Before starting your final project (an open-source contribution), please complete the following. A proposal is worth 15% of the project grade.
The final assignment for the class is to make a non-trivial contribution to the open-source scientific ecosystem. This can take one of three forms.
The first option is to add a feature or fix a bug of an existing library. This will probably be less work than the other options, but getting the code merged depends on good communications with the maintainers. A good example of an adequate contribution might be adding a new feature to a young project, fixing a non-trivial bug in a library you use, or improving some aspect of a project's documentation.
The second option is to release your own small open-source library. This will be more work than the first option, but also be more impressive on your CV. Perhaps you have some scripts you think others will find useful that you can reshape into a small library. A good example of a small open-source package in this scope is dbscan1d. You don't need any documentation beyond a nice readme, but the library should have a suite of automated tests, continuous integration, and be published to PyPI so others can easily install it.
The Third option is to create a scientific repo in which you polish and share some of your research code. Doing so makes a nice companion to a paper and helps others reproduce your work. There are many sensible ways to create a science repo, so you need to propose its structure and use.
Decide which option you would like to complete and fill out contribution_proposal.md
(for a contribution to an existing project), new_project_proposal.md (for a new small project),
or science_repo_proposal.md.
Open a PR once you have filled out the proposal and ping the instructors for feedback.