The Debian project has been accepted as a mentor organization for the Google Summer of Code 2008, and two of the proposed projects are relevant to the field of bioinformatics.

• In the Biological databases manager project, it is proposed to students to build an application to automate the downloading, upgrading and indexing of databases such as GenBank, miRbase, Jaspar, REbase,… The database manager will take advantage of the bioinformatics programs packaged in Debian.
• In the cran2deb project, it is proposed to students to generate Debian packages for GNU R from package sources. This project would allow the Bioconductor R packages to be distributed in the Debian format.

Debian-Med will provide mentorship for the Biological databases manager project, and Dirk Eddelbuttel is the mentor of the cran2deb project. Debian-Med encourages students to apply to one or the other project.