing committee after completion results are announced.
Organization-Sponsored Projects will be highlighted in the project list on the official website.
Project Difficulty Levels
Basic Level - RMB 3,500 (pre-tax)
Advanced Level - RMB 5,000 (pre-tax)
Project Development Timeline
Project duration is measured in months.
The minimum development timeline is 1 month, and the maximum development timeline is 3 months.
Project Specification
Project specifications shall be prepared by mentors and submitted through the organization account by the organization contact.
Project descriptions should be clearly defined, sufficiently detailed, and appropriately scoped to help students understand requirements and prepare project proposals.
Project Title
The title should clearly and directly reflect the project's technical focus and target objectives.
Project Description
Provide relevant project background, existing progress, current limitations, target improvements, and expected outcomes.
Project Difficulty
Define project difficulty based on project requirements, scope, technical complexity, estimated development effort, and resource constraints.
Technical Domain and Programming Language
Specify the relevant technical area and programming language(s).
Expected Deliverables
Define measurable deliverables and expected outcomes so students understand what is expected for successful completion.
Technical Requirements
Specify requirements related to programming languages, technology stack, development experience, or other relevant competencies.
Project Repository
Provide the existing repository maintained by the organization rather than creating a new empty repository.
Development Timeline
Specify a development duration between 1 and 3 months.
Estimated Workload
Provide estimated development effort based on project difficulty, expected deliverables, and anticipated student capability.
Project Notes (Learning Resources)
Provide supporting materials relevant to the project, such as books, papers, technical blogs, repositories, issue links, and related documentation.
Pioneer Program
Participating communities publish Open Tracks.
Invited communities publish 1–3 broad but clearly defined directions based on current technical priorities.
Students engage with the community, identify specific problems under the published direction, and prepare a concise proposal.
Students submit proposals directly through community-designated contact channels.
Communities organize Pitch Sessions.
Communities periodically review submitted proposals through live discussions and provide immediate selection decisions.
After proposal confirmation:
Mentors and students jointly refine requirements, scope, and deliverables.
A formal project definition is generated following the same project specification requirements described above.
The community submits the project through the system and designates the student account for formal application submission.
📖 Difficulty Levels
Basic Level - RMB 6,000 (pre-tax)
Advanced Level - RMB 8,000 (pre-tax)
Challenging Level - RMB 10,000 (pre-tax)
(3) Assigning Project Mentors
Each project requires the community to assign a mentor, generally a developer related to the project (Maintainer, Committer, Contributor). Each mentor can guide only TWO projects;
Project mentors should prepare specific project content, which is submitted by the community contact through the community account. Project details and requirements can be found on the system project management page;
When publishing projects in the system, the community account must designate a project mentor. If mentor information is not included in the system, it needs to be added;
🚨 Mentors must not participate in this event as student developers simultaneously. If this is discovered during the event, the committee will cancel their participation, and no bonuses or certificates will be awarded for their roles as mentors or students.
（4）Mentor Identity Verification
When the community account adds mentor information in the system, an invitation email 📧 is sent to the mentor, who can click the link in the invitation email to log into the system for identity verification;
After the community contact submits project information, mentors must log into the mentor system to fill in personal information and complete mentor identity verification. Projects without completed mentor identity verification cannot be published on the official website.
（5）Submit Projects
The community account logs into the system to submit project information;
（6）Student Applications and Review (Rolling)
Track application progress, handle related issues, and facilitate successful completion of project applications.
Mentors are required to review each student application within one week of submission. Projects with no applicants or no selected candidates remain open for applications.
Applications approved by mentors will proceed to the Organizing Committee Review stage. Organization accounts can view the application and review status of all projects within their organization in the System.
The quality of the project proposal is the primary criterion for evaluating student applications.
Only students approved by both the mentor and the organizing committee are officially recognized as selected participants. Organizations and mentors must not pre-select students, privately guarantee selection outcomes, or require students to begin development before official acceptance
（7）Project Development
The project development timeline is subject to the development cycle specified in the project details. Students are required to submit the Project Completion Report and PR/MR links via the system before the end of the development cycle
（8） Final Review
Track the review progress, facilitate the merging of students' PRs into the repository, and ensure that mentors complete the final project review in a timely manner.
5. Community Responsibilities
Communities should launch OSPP page on their community website (or public project repository) using any format (HTML, Wiki, etc.). The page content should include all project task lists, project task details, and relevant reference materials provided by the community or project group.
Communities can independently record community introduction videos and submit them to the committee's email at org@summer-ospp.ac.cn. The committee will publish them on platforms like the OSPP website, WeChat official account, and Bilibili. Videos are recommended to be within 20 minutes and can include community background, development directions, outcome showcases, and future plans. Communities may use the OSPP community presentation PPT template to create presentation files. Also, provide a video title and a 1920x1080 video cover image.
Before reviewing project applications, full communication with mentors and students should be ensured to understand application and review statuses. Jointly decide on approved students and projects and complete community reviews within the stipulated time by logging into the system.
For communities needing to support projects, a community cooperation agreement must be signed with the organizing committee before the announcement of selection results.
Ensure mentors fulfill their responsibilities, referring to the Mentor Guide.
Communities should provide appropriate help during project development and coordinate resolving issues encountered by student mentors in the development process.
During the event, if changes to account information, community introduction, project information, mentor replacement, etc., are needed, please send an application email to the organizing committee at org@summer-ospp.ac.cn and submit the information modification application form. The committee doesn't recommend modifying information already published on the official website; carefully check and confirm during submission.
6. Organizer Statement
The organizers hold no claims to intellectual property rights over student-developed outcomes during the event.
Intellectual property outcomes are determined by the community based on the community's development contribution guidelines with students (e.g., signing a Contributor License Agreement).
Privacy Rights:
The organizing body will process personal information provided during registration and subsequent event interactions to manage the event (including verifying eligibility, participating in the event, and sending notifications related to the event).
Non-personally identifiable information will be used in aggregate for statistical purposes; the activity participation names created during registration will be publicly displayed on related websites, documents, and materials, and will be shared with the organizers to facilitate communication, answering questions, and review processes. Student submissions and contact information (email and activity participation name) will be shared by the organizers to manage the event.
The organizing body may publicly disclose your participation in the event and the event's outcomes, including the names and content of accepted projects and the code you generated during project work. The organizing body may display your information, including activity participation name, project summary, and final project materials, on related websites (including but not limited to the OSPP official website, WeChat official account, etc.).
During the event, participants can access, update, delete, and restrict the processing of their personal information in their project documents. If you wish to edit such information after the event concludes or oppose processing or exporting it, contact the organizing body through official contact channels (website, email, WeChat official account).