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FAQ

“Hackathon”, is derived from the word “hack” and the Greek word “marathon.” A “hack” is a tool; it is also a solution to an existing problem that is developed by intense innovative teamwork in a short amount of time, also known as “hacking.” Therefore, a hackathon is best described as an “invention marathon”, a race to solve challenges against time. Hackathons are commonly associated with programming and computer science, but they are increasingly used in health and other areas. It is a tool for collaborative work of people from diverse backgrounds that addresses pain points or issues affected by many variables. One stakeholder cannot find solutions that meet the needs of all different stakeholders. The different stakeholders working together lead to mutually beneficial solutions.

Anyone who has an interest in technology attends a hackathon to learn, build and share their creations over the course of a weekend in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. You don’t have to be a programmer to participate! 

We actively encourage people from all fields to apply. 

We invite health professionals, researchers, developers, Small and Medium Enterprises, pharma and technology industry experts; patient representatives and citizens interested in e-health, innovation, and technology. We are also looking to build interdisciplinary teams. 

Organizers reserve the right to disqualify entries and winners who violate the code of conduct and submission rules as outlined.

Several sessions and speeches during the Hackathon will be livestreamed. Stay tuned for more details! 

Apply by completing your registration online. You will be required to provide some detailed information as a Participant / or Mentor to be made available for the formation of hackathon teams or regarding the Mentor function.

A Microsoft TEAMS account will be available as a working space for chat, video conferencing, file repository etc. All registered participants, facilitators, and mentors, onsite or online will have access to the Microsoft TEAMS space.

You may participate in the Hackathon in-person in Athens, Greece or on-line.
You may choose your preference during registration.

FACILITATOR – Gravitate-Health team members will be present on-site as Facilitators. They may have a healthcare background, such as medical doctors, nurses, other health care professionals; design expertise; technical expertise, such as in information technology, Health IT, coding; but also, they can be business consultants, regulators, patient or scientific organizations’ representatives.

MENTOR – The role of Mentors is pivotal to the success of a hackathon. Experienced mentors from different backgrounds complement the teams’ skills, lead them and contribute to their work. Mentors may be Gravitate-Health project managers or invited external experts. We seek mentors with a healthcare background, such as medical doctors, nurses, other health care professionals; mentors with design expertise; technical experts, such as information technology, Health IT, coders; but also, business consultants, regulators, patient or scientific organizations’ representatives.

JURY MEMBERS – Members of the Jury (or judges) are also experts in their fields with some experience in similar events (hackathons, connectathons, ideathons, etc.) – The Hackathon Organising Committee will select Jury members.

PARTICIPANT – Hackathon Teams ideally are very diverse. Health professionals, researchers, developers, SMEs, pharma & technology industry can participate; also, patients’ representatives and citizens interested in e-health, innovation, and technology. We encourage those who share our vision to participate and contribute to a successful outcome.

Absolutely! It’s entirely irrelevant what your experience is going into a hackathon, it’s more about your interest in technology and healthcare.

Yes, there will be financial awards and in-kind for all members of the winning teams.

The Hackathon starts on Tuesday afternoon, 9 December 2025, with welcome speeches that set the scene including Gravitate-Health aims and achievements thus far and the challenges to be addressed during the Hackathon. Participants will then pitch their ideas to the group and try to attract other participants to join them. Those who fail to form a team of their own can still join another team to work with; the same goes for participants who do not have their own ideas. Facilitators will play a role in supporting the teams with participants who have the appropriate skills. 

The main body of work in teams is during the second full day (Wednesday, 10 December 2025). The last day (Thursday 11 December, morning) is dedicated to finalizing presentations, preparing the pitch and presenting to the Jury. The Award Ceremony will be held in the afternoon.

Participants may continue their work in teams beyond the working hours of the Hackathon. They can consult: i) facilitators for any operational issue and get guidance to choose the right mentor to address their needs; and ii) mentors for specialized advice.

Facilitators will be present on-site throughout the two days to assist teams with questions and answers, and processes, etc.

Mentors are available upon request, by appointment, either in-person or remotely, to work with the teams. In addition, special guests will be invited to provide insightful speeches to the participants.

On the final day, final pitches will be open to the public, on-site. Also, the presentations will be livestreamed for the online audience.

Teams are not limited to any size; the size may vary from 5 to 10 people. However, as team leader you can have as many or as few team members as you wish. Once registered you will be able to access the ‘Hackathon work environment’ and upload your “idea” or take a look at the ideas already uploaded. Teams may start forming before the formal initiation of the Hackathon but usually they form during Day 1 of the Hackathon.

Formation of Hackathon teams will start before the event. Provided that you have registered, you’ll have access to Gravitate-Health Hackathon Teams space (GHH) two weeks before the Hackathon.

Lists of registered participants with their profiles will be available. 

  • if you have an idea and wish to build your own team, you will be able to select and invite people to join you. You are welcome to have private communication through the Teams space with prospective members of your team;
  • participants may receive multiple invitations to join a team; they will choose based on their preferred idea. 

Official pitches will take place on Day 1 (Tuesday); any participant may pitch their ideas and try to attract other participants to join them. If successful, they become the project leaders of their team. Participants may already have a team in mind and seek additional members to complete it. 

