Hackathons
Student hackathons
October 2026
- HackNotts 2026In person
Oct 24-25, 2026 · Nottingham, United Kingdom
starts in 2 days
Overnight 24-hour hackathon for all skill levels in the Computer Science building on Nottingham's Jubilee Campus, with meals and workshops.
- Organizer
- HackNotts (University of Nottingham students)
- HackPSU Fall 2026In person
Oct 24-25, 2026 · University Park, PA, United States
starts in 2 days
Penn State's twice-yearly 24-hour student hackathon, held in the ECoRE Building, with workshops and speakers.
- Organizer
- HackPSU (Penn State students)
- Who
- students
studentschecked 2026-10-20 - hackCBS 9.0In person
Oct 31 - Nov 1, 2026 · New Delhi, India
starts in 9 days
24-hour, student-run offline hackathon at SSCBS, University of Delhi, for teams of 2 to 4.
- Organizer
- Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies (University of Delhi)
- Who
- students
November 2026
- Since AI Hackathon 2026In person
Nov 6-8, 2026 · Turku, Finland
starts in 15 days
Free 72-hour AI build weekend in Turku where 1,000+ builders take on challenges set by partner companies such as Google for Developers and ElevenLabs.
- Organizer
- Since AI ry
- Prizes
- €50,000 cash prize pool
- Hack the Burgh 2026In person
Nov 7-8, 2026 · Edinburgh, United Kingdom
starts in 16 days
24-hour student hackathon for about 300 people at Edinburgh's Nucleus Building, with sponsor challenge tracks and overnight sleeping space.
- Organizer
- CompSoc, University of Edinburgh
- Who
- students
studentschecked 2026-10-20 - HackPrinceton Fall 2026In person
Nov 13-15, 2026 · Princeton, NJ, United States
starts in 22 days
36-hour in-person student hackathon at Princeton with tracks from healthcare to sustainability, plus workshops, mentors and guest speakers.
- Organizer
- HackPrinceton (Princeton University students)
- Prizes
- $15,000+ in prizes
- Who
- students
- HackUMass XIVIn person
Nov 13-15, 2026 · Amherst, MA, United States
starts in 22 days
36-hour hackathon at UMass Amherst's Integrative Learning Center for teams of up to four, with workshops, mentors and a sponsor fair.
- Organizer
- HackUMass (UMass Amherst students)
- Who
- students
- DurHack 2026In person
Nov 14-15, 2026 · Durham, United Kingdom
starts in 23 days
24-hour project-building competition at Durham University's Teaching and Learning Centre, with sponsor challenges and themed 'guilds'.
- Organizer
- DurHack (Durham University students)
- Who
- students
studentschecked 2026-10-20 - Singapore-India Hackathon 2026In person
Nov 15-17, 2026 · Singapore, Singapore
starts in 24 days
About 120 selected students from Singapore and India form mixed teams to solve industry problems in fintech, climate and social innovation.
- Organizer
- SMU Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, TiE Singapore, AICTE
- Who
- students
- Hack Western 13In person
Nov 20-22, 2026 · London, ON, Canada
starts in 29 days
Weekend in-person hackathon at Western University for solo hackers or teams of up to four, with workshops and mentorship.
- Organizer
- Hack Western (Western University students)
- Who
- students
Nov 20 - Dec 12, 2026 · Online
starts in 29 days
Global online challenge for teams of 3-5 led by engineering students or young engineers; winners are announced in Rome on 4 Mar 2027.
- Organizer
- World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO)
- Prizes
- €7,000 (€4,000 / €2,000 / €1,000)
- Who
- students and young engineers under 30
- Apply by
- Dec 12, 2026
- LauzHack 2026In person
Nov 21-22, 2026 · Lausanne, Switzerland
starts in 30 days
Free 24-hour student hackathon at EPFL on Lake Geneva, with prizes for the best overall hacks and the best sponsor-challenge entries.
