Getting started with NumFocus - QuTIP

[Siri Vennela]

Hi mentors,

I’m Sirivennela, a pre-final year Computer Science student specializing in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, and I’m planning to apply to Google Summer of Code (GSoC 2026) under the  NumFOCUS umbrella in QuTIP.

Over the last two months, I’ve been working actively on  quantum computing fundamentals, particularly focusing on quantum hardware concepts, quantum gates like H, CNOT, etc., and circuit-level reasoning, alongside hands-on learning with Qiskit. In parallel, I’ve also been exploring Cirq and QuTiP to understand different abstractions for quantum simulation and analysis. While studying QuTiP, I spent time understanding solver workflows and the Result object, especially how expectation values and simulation outputs are structured and visualized. As part of this learning process, I commented today on a QuTiP issue related to improving result visualizations, which further motivated me to get more involved with the project.

On the tools and technology side, I’m most familiar with:

1.Operating systems & workflows: Ubuntu/Linux, Git, GitHub, collaborative open-source workflows

2.Programming languages: Python (primary), with experience in R and Julia for numerical and research-oriented tasks

3.Quantum frameworks: Qiskit, Cirq, and QuTiP

4.Scientific computing practices: numerical experiments, modular design, debugging, and basic testing

What draws me to QuTiP specifically is its role as a foundational scientific library for simulating open quantum systems, and how it bridges theory, numerical methods, and practical research workflows through a well-designed Python interface. I’m particularly interested in contributions related to result handling, visualization, solver outputs, usability improvements, and testing, as these seem both impactful and well-suited for learning the internals of the codebase.

I would love to start contributing more actively and would really appreciate guidance on:

1.whether maintainers tend to be more responsive through the QuTiP sub-organization itself or through broader NumFOCUS communication channels, so I can engage in the most effective way

2.which good first issues or starter tasks would be most appropriate for a penultimate-year student, especially in areas like visualization, testing, refactoring, or small feature enhancements

I’m eager to learn from the community, follow QuTiP’s development practices, and contribute in a way that is genuinely useful to both users and maintainers. Thank you for maintaining such an impactful project within the NumFOCUS ecosystem.

Looking forward to learning and contributing.

Best regards,

Sirivennela, 

svenn...@gmail.com
https://github.com/SiriVennela24-star

[Andy Ray Terrel]

Best to work with QuTIP directly as they need to have mentors and choose your project. 

On Sat, Dec 20, 2025 at 7:52 AM Siri Vennela <svenn...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi mentors,

I’m Sirivennela, a pre-final year Computer Science student specializing in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, and I’m planning to apply to Google Summer of Code (GSoC 2026) under the  NumFOCUS umbrella in QuTIP.

Over the last two months, I’ve been working actively on  quantum computing fundamentals, particularly focusing on quantum hardware concepts, quantum gates like H, CNOT, etc., and circuit-level reasoning, alongside hands-on learning with Qiskit. In parallel, I’ve also been exploring Cirq and QuTiP to understand different abstractions for quantum simulation and analysis. While studying QuTiP, I spent time understanding solver workflows and the Result object, especially how expectation values and simulation outputs are structured and visualized. As part of this learning process, I commented today on a QuTiP issue related to improving result visualizations, which further motivated me to get more involved with the project.

On the tools and technology side, I’m most familiar with:

Operating systems & workflows: Ubuntu/Linux, Git, GitHub, collaborative open-source workflows

Programming languages: Python (primary), with experience in R and Julia for numerical and research-oriented tasks

Quantum frameworks: Qiskit, Cirq, and QuTiP

Scientific computing practices: numerical experiments, modular design, debugging, and basic testing

What draws me to QuTiP specifically is its role as a foundational scientific library for simulating open quantum systems, and how it bridges theory, numerical methods, and practical research workflows through a well-designed Python interface. I’m particularly interested in contributions related to result handling, visualization, solver outputs, usability improvements, and testing, as these seem both impactful and well-suited for learning the internals of the codebase.

I would love to start contributing more actively and would really appreciate guidance on:

1.whether maintainers tend to be more responsive through the QuTiP sub-organization itself or through broader NumFOCUS communication channels, so I can engage in the most effective way

2.which good first issues or starter tasks would be most appropriate for a penultimate-year student, especially in areas like visualization, testing, refactoring, or small feature enhancements

I’m eager to learn from the community, follow QuTiP’s development practices, and contribute in a way that is genuinely useful to both users and maintainers. Thank you for maintaining such an impactful project within the NumFOCUS ecosystem.

Looking forward to learning and contributing.

Best regards,

Sirivennela, 

svenn...@gmail.com

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