Participation in Nest Hackathon requires physical presence in Helsinki during the program weekend of September 15-17, 2023. In addition, compliance with Nest's rules is a prerequisite.

The event is completely free for participants.

We offer travel grants to participants who live more than 50km away from the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. There are 25 travel grants available, each worth up to 100 euros, to help cover your travel and accommodation expenses for the weekend.

These grants are intended to make it easier for participants from outside the Helsinki Metropolitan Area to join the hackathon, and to ensure that all participants have an equal opportunity to participate and contribute their skills and ideas.

So if you're coming from outside the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, don't let travel expenses hold you back from joining us for the Nest Hackathon.

Applications for Nest Hackathon can be made through our online application form on our website. You can apply as an individual or as a team. If you apply as an individual, we'll organize participants into multidisciplinary teams of four or five people to ensure a diverse and well-rounded group. If you apply as a team, you can apply as a closed team or as a team that can accept new participants.
If you apply as a closed team, you'll be expected to have a pre-formed team of 3-5 individuals. If you apply as an open team, we'll take care of adding individuals to your team if necessary, to ensure a diverse and multidisciplinary group.

Please note that the selection process for Nest Hackathon takes place in multiple rounds, and the chances of being selected are higher in the first round of applications ending in June 9. We encourage all interested individuals and teams to apply as early as possible to increase their chances of being selected. Don't wait until the last minute - apply now and make the most of this unique opportunity to showcase your skills and contribute to a critical issue!

Nest Hackathon is implemented in English. However, it is expected at least one Finnish-speaking team member during the weekend, as some of the challenge definition is only available in Finnish.

The event weekend will be started by team building and challenge definition on Friday 15.9 afternoon. Saturday consists of workshops that focus on defining the problem, finding a solution and developing a prototype of it. The grand finale and prize ceremony will happen on Sunday.

The employees of Helsinki Think Company act as facilitators and support the work of the teams.

Helsinki Think Company is the organizer of Hack Sote and the facilitator of the program weekend. Here you can read more about Helsinki Think Company's activities. Nest Hackathon’s partner is DeCarbon-Home research project.

There’s €2,000 in cash prizes for the top three teams: 1st place: 1,000€; 2nd and 3rd place: 500€ (VAT excluded). Moreover, the top selected teams will also have the opportunity to receive funding to develop their projects further as part of the DeCarbon-Home research project.

1. Nest is free and open to all participants. No previous studies or specific background are required.

2. You can apply to Nest either as an individual or as a fixed team. The application starts on 11.5. and ends on 31.8. For individual applications, multidisciplinary teams are formed from the applicants.

3. Selected participants will be notified of acceptance by email on two rounds: first round, at 9.6., and second round 4.9. Participants are selected based on applications. Chances of selection are significantly higher during the first round of applications.

4. Nest Hackathon starts on Friday 15.9. afternoon and ends on Sunday 17.9. afternoon. The event will be held in Helsinki, in LUKE/SYKE joint meeting centre (Viikki Campus).

5. After your application has been approved and confirmed, you commit to participating in the event during the weekend. The program is based on close working together and we require active presence in the program contents.

6. The language of the program is English, but some level of Finnish is needed (in the team).

7. The ideas created during the competitions will both belong to the participants and DeCarbon-Home, and the research group has the permission to use the ideas within their projects.

8. The organizer of the competition may take pictures and videos during the events. The organizer of the competition may use the image material in the marketing of Nest Hackathon and Helsinki Think Company.

9. An expert jury appointed by the competition organizer selects the winners of the competition. The decision is not appealable;.

10. Information necessary for the implementation of the program is collected from the participants, which is used for the implementation of the competition as well as post-program support, research and reporting. Anonymous data gathered during the weekend could be used for research purposes within the DeCarbon-Home research group. Information will not be disclosed to outsiders. The data collected by the participant will be deleted upon request.

11. Listen and respect. The program has zero tolerance for disrespectful behavior.