Dates

August 7th - August 9th

Eligibility

This hackathon is open globally to any individual currently enrolled as a student at an educational institution who self-identifies as being of Tibetan, Nepalese, or Bhutanese descent. All event times are in Eastern Time (ET) — please convert to your local time zone accordingly.

Prizes

Prize details will be announced soon—stay tuned!

Judging Criteria and Winner Selection

  • Projects will be evaluated by our panel of judges based on the following criteria:

    • Project Idea and Relevance — How well does the project align with this year's theme and address a real need within the Tibetan community?
    • Technical Implementation — How functional, well-built, and technically sound is the project?
    • User Experience and Design — Is the project intuitive, accessible, and thoughtfully designed?
    • Presentation and Communication — How clearly and effectively does the team explain their project and its value?
    • Innovation and Creativity — How original or creative is the approach to solving the problem?

Rules

  • No pre-existing code, with disclosure required. All core project work should be built during the hackathon. If you use any pre-existing code, libraries, templates, or prior work, you must clearly disclose what was already built beforehand and what you created during the weekend. Undisclosed use of pre-existing code may result in disqualification.
  • Open-source libraries and APIs are fair game. Using publicly available libraries, frameworks, or APIs (e.g., React, Tailwind, OpenAI API) is allowed and expected, this isn't the same as reusing your own pre-built project.
  • Team size. Team size limits are still being finalized; details are coming soon. Solo participants are welcome too.
  • Team formation. You can form your team in advance or find teammates at the event, we'll have a team-matching process for anyone looking to join a group.
  • Original work only. Submissions must be the original work of the team. Plagiarism or misrepresenting someone else's work as your own will result in disqualification.
  • Respect and conduct. All participants are expected to treat each other, organizers, mentors, and judges with respect. Harassment, discrimination, or disruptive behavior of any kind will not be tolerated and may result in removal from the event.
  • Submission deadline. All projects must be submitted by August 9th, 3:00 PM EST, to be eligible for judging. Late submissions will not be considered.
  • Use of AI tools. Since every participant will have access to a Claude subscription, using AI tools to help build your project is not only allowed but encouraged. Just make sure your team can explain and defend your work during the presentation.
  • One submission per team. Each team may submit only one project.
  • Judges' decisions are final. All scoring and prize decisions made by the judging panel are final.