IDEASHACK 2026 is a Europe-wide sciencepreneurship hackathon organised by the IDEAS Research Institute within the Horizon Europe project ELIAS – European Lighthouse of AI for Sustainability. The event brings together researchers, innovators, and industry leaders to co-create solutions that strengthen collaboration between science and business.
Participants work in interdisciplinary teams to design concepts for platforms that map scientific expertise, research output, and implementation potential. The goal is to accelerate knowledge transfer and identify opportunities where academic research can translate into real-world applications. The hackathon runs in a hybrid format, welcoming teams from across Europe online and culminating in a Demo Day and Grand Final in Warsaw.
Key Facts
- Format: Hybrid
- Teams: Interdisciplinary, Europe-wide
- Focus: AI, research valorisation, science–industry collaboration
- Organiser: IDEAS Research Institute
- Project: ELIAS (Horizon Europe)
Key Dates
23 March – 20 April — Team registration
24 April — Online kick-off
8 May — Project submission deadline
15 May — Finalists announced
19 June — Demo Day & Grand Final (Warsaw)
Prizes
1st Place
€5,000
2nd Place
€4,000
3rd Place
€3,000
The first Polish edition of this hackathon took place in November 2024, bringing together interdisciplinary teams working at the intersection of AI, research, and innovation ecosystems.
IDEASHACK 2026 offers an opportunity to collaborate across disciplines, experiment with new ideas, and contribute to building tools that improve how research and innovation interact across Europe.
Read about the previous edition: IDEAHACK 2024: Bridging Academia, Business, and Investors at Poland’s First Sciencepreneurship Hackathon