The NYUAD Hackathon is a 3-day event that will be held in person at NYUAD’s Conference Center from April 26, 2024 to April 28, 2024 (Arriving April 25, 2024 and leaving April 29, 2024).  Please note that we will hold required online intensive workshops and talks on Quantum Computing throughout April, prior to the hackathon. All active sessions will take place at 8PM UAE time. Kindly note that you will also be required to complete a full month virtual course curated by QWorld and tailored specifically to the NYUAD hackathon. The course will be self-paced and will take place in March.

For more details on the event’s program, please visit this website.

No, NYUAD plans to arrange and cover the cost of visa, travel (economy ticket), food, hotel (2 people per room), and transportation.

Students
The NYUAD Hackathon is open to all excellent students (undergraduate, and graduate including PhD students) from top universities around the world with a 3.5 GPA or higher (excellent grades), and strong leadership, Hackathon, research, communication, and technical applied skills .

Student’s Nomination
In order to nominate students for the NYUAD Hackathon scholarship, a faculty member must fill out this form in its entirety (for a maximum of one student per university and one waiting list student, allowing us to include more universities). Please do NOT nominate students who have participated in previous NYUAD Hackathons (with the exception of NYUAD and UAE students who can attend again) in order to give this unique learning experience to new students.

*Please note that UAE Universities can nominate up to 8 students (ranked from 1 to 8) and NYUAD faculty can nominate several students including students who participated in prior hackathons.

Mentor’s Nomination
Mentors can nominate themselves using this form. The ideal mentor is someone with extensive experience in Quantum Computing and who also won or guided a team during Hackathons or research or competitions. Mentors MUST be proficient in Quantum Computing related to any field from the sciences to healthcare to the arts. We are also looking for CS mentors who are exceptional in any of these topics such as AI, machine learning, Healthtech, online gaming, NLP, security, crypto, web, mobile and hackathon skills. You could have guided a team in research, hackathons, or workshops/courses in any theme related to Quantum Computing or any of the topics mentioned above.

In order to nominate students for an NYUAD Hackathon scholarship, a faculty member must fill out the form in its entirety (for a maximum of one student per university, allowing us to include more universities). Thank you in advance and please email us at:  nyuad.hackathon@nyu.edu.

Student Eligibility Requirements

Student Candidates will be judged on the basis of academic performance, leadership activities, intent to pursue a career in mobile and web applications (or interest in launching a startup), and interest in the service of others:

• Students who attended the NYUAD Hackathon during previous years CAN NOT be nominated again (with the exception of NYUAD and UAE students who can attend again) in order to give this unique learning experience to new students.
• One of our main goals for this Hackathon is to promote diversity, and intersectional diversity providing a rich environment for growth for everyone. So, make sure to promote your excellent female or any student of color student candidates who strongly qualify for the NYUAD Hackathon.
• Students must be enrolled full-time in their undergraduate (upper class, Junior or Senior) or graduate (MS or PhD) study in a university in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or in any other field such as Sciences, the Arts or Social Sciences, but most importantly, students MUST have a strong interest in Technology for Good, Quantum Computing, and entrepreneurship.
• Students must maintain good academic performance 3.5 GPA or higher in the major.
• For Computer Science Students, Ideal candidates should be proficient in one or more programming languages such as Python, Java, have experience with mobile and web applications, and/ or experience in Quantum Computing.
• Students must show demonstrated leadership achievements, strong problem-solving skills, strong communication skills, strong English language skills (spoken and written), interest in Quantum Computing applications, web development, Mobile applications, and startups, and should be team players. Winning at Hackathon(s), winning awards, participating in programming contests, research, attending conferences, internships, or work experience related to apps, web development, or any related start-up activities will help applicants under consideration.

The deadline to submit applications is January 31, 2024. This is an absolute deadline so we can obtain visas for all of the Hackathon attendees. We expect to have the nomination results by February 15, 2024.

We will offer online intensive workshops and talks throughout April to provide all participants with a basic introduction to quantum computing and how to use quantum software and hardware. We also require that you complete a self-paced online course during March, prior to the hackathon. Details of the course will be communicated to all participants. CS and Science students MUST have strong knowledge of Python. CS students must also have strong skills in web applications and developing mobile apps. You can begin to prepare by researching QC related themes and applications. You can also research ideas/applications from previous QC Hackathons.

We will focus on Python and Qiskit. But, we will allow the use of Ocean and others as well.

Teams must have 5 members (diversified members from different countries and genders). Official teams will be formed at the event or prior to the event in March. We will provide information on team formation at the end of February.

We are now excited to grow the NYUAD Hackathon into a network spanning institutions of higher education from across the world, as well as industry partners. We are interested in institutions that will be able to provide mentors with experience in Quantum Computing related to any field from the sciences to the Arts. We also look for these institutions/departments/companies to identify challenges that participants can work on during the hackathon. The challenges have to be solvable in three days suitable for a hackathon tech challenge. The mentors can manage and help lead a team during the hackathons. So, if your company/academic institution would be interested in community sponsorship or partnering and be affiliated with this event by nominating students, identifying challenges for the hackathon, providing mentors with excellent experience in QC, or sponsoring this event in anyway (such as sponsoring travel for mentors or students, sponsoring food for the event or a reception, or accommodation or any other way), please fill out this form, and we will get back to you with more details and answer all your questions.

The NYUAD Hackathon is sponsored by NYUAD and organized by Professor Sana Odeh, an affiliated Faculty, NYU Abu Dhabi, Faculty Liaison for Global Programs of Computer Science, and Clinical Professor of Computer Science, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, New York.

The NYUAD Hackathon is supported by top global Quantum Computing experts from both industry and academia such as NYUAD Center for Quantum and Topological Systems, Technology Innovation Institute (TII), Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA), Xanadu, ETH Zurich in Quantum Information, Zurich EPFL Center for Quantum Science and Engineering (QSE Center), University of Calgary’s Institute for Quantum Science and Technology (IQST), IBM, qBraid, QWorld,  NIEW, the MIT’s iQuHACK, QC Hack (Yale, Stanford, and Berkeley QC Hackathon), and many others to mentor teams and explore along with the students quantum computing solutions to a wide range of challenging projects from machine learning and AI, to physics (complex simulation problems), chemistry, computer science, Healthcare, Math, to climate change, healthcare, online gaming, security, social sciences and the arts (quantum-generated artwork).

For more information, please send an email to nyuad.hackathon@nyu.edu or visit sites.nyuad.nyu.edu/hackathon.