How it works
& prizes.
Hackathon 101
Timeline
- Sept 28
- Registration opens
- Week of Oct 5
- Optional AMA with the hackathon committee
- Oct 06
- Registration closes 11:00 ET
- Oct 09
- Build starts 19:00 ET
- Oct 11
- Submissions close 19:00 ET
- Week of Oct 12
- Local judging complete
- Week of Oct 19
- Global winners announced
Who can participate
- Students in participating schools — the student track
- Professionals and other students — the professional track
- Solo, or with a team of up to 4
What you need to win
To be eligible for awards, you'll need to build a quantum project that:
- Is a Qiskit project that runs on IonQ's quantum simulator
- Is published and runnable on Qollab under an MIT license, before the deadline
- Comes with a Qollab project page explaining what it does and how to run it
- Is built entirely during the hackathon window: no prior coursework or private work
How judging works
Fair judging rubrics. Awards that make you tingle. What more can you want?
Every submission is judged on the same four traits:
- Novelty & creativity
- Technical execution
- Impact potential
- Documentation quality
Local judges score first. Top scorers advance to a global panel, which re-scores using the same rubric.
What's at stake
Local awards
Local teams may add their own bonus prizes on top of these, so check with your location's organizers.
Fewer than 10 submissions at a location? The top 3 advance straight to global judging with no local awards. Up to one project per location can also advance in each global specialty category, alongside overall placement.
If you compete in a location with 10+ project submissions, you can be eligible for local awards:
| Cash | Compute | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | $500 | $5,000 |
| 2nd | $300 | $3,000 |
| 3rd | $200 | $2,000 |
Global placement awards
Also on offer: mentorship sessions with practicing quantum professionals, interview opportunities with sponsors, and featured placement on Qollab.
All top local submissions compete for global placement awards:
| Cash | Compute | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | $10,000 | $20,000 |
| 2nd | $5,000 | $15,000 |
| 3rd | $2,500 | $10,000 |
Global specialty awards
- Most novel / creative
- Best of theme:
- Quantum Impact — solving real-world problems with quantum + classical computing
- Quantum Playground — using quantum to build something playful, artistic, or unexpected
- Quantum Unlocked — make the hardest ideas in quantum computing click
- Most impact
- Best documentation
A single project can win multiple specialty awards and placement awards.
Projects can also compete to win one of the following specialty awards:
| Cash | Compute | |
|---|---|---|
| Specialty | $500 | $5,000 |
Can I submit more than one project?
Yes. Awards are given per project, not per person or team.
Do I have to pick a theme when I register?
No. Registration asks which theme you are leaning toward, but the answer is optional and binds nothing; it only helps us plan mentors and AMA topics. You declare your project's theme when you submit it, and you can change that up to the submission deadline on Oct 11. That is the only point it could be decided anyway, since registration closes three days before the build starts and you can enter more than one project. A project that fits no theme is still eligible for placement awards, just not for a theme specialty award.
What if I'm not affiliated with a participating university?
Register as a professional and pick any location. We recommend selecting the closest to you geographically.
Can students and professionals team up?
No, and teams must be associated within a single location too.
Can I use AI tools or existing code to start?
Yes. Judging is based on what you add during the window.
What happens if I don't finish?
Submit what you have. Partial and rough projects are still eligible for judging.
What happens to my project after the hackathon?
It stays live and forkable on Qollab for at least 12 months. You can continue to work on it if you want, or accept others' contributions to it.
How do we communicate before and during the hackathon?
On Slack. Once you register, your local organizing team invites you to your node's channel for local logistics, and to a global support channel for platform, submission, or hardware access questions. There is also an optional AMA with the hackathon committee the week of Oct 5. Before registration opens, email hello@qollab.xyz — the channels and who to ask are listed in Rules & terms.
What if fewer than 10 teams submit at my location?
The top 3 projects advance directly to global judging. Up to one project per location can also advance in each specialty category, alongside overall placement.
Can I win a placement prize and a specialty award?
Yes, both are possible for the same project.
Are awards per person or per team?
Per project. If you submit more than one, each is judged separately.
Who judges the local round?
A local panel including a faculty or staff judge, alongside Qollab and IonQ representatives.
Is there a difference between student and professional prizes?
No. Both tracks are scored on the same rubric and compete for the same awards: the node tables and the global tables are single pools. Your track only decides how you register and who you can build with. Students enroll through a participating university, professionals associate with one, and we cannot accommodate mixed student and professional teams.
Are scoring decisions final?
Yes. The one exception is disqualification — see the appeals process in Rules & Terms.
What information do you collect when I register?
Your email address, username, and profile information. A name, profile picture, social links, and your project content are yours to add on top of that. Analytics cookies (Google Analytics 4, and PostHog hosted in the EU) load only if you accept them in the consent banner, and declining them restricts nothing. The Qollab Privacy Policy has the full detail.
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