Lemanic Life Sciences Hackathon 2026

Lemanic Life Sciences Hackathon 2026

Lemanic Life Sciences Hackathon 2026

Dates: April 16-18, 2026
Location: Hall SV, EPFL Lausanne | !! in-person only !!
Registration Deadline: March 23, 2026

Relive the energy of last year’s hackathon in our aftermovie!

 …and dive deeper into the projects, winners, and insights from the 2025 edition.

Join us for the third edition of the Lemanic Life Sciences Hackathon!

Organized by EPFL School of Life Sciences, EPFL AI Center and the University of Bern, we aim to bring together clinicians, life scientists, and data scientists to test ideas, drive innovation, and tackle real-world challenges in healthcare and research.

Hackathon Goals

Exploring the untapped potential of AI in life sciences and clinical research

  • Leverage biological data for Impact: promote the re-use and sharing of valuable existing datasets. 
  • Encourage innovative data analysis on  biological and clinical challenges.
  • Empower the Next Generation with hands-on data-science skills.
  • Forge interdisciplinary collaborations: Build partnerships between clinicians, scientists, and data experts to drive change in healthcare and research.
  • Strengthen the regional ecosystem: through lasting institutional collaborations. laying the groundwork for  innovation and interdisciplinary approaches.
  • Match people with ideas, data, and skills to spark impactful projects.

What to Expect

  • 3 Days of Innovation: Immerse in a friendly and collaborative atmosphere where teams develop impactful solutions.
  • Project Pitches and awards: Project leaders will pitch their ideas and collaborate with interdisciplinary teams for refinement. Teams will present their outcomes at the end for a chance to win prizes.
  • Expert Mentorship: Gain insights and guidance from experienced professionals in life sciences, clinical research, and AI.
  • Keynote: Hear from industry and academic leaders how healthcare and AI are converging to address global challenges.

2026 Projects

  • Contributing to Scikit-learn
  • EEG Analysis of Meditation States
  • 3D Flight Visualization of Golden Eagles from Bio-logging Data
  • Predicting Protein Abundance from Single-Cell RNA Data
    Protein Prediction
  • Artificial Nose Odor Classification
  • Art Analysis for Mental Health Insights
  • Automatic Cell Lineage Annotation in C. elegans Embryos
  • AI-Driven Analysis of ALS Pathology in Human Brain Tissue
  • Advancing DeepLabCut — Pose Estimation and Visualization
  • Real-Time EMG Control of Arm and Hand Biomechanical Model
  • Neurofeedback Game for Brain-Computer Interface Training
  • MuscleMimic Toolbox Development
  • Classification of tumors in the human brain
  • Computational Profiling of Ovarian Cancer Microenvironment

Participant Information

  • In-Person Only: This event will take place exclusively on-site at EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland. Online participation is not available.
  • Food and Capacity: Food and drinks will be provided for the three days. 120 participants max.
  • Schedule: 
    • Thursday and Friday: Hacking 9:00 – 21:00
    • Thursday 14:00: Keynote
    • Saturday: 9:00 – 13:30 Pitches and Awards 
  • Travel Costs: Participants are responsible for organizing and covering their travel and accommodation expenses.
  • Beginners Welcome: Hackathons are a great way for skill development and hands-on learning.
  • Registration is free but mandatory before March 23, 2026.
  • Sign-up Format: You may register individually or in small groups of up to 3 people.
    For the hackathon itself, we will match small groups and individual participants into interdisciplinary teams to ensure balanced skill sets and a collaborative experience.
  • Project Selection: Project descriptions will be shared only with registered participants. After registration, participants  will receive a follow-up email to indicate their project preferences.

Keynote

Contributing to community-driven open-source in the age of agentic AI: my scikit-learn experience

Guillaume Lemaitre | VP of Product strategy at :probabl. and ski-kit.net

Thursday April 16 | 14:00 | SV 1717

Awards

The three best projects get the possibility to win prizes with a total amount of 4000 CHF. We are grateful to our sponsors for their generous support.

Jury Members

Program April 16, 2026

08:30-09:00 | Arrival of participants, hand-out of badges | Hall SV

09:00-10:30 | Welcome, briefing, how to compute and set-up teams | SV 1717

10:30-13:00 | Hacking | Hall SV & SV 1717 & SV 3207

13:00-14:00 | Lunch | Ornithorynque (voucher)

15:00-18:30 | Hacking | Hall SV & SV 1717 & SV 3207

17:00-18:00 | Keynote | SV 1717
          Guillaume Lemaitre – VP Product Development :probabl.and sci-kit.net

18:00-19:30 | Standing dinner and debrief | Hall SV

19:30-21:00 | Hacking | Hall SV & SV 1717 & SV 3207

Program April 17, 2026

08:30-09:00 | Arrival of participants | Hall SV

09:00-13:00 | Hacking | Hall SV & SV 1717 & SV 3207

13:00-14:00 | Lunch | Ornithorynque (voucher)

14:00-18:30 | Hacking | Hall SV & SV 1717 & SV 3207

18:00-19:30 | Standing dinner and debrief | Hall SV

19:30-21:00 | Finalization of projects and presentations | Hall SV & SV 1717 & SV 3207

Program April 18, 2026

08:30-09:00 | Arrival of participants | Hall SV

      09:15 | Project and Presentation Freeze

09:15-10:40 | Intro & Pitch your project – session I | SV 1717

10:40-10:50 | Coffee break | Hall SV

10:50-12:00 | Pitch your project – session II | SV 1117

12:00-13:00 | Standing lunch and Jury debrief | Hall SV

13:00-13:30 | Award ceremony & group photo | Hall SV

Organising Commitee and Contacts

Academic Committee 

Logistics and organisational matters

Our Partners