[Bioc-devel] Mentored Projects at Bioconductor

Message: 5
Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2012 11:13:40 -0700
From: Michael Lawrence<lawrence.michael at gene.com>
To: Nicolas Delhomme<delhomme at embl.de>
Cc:bioc-devel at stat.math.ethz.ch, Paul Shannon<pshannon at fhcrc.org>
Subject: Re: [Bioc-devel] Mentored Projects at Bioconductor
Message-ID:
	<CAOQ5NyeA6iPTwWyFEnpm18yPQXwZhZ4HOREW89xjyRM6gYji-Q at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain

Along these lines, it's important for a project to have a set of
deliverables that are specific, well-defined, achievable and timelined and
measurable in terms of progress. Otherwise, projects will have trouble
progressing, and it will be difficult to identify projects that need a
little "encouragement".

So for example for the writeVcf project, perhaps by working with the
student/apprentice, a list of specific milestones would be laid out:

1) Implement, test and document writeVcf,GRanges [1 month]
2) Implement, test and document writeVcf,DataFrame [2 weeks]

Something like that.

Michael

On Fri, Aug 31, 2012 at 9:04 AM, Nicolas Delhomme<delhomme at embl.de>  wrote:

Dear Paul,

This is a great idea. I've got a number of ideas for package that I've not
got the time to implement yet and I suppose some of those could be eligible
for that page.

The web page is nice. I think that there should be some guidelines on what
is expected from a) the person taking up the project, b) the mentor
(duties, required competencies, etc.) listed on that page. If it is
successful - which I hope - there might  be a large number of projects on
that page and it might become difficult to track them. Maybe, instead, a
series of pages listing the different kind of projects, e.g. "accepted
undergoing projects", "new projects",... would be good. I really think that
accepted projects should not be hidden from the webpage until they are
completed to make sure that we avoid re-inventing the wheel too much.
Another point that should figure in the project description is the mentor
geo-localization. Being located in Europe, it might be difficult to monitor
someone on the west cost.

I really like this idea, although one concern I have is that it will
de-facto create a binding between the mentor and the applicant(s). Is there
a need for that to be formalized; some kind of mutual agreement or so?

Cheers,

Nico

---------------------------------------------------------------
Nicolas Delhomme

Genome Biology Computational Support

European Molecular Biology Laboratory

Tel: +49 6221 387 8310
Email:nicolas.delhomme at embl.de
Meyerhofstrasse 1 - Postfach 10.2209
69102 Heidelberg, Germany
---------------------------------------------------------------





On Aug 31, 2012, at 3:20 PM, Paul Shannon wrote:

Dear Bioc-devel,

We announce a new feature of the Bioconductor web site, "Mentored

Projects".  The web page is

 http://www.bioconductor.org/developers/mentored-projects

with this overview:

 Developers new to Bioconductor may find mentored projects a useful way

to apply,

 refine and extend their skills. Projects are identified by experienced
 Bioconductor developers. The projects involve important but manageable

programming

 tasks. Experienced developers act as mentors, providing guidance and

oversight.

 Successful mentored projects will be incorporated into relevant

packages to benefit

 contributors users, and the Bioconductor project as a whole.

We welcome your comments on this plan, and on the web page, before we

announce to the full Bioconductor list.  We especially welcome additional
project proposals, and suggestions on how to make these projects successful
for all concerned.

- Paul