Rust Expands Mentorship Through Outreachy Program

Introduction: A Tradition of Mentorship

The Rust project has long recognized the value of nurturing new contributors through structured mentorship. For three consecutive years, including the current one, Rust has actively participated in Google Summer of Code (GSoC), and it previously engaged with the Open Source Promotion Plan (OSPP). Building on this momentum, the project now proudly announces its participation in the Outreachy program, starting with the May 2026 cohort. This move underscores Rust’s commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive open-source community by providing opportunities to individuals who face systemic barriers in technology.

Rust Expands Mentorship Through Outreachy Program — Source: blog.rust-lang.org

What Makes Outreachy Unique

Eligibility and Focus

While Outreachy shares similarities with GSoC, it distinguishes itself through its eligibility criteria. The program targets people from underrepresented groups, including those experiencing systemic bias or discrimination in the tech industry. Interns first apply to the overall program before selecting specific communities—a two-step process that differs from GSoC’s direct application to projects.

Application Process

Another key difference is the mandatory contribution period. In GSoC, applicants often submit contributions prior to applying, but it is not always required. Outreachy, however, mandates a dedicated period where applicants must make substantive contributions to the community they wish to join. After this, they submit a formal application similar to GSoC’s, and communities select interns based on both the application and the demonstrated contributions.

Stipends and Funding

Funding models also diverge. Google generously covers stipends and overhead for GSoC interns. In contrast, Outreachy relies on participating communities to fund their own interns. For the May 2026 cohort, the Rust project has allocated resources to support four interns, balancing financial constraints with mentoring capacity.

Selected Projects for the May 2026 Cohort

The Rust project has chosen four interns to work on impactful projects. Below is a summary of each initiative.

Calling Overloaded C++ Functions from Rust

Intern: Ajay Singh
Mentors: teor, Taylor Cramer, Ethan Smith

This experimental project aims to bridge Rust and C++ by enabling Rust code to invoke overloaded C++ functions. The team will begin testing this feature in representative use cases, laying groundwork for smoother interoperability between the two languages.

Code Coverage of the Rust Compiler at Scale

Intern: Akintewe Oluwasola
Mentors: Jack Huey

This project focuses on developing workflows to run and analyze code coverage for the entire Rust compiler test suite, as well as ecosystem crates detected by Crater. The goal is to identify untested areas within the compiler and in the broader ecosystem, and to build tools for continuous coverage analysis.

Fuzzing the a-mir-formality Type System Implementation

Intern: Tunde-Ajayi Olamiposi
Mentors: Niko Matsakis, Rémy Rakic, tiif

This project aims to implement fuzzing for a-mir-formality, an in-progress formal model for Rust’s type and trait system. Fuzzing will help uncover edge cases and ensure the model’s correctness.

Note: A fourth intern project was also selected but details were not fully disclosed in the original announcement.

Looking Ahead

By joining Outreachy, Rust reaffirms its dedication to lowering barriers to entry in open source. The program’s focus on underrepresented groups aligns with the community’s values of inclusivity and diversity. As the May 2026 cohort begins, the Rust project looks forward to the fresh perspectives and contributions these interns will bring. For more information on Outreachy, visit the official website.

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