AAAI 2025 Hackathon: Celebrating Research and Innovation

Join the brightest minds from academia, industry, and startups in a virtual, week-long hackathon focused on pushing the boundaries of AI innovation. Collaborate with top AI researchers and creative hackers to solve challenges across various domains and showcase your work at the AAAI-25 Opening Reception.

Deadline to Register: February 10, 2025

Dates: February 17 – February 24, 2025 (Virtual)
Finalist Presentations: February 26, 2025 at the AAAI-25 Opening Reception (Live Demo)

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What Sets Us Apart?

The AAAI 2025 Hackathon uniquely positions itself at the intersection of academic excellence and industrial application, creating a collaborative space where research meets practice. Whether you’re a researcher eager to turn your theoretical models into working prototypes, or a company looking to leverage the latest in AI research, this hackathon offers a novel environment where high-impact AI solutions can thrive.

• Research-Driven Innovation: A platform for academics, researchers, and labs to explore new AI techniques, methodologies, and applications, and see them come to life through real-world implementation.
• Industry-Academia Synergy: Collaborate with companies that are actively seeking to advance AI technologies, providing an opportunity to develop solutions that bridge theoretical research and industry challenges.
• Applied Science Meets Creativity: Explore how cutting-edge research algorithms can be transformed into practical, impactful solutions across domains like healthcare, sustainability, finance, and more.

Event Overview

Virtual Hackathon Dates: February 17 – February 24, 2025 (Virtual)
Finalist Presentations: February 26, 2025 at the AAAI-25 Opening Reception (Live Demo)

The AAAI 2025 Hackathon is designed to inspire innovation and collaboration among AI enthusiasts. Participants will work together to develop cutting-edge AI solutions and have the chance to showcase their projects at the prestigious AAAI conference. The event will be conducted virtually, over the week of February 17 – February 24, 2025. Hacks will be tracked via commits on the teams’ submitted repository page on github. All work submitted to the hackathon must be completed during the week of February 17 to 24, 2025, and the organizers will check the version control history to verify contributions. Finalists will be selected and invited to demo their hacks at the AAAI-25 opening reception on February 26, 2025, which will also be the time for final judging of the event.

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Why Participate?

For Researchers & Labs:

• Turn Research into Impact: Translate your academic work into functional AI solutions and experience firsthand how your models perform in applied settings.
• Collaborate with Industry: Engage with industry professionals who are looking for the latest AI innovations and are eager to collaborate on pushing the boundaries of AI technology.
• Showcase Your Expertise: Present your research to both academic peers and industry leaders, positioning yourself as a thought leader in applied AI.

For Companies:

• Access Cutting-Edge AI Research: Gain early access to AI breakthroughs by collaborating with researchers at the forefront of their fields.
• Solve Real-World Problems: Tap into the collective intelligence of the research community to explore novel AI solutions to industry challenges.
• Recruit Top Talent: Scout and engage with AI researchers, PhD students, and experienced AI professionals from leading institutions across the globe.

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Themes: Where Research Meets Application

Participants can explore any area of AI that excites them, with an emphasis on impactful, research-driven projects. Example themes include:

• AI for Healthcare: From medical diagnostics to personalized treatment plans, apply your research to address pressing healthcare challenges.
• Sustainable AI: Innovate around climate change mitigation, energy efficiency, and sustainability through AI.
• AI for Social Good: Use your expertise to tackle societal challenges such as poverty, education gaps, or disaster management.
• AI in Finance: Collaborate on algorithms for fraud detection, risk management, and financial modeling.
• Advanced Algorithms in Practice: Bring cutting-edge AI methodologies like reinforcement learning, active learning, or foundation models into real-world applications.
• Generative AI with Impact: Explore ways to control generative AI outputs to address ethical concerns and societal challenges.

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Judging Criteria & Awards

The AAAI 2025 Hackathon aims to recognize research-driven projects that deliver real-world impact. Submissions will be judged based on:

• Research Novelty: How innovative and forward-thinking is the approach?
• Practical Application: How well can this research be applied to solve real-world problems?
• Collaboration: Does the project showcase meaningful collaboration between academic and industry participants?

Awards:

• Funniest Hack: Does it elicit a chuckle in addition to demonstrating an interesting application of AI?
• Best Hardware Hack: For projects that incorporate some form of physical embodiment with AI.
• Most Innovative Research: Recognizing projects with groundbreaking AI research.
• Best Collaboration Between Research & Industry: Celebrating impactful partnerships that bridge the gap between academia and applied AI.
• Best Social Impact: Awarding AI solutions that address pressing global challenges.
• People’s Choice: Voted by participants for the most exciting and innovative project.

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Judging and Submission Process

• Final Submissions: Project submissions are to be made through GitHub at the end of the event – submission details will be released soon.
• Science Fair Style Demo: Finalists will present their work in a “science fair” format during the AAAI-25 Opening Reception.
• Voting: Both popular vote and jury-based evaluations will determine winners.

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How It Works

• Registration: Open to researchers, labs, and companies. Sign up as a team or as an individual looking to join a team.
• Virtual Collaboration: Collaborate through dedicated Slack channels and virtual networking events to facilitate academia-industry partnerships.
• Project Submission: Present your work through GitHub repositories, with research papers encouraged as supplementary material to highlight academic rigor.
• Live Demo: Finalists will be invited to demo their projects live at the AAAI-25 Opening Reception.

Registration

Interested in participating, but don’t have a team yet? Fill out the Intent To Participate form.

Have a team formed and ready to participate? Fill out the Team Registration form.

Deadline to Register is February 10, 2025

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Sponsorship Opportunities

Partner with AAAI to support the next generation of AI innovators. Sponsorship tiers offer unique opportunities to engage with participants and showcase your brand to the global AI community.
Sponsorship Tiers:

• Platinum Sponsor ($15,000+)
• Gold Sponsor ($10,000)
• Silver Sponsor ($5,000)
• Bronze Sponsor ($2,500)

In-kind contributions, such as cloud credits or technical resources, are also welcome.

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Organizers

Jianyuan Guo – The University of Sydney

Lijie Hu – King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

Ella Lan  – Stanford University

Minheng Ni – Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Vishal Pallagani – University of South Carolina

Max Springer  – University of Maryland, College Park

Jonathan Xu – University of Waterloo

Joydeep Biswas – The University of Texas at Austin

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