hackathon · Malaysia 2027
AI for Research & Engineering Hackathon
Two days. Human × AI. Real problems.
Bring a real research, engineering or industry challenge. Use AI to investigate it, develop a meaningful solution, challenge your assumptions, and prove what works.
New to hackathons?
What is a hackathon?
Hack + marathon — but nobody is breaking into anything. It’s a sprint to build something that didn’t exist when you walked in: join solo or in a team, pick a problem worth solving, build it, and show the judges why it holds.
Under two minutes, with sound and captions.
Human × AI, solving problems that matter.
What This Hackathon Is About
This is not a competition about who can generate the most with AI. It is a two-day Human × AI challenge to research real problems, develop meaningful solutions, challenge the results, and prove what works.
AI-Era Research Literacy
Use AI to research faster while understanding evidence, sources, claims, uncertainty, limitations and verification.
Engineering Problem-Solving
Turn a question or idea into something that can be examined — a method, experiment, mechanism, prototype, system or real-world solution.
The goal is not simply to produce more with AI.
The goal is to produce something that can survive challenge.
Research → Build → Break → Prove
How the Hackathon works
Research & Build
- Define a research question, technical challenge or real-world problem
- Understand what is already known, built or available
- Identify the gap
- Use AI to investigate, analyse and explore possible approaches
- Develop a research method, experiment, mechanism, prototype or system
- Prepare something that can be tested and challenged
Break & Prove
- Red Team your own work
- Search for failure cases
- Challenge assumptions
- Examine conflicting evidence
- Verify sources, data and AI-generated outputs
- Test the proposed method, mechanism, experiment or prototype
- Identify uncertainty and limitations
- Refine what survives the challenge
- Present and defend the final result
After you tried to break it, what still holds?
Four challenge domains
Choose where you want to work
Choose a Challenge Domain, explore one of its Directions, or propose your own Direction within that research space.
AI for Malaysia: Industry & Society
Bring us a real problem from Malaysia. Use AI to investigate it, develop something meaningful and prove whether it works.
Agriculture & Food
Areas to explore- Palm oil
- Durian
- Precision agriculture
- Food systems
- Agritech
- Agricultural productivity
Bring a real problem from Malaysia. Use AI to research it, solve it, and prove whether it works.
Register in this domainDifferent problems need different kinds of answers.
What can you build?
Participants do not need to build an app.
01 / Outcome
Research / Method
- research finding
- new method
- framework
- model
- theoretical contribution
- technical approach
02 / Outcome
Experiment / Validation
- experiment
- simulation
- benchmark
- dataset analysis
- technical validation
- comparative evaluation
03 / Outcome
Prototype / System
- software
- AI agent
- application
- interface
- hardware
- engineering prototype
- working system
04 / Outcome
Mechanism / Solution Design
- tokenization mechanism
- financial structure
- governance model
- research workflow
- publishing infrastructure
- system architecture
- operational solution
How we judge
All Domains and Outcome Types use the same core evaluation framework.
Problem / Research Value
Is the problem worth solving?
Reasoning & Method
Does the approach make sense?
Evidence
Are the evidence, data and sources reliable?
AI Use
Was AI used meaningfully?
Verification
Did the participant or team challenge AI outputs, evidence and its own assumptions?
Originality
Is there a new insight, method, mechanism or solution?
Feasibility & Impact
Could the result matter beyond the Hackathon?
Communication
Can the participant or team clearly explain what was done, what failed and why the final result should be trusted?
Prizes
RM10,000
Prize Pool
Bold questions.Rigorous work.Recognition that matters.
Possible special awards
Best Verified Research · Best Real-World Solution · Best Malaysia Challenge · Best Research Question · Best Open Science Project · Builder Award
Special awards may be updated as programme and industry partners are confirmed.
What participants get
Expert Mentorship
Guidance from researchers, professors, engineers, journal editors and industry experts.
Recognition
Participation certificates, finalist recognition and awards.
Research & Publication Development
Selected projects may receive further guidance toward:
- Research papers
- Open-source projects
- Research collaboration
- Journal submissions
- Technical development
Builder & Industry Development
Selected participants or teams may be considered for:
- Industry mentorship
- Technical resources
- Ecosystem support
- Pilot opportunities
- Further development with programme partners
Publication is not guaranteed. All submissions follow the relevant journal’s normal editorial and peer-review process.
Road to the Hackathon
Add all dates to calendar- Registration OpensNext
- Workshop 01 — How the Hackathon Works
- Workshop 02 — Build with AI
- Workshop 03 — Break & Verify
- Workshop 04 — Final Preparation
- Registration Closes
- Final Online Bootcamp
- Hackathon Weekend
All-day date reminders. Session times will be announced.
Organisers
FAQ
Who can join?
Undergraduate students, Master’s and PhD students, researchers, academics, engineers, developers, founders, entrepreneurs, designers, industry professionals and independent builders are welcome. Participants may register individually or as part of a team.
Do I need a team?
No. You may participate individually or in a team of up to five people, including the Team Lead.
Does it cost anything?
No. Participation is free. Meals are provided during both event days. Travel and accommodation are not covered.
What AI tools can I use?
Use any AI tools that help you research, solve, build, test or verify your work: LLMs, research tools, coding agents, AI agents, data tools, simulation tools, design tools and specialised scientific tools. Participants will also be offered free access to PIPress AI research tools. You must be able to explain where AI was used and how important outputs were checked.
Can I bring an existing project?
Yes. Clearly explain what existed before the Hackathon. Evaluation focuses on the new research, development, validation and progress produced during the Hackathon.
Do I have to build software?
No. The final outcome may be research, a method, an experiment, a prototype, a system, a mechanism or another defensible solution.
Who owns what we build?
The participant or team retains ownership of its work. Any later collaboration with a Challenge Owner or programme partner is agreed separately.
Will our work be published?
Winning does not guarantee publication. Selected participants may receive support preparing their work for journal submission. All submissions continue through normal editorial and peer-review processes.
23–24 January 2027 / Kuala Lumpur
Join the Hackathon.
Research. Solve. Prove.
Free to join. Individually or with your team.