As a conclusion, teams will be announced by the end of Day 1.

Participants who do not pitch themselves for an idea are free to join whatever project catches their interest. 

Those who fail to form a team of their own can still join another team to work with.

The preliminary project pitches on Tuesday will be of maximum 3 minutes, no slides. On Thursday, final presentations will be 3-4 minutes and 2 minutes Q&A. You’re welcome to demo but keep presentation slides to a minimum as there’s not much time!

Are you a health tech enthusiast? Join the Gravitate-Health Hackathon and be part of the solution for providing personalized medication information to patients. You’ll have the opportunity to test Gravitate-Health’s open-source platform to build your own solution to empower and equip Europeans with health information! 

Imagine being able to easily access all the information you need about your medications, presented to you in a way that perfectly matches your needs and preferences. That’s exactly what the Gravitate-Health project is all about! 

You should join this Hackathon if you are interested in the project’s ultimate goal: to ensure that patients have access to personalized medication information that takes into account their unique circumstances, making it easier than ever to manage their health and wellbeing.

A single challenge will be addressed: ‘Develop a lens!’ Put your skills to the test and you can make a difference in the health tech industry!

A panel of judges will give honest feedback during the final pitches, and challenge teams to think about how their solutions can be implemented. Evaluation will be based on the following criteria: 

Feasibility – How realistic is the implementation of the idea? Can the solution be brought to life by further research projects? Can the solution be implemented sustainably? 

Impact – How high is the benefit for the patient and other stakeholders of the health care system? Does the solution generate impact for our society? 

Innovative / Creative – How innovative is the idea? Does the approach stand out from solutions that are available so far?

Viability / Realistic – Has the team thought about a business model that may work? Is there a clear path to sustainability?

Scalability – What is the potential for scale up of the idea/solution?

Execution – How sophisticated and well-made is the technical implementation?

Participation in the Hackathon is free of charge; registration is required to book your place.

Of course! On site, coffee breaks and light lunches will be provided throughout the day.

No, there is no reimbursement for travel / accommodation.

Yes, this is a hybrid element to the hackathon. You can participate remotely as a team member or mentor.

You can join with an idea in mind. You also have to convince others to team up and work with you on the path you have selected.

Your ideas and a laptop! Also, please don’t forget your ID.

Yes, we have! This event is following the Berlin Code of Conduct: https://berlincodeofconduct.org/

The information you provide during Gravitate-Health Hackathon registration process and event will be strictly saved for communication purposes between participants and organisers. We respect your privacy and protect your personal information, thus will never share, rent, sell or trade it. 

View our Privacy Policy here

A. Any submission to the Gravitate-Health Hackathon #2 remains the property of the organizations or individuals who developed it, no intellectual or other ownership of content is passed to any other entity by submitting material for registration in the hackathon. Code, material, and design created as result of participation in Hackathon will result in materials develop din the hackathon being publicly available on a website and/or GitHub repository (https://github.com / https://gitlab.com) under EUPL and/or Creative Commons licenses (for software) and under CC BY-SA 4.0 (for text and/or designs).

B. By submitting a pitch or accepting any prize, Hackers warrant that they will not submit content that is copyrighted, protected by trade secret, or subject to third-party intellectual property/other proprietary rights including privacy and publicity rights for which they are not the rights holder or for which they have not received a license from the rights holder.

C. Hackers will not submit any misrepresentations or falsehoods that could damage the Hackathon or its affiliates. We foster a safe space, we respect our participants, and ask you do the same for us and each other; in taking part in the hackathon, you undertake not to submit content or act in a way that is fraudulent, threatening, obscene, harassing, defamatory, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, encourages criminal activity, or is otherwise inappropriate or destructive.

D. Hackers are not permitted to solicit trade or advertise during the event.

By registering for the Gravitate-Health Hackathon #2 event you are consenting to your photo/video being taken and published on our social media platforms and website. Images or video footage will be used only in the context of publicising Gravitate-Health; you have the right to have your images removed from the data held by Gravitate-Health if you wish. You may request this at any time after the Hackathon by writing to contact@gravitatehealth.eu.

The Hackathon is open to individuals over the age of 18 who are registered by completing our registration questionnaire and are able to attend the Hackathon in-person or virtually. The hackathon organisers have the right at their sole discretion to determine the eligibility of contestants and to disqualify at their discretion.

For the development of solutions resources are made available to interested parties before the Hackathon.

We will be providing multiple sources for the datasets; we are working on providing the cloud infrastructure, but you are also welcome to use Github or any other infrastructure that you choose.

Mentors are experts in their fields. We seek mentors with a healthcare background, such as medical doctors, nurses, other health care professionals; mentors with design expertise; technical experts, such as information technology, Health IT, coders; but also, business consultants, regulators, patient or scientific organizations’ representatives will play a very important role. Physical or remote participation is possible. 

Jury members are also experts in their fields with some experience in similar events. The Jury will be formed by the organizers, by invitation only. 

If you can support us with your expertise, please register to join us.

Frequently Asked Questions on Gravitate-Health and G-lens® are answered here