Programmes for developers

The Linux Foundation's mentorship platform for structured, mostly paid mentorships on open source projects, including the cloud native projects run by CNCF. You apply to a specific project, complete any tasks the mentors set and, if selected, work with a maintainer for a fixed term of about three months. Stipends are based on your country, up to $6,600.

• Career
• Cloud

The October open source celebration that ran for years as a pull request challenge. Since 2026 it is run by Major League Hacking and DEV with DigitalOcean as more than 300 in-person Fests plus a free online programme about building with open source AI. Pull requests no longer earn rewards; challenges, livestreams and events earn virtual stickers and a mailed sticker pack.

• AI
• Open source

Paid, remote three-month internships in open source and open science for people who face underrepresentation, systemic bias or discrimination in the tech industry of their country. Interns receive a $7,000 USD stipend. There are two cohorts a year, May to August and December to March, each with a short initial application followed by a month of contributing to real projects.

• Career
• Job search

A yearly Google programme that pairs people new to open source with mentoring organisations for a paid, remote coding project of about 90, 175 or 350 hours. Contributors work with a mentor over a coding period of around 12 weeks and receive a stipend based on project size and country. The application window is short, so the real work is choosing an organisation and contributing well before proposals open.

• Career
• Job search

Free one-year licences for JetBrains' professional IDEs, such as IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate, PyCharm Professional and WebStorm, for students and teachers at accredited institutions. You verify with a university email, an ISIC card or official documents, and renew yearly while you study. Use is limited to non-commercial, educational purposes.

• Career
• Dev tools

Microsoft's global startup competition for student founders building AI-powered products with Microsoft tools. Teams of up to four students enter the Launch track (early stage) or the Scale track (startups with traction). Winners receive cash, Azure credits, mentoring and a place at the World Championship.

• AI
• Career

Tata Consultancy Services' global programming contest for science and engineering students, recognised by Guinness World Records as the world's largest programming competition. Students compete individually through online rounds towards a grand finale, with USD 20,000 in prize money for the top three. Season 14 registration is open.

• Career
• DSA

Notion's free Education Plan for individual students and teachers at accredited colleges and universities, with a separate free plan for verified student organisations. You upgrade inside Notion using your institution's email. It suits students who want one workspace for notes, project planning and a personal knowledge base.

• Career

Google's university developer clubs, formerly Google Developer Student Clubs, run by a student organiser with a core team. Any student can join a chapter's events for free, and students can apply to lead a chapter at their university. Leading one gives you real organising experience, contact with Google's developer community and a project team.

• Career
• Leadership

GitHub's selective programme that trains student leaders to build technical communities at their universities. Selected students receive training in public speaking, technical writing and community management, plus support from GitHub for their events. Applications open once a year, every July, and include a written form and a video.

• Career
• Leadership

IEEE's global 24-hour programming competition for teams of up to three IEEE Student or Graduate Student members, held every October. Teams compete from their own university under a local proctor and solve a set of algorithmic problems released through the day. It is one of the most accessible team contests for students in South Asia.

• Career
• DSA

Pakistan's ICPC regional contest, hosted by GIK Institute in Topi, where university teams of three qualify through an online preliminary for the onsite regional. It is the main route for Pakistani teams towards the ICPC Asia West finals and the World Finals. Every team needs a coach from its university.

• Career
• DSA

India's national hackathon, run by the Ministry of Education's Innovation Cell and AICTE, where student teams solve problem statements set by ministries, government departments and industry. Colleges hold internal hackathons to nominate teams, and shortlisted teams build their solution at a 36-hour grand finale in December. It is open to students of Indian higher education institutions.

• Career

A nine-week summer placement at CERN in Geneva for bachelor's and master's students with a strong computing profile, working on advanced computing projects with a CERN supervisor. It is open to all nationalities, including students from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. Students receive a daily allowance and a travel allowance.

• Career
• Job search
• CS fundamentals

A free open source programme from the non-profit GirlScript Foundation in India, where contributors spend a few months working on listed projects, earn points on a leaderboard and receive mentoring. Since 2026 it also has an AI agents track. It is a beginner-friendly way to make real pull requests before applying to paid programmes.

• Career
• Open source

Microsoft's free Azure offer for full-time university students: $100 of credit to use within 12 months, free amounts of popular services and no credit card. You sign up with your school email and can renew every year while you are a student. It is the easiest way to practise cloud without a card.

• Career
• Cloud
• AI

One of Pakistan's best known university tech festivals, run by students at FAST-NUCES Lahore every spring. It hosts competitions in areas such as competitive programming, software and web development, AI, game development and cybersecurity, alongside talks and an exhibition. Teams from universities across Pakistan take part.

• Career
• DSA

Microsoft's global programme for students who lead tech communities on campus, relaunched in 2026 and open to students of every discipline. There is no application or interview: you register, complete onboarding activities and progress through milestones. Benefits include Microsoft 365, Visual Studio Enterprise and $150 of monthly Azure credits.

• Career
• Cloud
• Leadership

Student-led cloud communities on university campuses, supported by AWS. Any enrolled student aged 18 or over can join a group, and students can apply to lead one as a Student Builder Group Leader. Leaders receive AWS credits, certification exam vouchers and direct contact with AWS professionals.

• Career
• Cloud
• Leadership

NASA's annual global hackathon, where teams use open data from NASA and partner space agencies to tackle challenges written by NASA experts. It runs over two days at local events in many cities, including in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, and virtually. All ages, skill levels and backgrounds are welcome, and it is free.

• Career
• Data
• Machine learning

Meta's annual online programming contest for individuals, with a practice round, several online rounds of increasing difficulty and a final for the top competitors. Anyone who meets the official rules can enter, students or not. Meta had not announced a 2026 season by late October 2026, so check the official page before planning around it.

• Career
• DSA

Major League Hacking's free, week-long online hacker festival, held roughly once a month with a different theme each time, such as beginners, open source, AI agents or cloud. It mixes livestreamed workshops, daily challenges and small projects. Anyone, anywhere can join, which makes it an easy first step before an in-person hackathon.

• Career

A global, online summer internship that introduces university students to Bitcoin open source development and design. Selected students spend 12 weeks on a project with an open source Bitcoin organisation and earn a stipend paid in bitcoin, $3,000 for students in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. Entry is competitive and runs through a challenge round before proposals.

• Career
• Job search

An outreach programme run by the KDE community since 2013, where newcomers work on a mentored project for a KDE application or website over about two months. It is open to everyone, not only students, and covers code, documentation, translation and design. There is no stipend; participants who finish receive a certificate and KDE merchandise.

• Career