- Organizer
- LauzHack (EPFL students)
- Who
- students
studentschecked 2026-10-20 - CoAfina 2026Online
Nov 27-29, 2026 · Online
starts in 36 days
Virtual open-data hackathon where Latin American university students solve science and education challenges posed by organizations.
- Organizer
- RedCLARA / LA-CoNGA community
- Prizes
- $1,700 total (USD 700 / 500 / 350 / 150)
- Who
- students at Latin American universities
- Apply by
- Nov 14, 2026
- hackaTUM 2026In person
Nov 27-29, 2026 · Munich, Germany
starts in 36 days
Three-day TUM student hackathon with company coding challenges, workshops, and a final pitch and awards ceremony on Sunday.
- Organizer
- hackaTUM (Technical University of Munich students)
- Who
- students
studentschecked 2026-10-20
January 2027
- DeltaHacks 13In person
Jan 9-10, 2027 · Hamilton, ON, Canada
starts in 79 days
24-hour, fully in-person hackathon hosted at McMaster University for teams of up to four, with challenge-category prizes.
- Organizer
- DeltaHacks (McMaster University students)
- Who
- students
studentschecked 2026-10-20 - McHacks 14In person
Jan 16-17, 2027 · Montreal, QC, Canada
starts in 86 days
24-hour hackathon on McGill's downtown campus with mentors, workshops, team formation and on-site sleeping areas.
- Organizer
- McHacks (McGill University students)
- Who
- students
- BoilerMake XIVIn person
Jan 22-24, 2027 · West Lafayette, IN, United States
starts in 92 days
Purdue's flagship student hackathon. Past editions ran 36 hours of hacking and awarded over $10,000 in prizes.
- Organizer
- BoilerMake (Purdue University students)
- Who
- students
studentschecked 2026-10-20
February 2027
- Hack@Brown 2027In person
Feb 6-7, 2027 · Providence, RI, United States
starts in 107 days
Brown University's annual student hackathon. Hacker applications open soon, and sign-ups for updates are live.
- Organizer
- Hack@Brown (Brown University students)
- Who
- students
- SpartaHack 2027In person
Feb 6-7, 2027 · East Lansing, MI, United States
starts in 107 days
24-hour in-person hackathon in Michigan State's STEM Building, with workshops and mentors. Regular applications open November 30.
- Organizer
- SpartaHack (Michigan State University students)
- Who
- students
studentschecked 2026-10-20 - TreeHacks 2027In person
Feb 12-14, 2027 · Stanford, CA, United States
starts in 113 days
Stanford's 36-hour flagship hackathon with eight tracks. Food, lodging and travel are covered for accepted hackers.
- Organizer
- TreeHacks (Stanford University students)
- Prizes
- Over $1M in prizes (as stated by organizers)
- Who
- students
- SF Hacks 2027In person
Feb 19-21, 2027 · San Francisco, CA, United States
starts in 120 days
About 36 hours at SF State to build a project solo or in teams of up to four, with optional tracks and sponsor challenges.
- Organizer
- SF Hacks (San Francisco State University students)
- Who
- students
- Hacklytics 2027In person
Feb 26-28, 2027 · Atlanta, GA, United States
starts in 127 days
Free 36-hour data science and AI hackathon for 1,000+ hackers at Georgia Tech's Klaus building, with tracks including finance and sports analytics.
- Organizer
- Data Science @ GT (Georgia Tech)
- Who
- students
March 2027
- UNIHACK 2027Hybrid
Mar 12-14, 2027 · Melbourne, Australia
starts in 141 days
Australia's biggest student hackathon: a 48-hour hybrid weekend open to university and TAFE students in Australia and New Zealand.
- Organizer
- UNIHACK
- Who
- students
studentschecked 2026-10-20 - START Hack 2027In person
Mar 17-19, 2027 · St. Gallen, Switzerland
starts in 146 days
36-hour student hackathon in St. Gallen for 600+ hackers solving case challenges set by partner companies.
