UnivaBio ($40,000 in prizes)

Overview

UnivaBio is a global student competition presented by BioCataalysis, inviting students worldwide to develop tools that enhance healthcare. The initiative aims to make healthcare solutions smarter, earlier, and more accessible through technological innovation. Participants are encouraged to leverage artificial intelligence to address real-world health challenges. This competition brings together young innovators to explore the role of AI in human health. Participants, working individually or in teams, will design and build a technical product that helps individuals detect illnesses earlier, understand health conditions better, or manage living with them more easily. The theme specifically focuses on Artificial Intelligence for Human Health. Projects can take various forms, including apps, websites, simulations, systems, or algorithms. Examples include AI EdTech applications for health concepts, classification models using imaging datasets, or innovations with significant medical implications. The competition aims to lower technical barriers, enabling beginners with ambitious ideas to bring them to fruition, with an emphasis on understanding and explaining the built solution. The competition offers $40,000 in non-cash prizes across several categories, including Momen Credits, CodeCrafters Memberships, InterviewBuddy Credits, Protoflow Credits, Adaption Labs Credits, and Tin Computer Growth Credits. Submissions require a functional project, a demo video, a one-page project description, and a GitHub repository or code PDF.

What to build

Participants are to design and build a meaningful technical product that helps people detect illness earlier, understand it better, or live with it more easily, using Artificial Intelligence. The project can be an app, a website, a simulation, a system, or an algorithm. Examples include an AI EdTech app teaching health concepts, a classification model trained on imaging datasets, or an innovation with significant medical implications. Participants are encouraged to use AI assistants.

Prizes

Key dates

• DeadlineOct 6, 2026 @ 11:45pm EDT

Eligibility

Students only, aged 13+ only. Companies/professional organizations are excluded from participation. Open to all countries/territories, excluding standard exceptions.

How to enter

1. Join the hackathon
2. Design and build a technical product that helps people detect illness earlier, understand it better, or live with it more easily, using AI technology.
3. Prepare a project submission including a demo video, one-page project description, and code repository.

Submission requirements

• Project: Can be a website, app, or other coding prototypes that have user interaction capabilities.
• Demo Video: Video explaining the purpose of the project, showcasing project features, and demonstrating how users interact with the prototype.
• One Page Project Description in PDF format: A page describing the project purpose and key features.
• Github Repository / Code PDF: PDF document showcasing all code developed towards the creation of the project.

Judging criteria

• Idea & Innovation: Did the proposal address a real problem within the theme? Was the idea innovative? Can this be meaningfully different from other things that exist already?
• Implementation: Does the solution work? Did the team achieve everything they wanted? How technically challenging/impressive was the implementation?
• Health Impact & Rigor: Who is this for, and would it actually help them? Is there great potential?
• Design & Usability: Did the team put thought into the user experience? How well designed is the interface?
• Presentation: Is the problem clearly defined? Does the demo show the thing actually working? Is the team honest about what's finished versus planned?