Participant Handbook

Follow these rules throughout registration, hacking, submission, and demos. Organizers may clarify details on-site or by email.

SYNC Hackathon is open to students and new graduates who register before the announced deadline and meet the eligibility criteria below.

The official hackathon theme will be announced at a later time. Teams should form according to the team-size limits published at registration.

• Participants must be 18 years of age or older.
• Participants must have less than 5 years of professional experience.
• Each participant may compete on only one team.
• All teammates must be registered participants.
• Team changes after the event starts require organizer approval.

Projects must be conceived and substantially built during the official hacking period. Pre-existing products, submissions from prior events, or work completed before kickoff are not eligible for prizes.

• Open-source libraries, frameworks, APIs, and public datasets are allowed.
• You may use designs, boilerplate, or personal tooling prepared in advance, but core product logic and demo content must be created during the event.
• Projects must be original to your team for this event.

SYNC Hackathon expects participants to write and own their code. Limited conversational AI help is allowed; AI-driven coding environments and fully AI-generated submissions are not.

• AI IDEs and agentic coding tools (for example Cursor, Windsurf, GitHub Copilot Workspace, or similar AI-first editors) are not allowed during the event.
• Some AI chat tools (for example ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini chat) may be used for debugging hints, explanations, or documentation — not to generate the bulk of your project.
• Submitting substantially or fully AI-generated code is not allowed. You must be able to explain and defend the code your team ships.
• Inline autocomplete assistants that write large chunks of code for you are discouraged; if organizers determine a submission relies on prohibited AI coding tools, the team may be disqualified.

To be considered for judging, teams must submit by the official deadline using the channel announced by organizers.

• Provide a working demo, short written description, and repository or project files as requested.
• Late submissions may be disqualified at the organizers’ discretion.

Participants must treat organizers, mentors, judges, partners, venue staff, and fellow hackers with respect. Harassment, discrimination, intimidation, or unsafe behavior is prohibited.

• Follow venue rules and any on-site security instructions.
• Do not interfere with other teams’ work, networks, or equipment.
• Report concerns promptly to the organizing team.

Organizers may update schedules, tracks, prizes, or logistics when needed for safety or event quality. Rule interpretations and dispute resolution rest with the organizing team, whose decisions are final for this event.

Projects are evaluated by judges against the weighted criteria below. Exact weights may be refined before demos; any changes will be communicated to participants.

• Judges may consider team constraints, ambition, and progress within the 12-hour window.