On 24 – 26 April 2020, the European Commission organised an online pan-European Hackathon under the patronage of Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth. In total, 21,000 participants from across Europe met virtually to find solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic and its related-challenges.

Six categories of COVID-19 related issues were addressed during this 62-hour contest: health and life, business continuity, remote working and education, social and political cohesion, digital finance and ‘other’ – an open category for other challenges.

The participants had the opportunity to meet online with civil societies, universities, businesses and others to tackle these challenges. Overall, 2160 proposals were submitted and 117 of them were announced as winners during the Award Ceremony, livestreamed on 30 April. Results are available here.

The European Chemical Society is pleased to have taken part in the #EUvsVirus Hackathon and wants to thank the European Young Chemists’ Network (EYCN) for their initiative, active participation and inputs during this event. The European Chemical Society registered as a civil society and a partner to assist the teams and answer their chemistry-related questions. We will remain available in the future for all the participants wishing to connect with us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learn more about the #EUvsVirus Hackathon here.

And now, what is next?

Although the #EUvsVirus Hackathon has officially ended, the financing and resource needs of the winning teams to develop and scale their ideas, are currently being collated. From 22 – 25 May 2020, a Machathon event will be organised to match the needs with the available resources. Furthermore, an EIC-COVID Platform will be launched at the end of May. The aim of this European platform will be to connect the winning teams of the #EUvsVirus Hackathon – as well as partners proposing innovative solutions – with those in need of these solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among them are hospitals, public authorities, etc.

The European Chemical Society, together with the EYCN, will remain active for the next step and cover the Machathon on socials. Stay tuned and follow us not to miss out on any information!