Eligibility

  1. Participants from any country are allowed to participate.

  2. All in-person attendees and participants under the age of majority must sign a waiver prior to the hackathon.

  3. No cross-posting is allowed; projects cannot be submitted to multiple hackathons simultaneously.

  4. To be eligible for prizes, teams must consist of students (or recent graduates within  months of graduation) who are not organisers, volunteers, judges, sponsors, or in any privileged position at the event.

Team Organization

  1. Decide on a project leader during the hackathon (not necessarily the one leading the demo or development).

  2. Familiarise yourself with the Devpost page to explore available prizes at HackHers .

Tips

  1. Avoid setting the project scope too wide; focus on a manageable concept to allow time for polishing.

  2. Seek advice from organisers and other teams for inspiration and implementation ideas.

  3. Attend social events to unwind and connect with fellow participants.

  4. Remember that hackathons are a stepping stone, not the final solution to real-world problems.

  5. Create and maintain a code "Library" for commonly used functionalities in software development.

  6. Practice with rapid prototyping tools and learn your library and tools ahead of time.

Implementation

  1. Focus on a small, interesting, and achievable concept, emphasising quality.

  2. When working in a team, delegate roles effectively based on implementable skills.

  3. Have a basic setup of your tech stack; connect your backend and frontend.

  4. Avoid getting distracted by sponsored API challenges that don't add value to your project.

Presentation

  1. UI/UX is crucial for demos; make your project visually appealing.

  2. Practise a - minute pitch; focus on the story, problem, and impressive points.

  3. Add technical complexity to stand out; consider incorporating terms like ML, AI, IoT, NLP, Computer Vision, or Blockchain if relevant.

  4. Utilise free React templates or equivalent frameworks.

  5. Explore Google Cloud Services and Microsoft Cognitive Services for APIs.

  6. Review past winners for inspiration and ideas.

Preparation for Judging

  1. Spend hacking hours building up to a live demo.

  2. Consider if your project is interactive, highly visual, or impressive/entertaining.

  3. Prepare for potential judge questions and tie your answers back to your project's strengths.

  4. Your judging pitch should focus on a live demo rather than a slideshow or product pitch.

  5. Complete the hackathon's Devpost entry for judging preview.

Competition Rules

  1. Teams may have up to 4 members; solo projects are permitted.

  2. Teams can use ideas they had before the event.

  3. Install necessary software in advance. 

  4. Use design assets/libraries/packages and open-source code, avoiding plagiarism.

  5. Indicate open source/libraries/code snippets/tools used for transparency.

  6. Gather datasets for AI projects in advance; training models are not permitted before the hackathon.

  7. No coding before the specified start time.

  8. Teams can receive advice and support from organisers, volunteers, sponsors, and others.

  9. You must use only the hardware that is provided to you.

  10. Submit projects under multiple themes but can only win one prize.

  11. Stop hacking once the submission period ends; small fixes are allowed.

  12. Plagiarised projects, including self-plagiarism, will be disqualified.

  13. LLMs (Large-Language Models) are allowed and encouraged.

  14. Disqualification at the organiser's discretion for rule violations, code of conduct breaches, or unsporting behaviour.

Code of Conduct

  1. Teams should follow the HackHers Code of Conduct, ensuring fair play and respectful behaviour.

  2. The final interpretation of rules lies with the Organizers, with potential violations addressed case-by-case.

Judging Rules

  1. Attend your assigned waiting room at the designated time for judging.

  2. Present live demos within a  10 minute timeframe, leaving time for questions and feedback.

Closing

  1. Remember not to take the rules too seriously; they are meant to guide, not hinder your work.

  2. Express gratitude for the hackathon, acknowledging the efforts of participants and organisers.