- Organizer
- START Global
- Prizes
- CHF 10,000
- Who
- students
- Weber State AI Hackathon 2027In person
Mar 20, 2027 · Ogden, United States
starts in 149 days
One-day hands-on AI build event at Weber State, aimed at students and newcomers with no expertise needed; registration details still to come.
- Organizer
- Weber State University
- Who
- students
Hackathons near me, by country
In-person and hybrid events by country and city. Online ones are open wherever you are.
- United States 10
- HackPSU Fall 2026 (University Park, PA) · HackPrinceton Fall 2026 (Princeton, NJ) · HackUMass XIV (Amherst, MA) · BoilerMake XIV (West Lafayette, IN) · Hack@Brown 2027 (Providence, RI) · SpartaHack 2027 (East Lansing, MI) · TreeHacks 2027 (Stanford, CA) · SF Hacks 2027 (San Francisco, CA) · Hacklytics 2027 (Atlanta, GA) · Weber State AI Hackathon 2027 (Ogden)
- Canada 3
- Hack Western 13 (London, ON) · DeltaHacks 13 (Hamilton, ON) · McHacks 14 (Montreal, QC)
- United Kingdom 3
- HackNotts 2026 (Nottingham) · Hack the Burgh 2026 (Edinburgh) · DurHack 2026 (Durham)
- Switzerland 2
- LauzHack 2026 (Lausanne) · START Hack 2027 (St. Gallen)
- Australia 1
- UNIHACK 2027 (Melbourne)
- Finland 1
- Since AI Hackathon 2026 (Turku)
- Germany 1
- hackaTUM 2026 (Munich)
- India 1
- hackCBS 9.0 (New Delhi)
- Singapore 1
- Singapore-India Hackathon 2026 (Singapore)
How to win a hackathon
1. Before
Read the judging criteria and the sponsor prize list first; pick the tracks you can win, not the biggest one. Set up your stack, API keys and a deploy target (Vercel, Railway, Fly) the day before.
2. Team
Three or four people: one on the backend and integrations, one on the frontend, one on the demo and the pitch. Agree on the idea in the first hour, then stop debating.
3. Scope
Build one flow that works end to end, not five half-features. Mock anything that is not on the demo path, and use sponsor APIs where they genuinely help (that is how many prizes are judged).
4. Demo
Judges see your project for 3 to 5 minutes. Open with the problem in one sentence, show the live product, end with what is next. Record a 2-minute backup video in case the Wi-Fi or the API fails.
5. Submit
Submit early with a README, screenshots, the repo link and the video, then keep improving. Late submissions are usually not accepted, even by a minute.
6. After
Ship it: put the project online, write a short post, and launch it on DevHunt. Many hackathon projects get their first users that week.
Pack: laptop and charger, a power strip, headphones, a phone hotspot as backup Wi-Fi, ID (in-person events check it), and a free LLM key or two from our free LLM API list.
For dev-tool makers
Sponsor a hackathon to get your tool used
A sponsor prize ("best use of your API") puts your tool in the hands of hundreds of builders for a weekend, and the winning projects become demos and case studies. What works: a prize track that needs your product, free credits for every team, a short getting-started guide, and someone from your team on site or in Discord answering questions. Student hackathons are the cheapest way in; AI and web3 events reach builders who already pay for tools.
More places to promote your dev tool · perks and credits programs · advertise on DevHunt
FAQ
What are the next student hackathons?+
HackNotts 2026 (Oct 24-25, 2026, Nottingham, United Kingdom); HackPSU Fall 2026 (Oct 24-25, 2026, University Park, PA, United States); hackCBS 9.0 (Oct 31 - Nov 1, 2026, New Delhi, India). 25 in total on this page, soonest first.
When is the next one?+
HackNotts 2026 starts on Oct 24, 2026 (Nottingham, United Kingdom).