Open Targets Hackathon
Celebrating 10 Years
The Open Targets Platform turns 10 this year! Join us in person or online for a two-day hackathon connecting scientists, developers, and the bioinformatics community to explore data, analyses and tools for target discovery.
About the Hackathon
Celebrating a decade of innovation in target identification and prioritisation for drug discovery
The hackathon aims to encourage interdisciplinary solutions for target discovery challenges, accelerate research by leveraging Open Targets Platform data, and foster collaboration between academic, industry, and technology communities.
The event is open to anyone, but please be aware that any output from the hackathon must be released under a CC-BY license, and available for commercial usage (APACHE2). It is your responsibility to check that you are able to participate under these terms.
What is the Open Targets Platform?
The Open Targets Platform (https://platform.opentargets.org/) is a comprehensive tool that supports systematic identification and prioritisation of potential therapeutic drug targets.
The Platform integrates publicly available datasets to build and score target-disease associations, assisting in drug target identification and prioritisation. Through our statistical genetics pipeline, we provide the largest and most comprehensive systematic analysis of common variation in humans.
Collaborative Innovation
Work alongside experts from academia, industry, and the Open Targets team to solve real-world challenges in drug discovery.
Real-World Impact
Create solutions that could directly influence drug discovery pipelines and methodologies used by researchers globally.
Hybrid Format
Participate in-person at the Wellcome Genome Campus or join remotely from anywhere in the world.
Mentorship Opportunities
Receive guidance from leading experts in genomics, drug discovery, and bioinformatics throughout the event.
Community Building
Connect with like-minded individuals, expand your professional network, and forge collaborations that extend beyond the hackathon.
Event Timeline
Key dates and milestones for our 10th anniversary hackathon
Project Call Opens
Submit your project ideas and proposals for the hackathon
Registration Opens
Secure your spot for either in-person or virtual participation
Registration Deadline
Registration closes at 23.59 anywhere in the world
Hackathon Begins
Day 1 of the hackathon featuring kickoff, team formation, and initial coding
Final Presentations
Project demos, judging, and award ceremony
In-Person Location
Wellcome Genome Campus
Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SD
United
Kingdom
Virtual Participation
All sessions will be streamed live via Zoom
Access details
will be shared with registered participants
Project Submission
Guidelines and categories for hackathon projects
Submission Guidelines
- Projects should centre around target discovery. We encourage you to explore, extend, or creatively apply the Open Targets Platform data, interface, or pipelines, but you are welcome to submit any project idea that fits the target discovery theme
- All code must be made available on GitHub under an open-source license (CC-BY/APACHE2)
- You can earmark your project for your team, or leave it open to others
- Virtual team members can collaborate with in-person participants
Example Project Categories
Projects focused on integrating new data sources or improving existing data integration pipelines.
Interactive visualisations, dashboards, or novel ways to explore Open Targets data.
Machine learning models for target prioritisation, prediction tasks, or automated analysis.
New features, tools, or modules that can integrate into the existing Platform.
Registration
In-Person Benefits
- Direct mentoring by the Open Targets team and industry experts
- Beginners welcome: develop your skills with hands-on learning
- Network and collaborate with other participants
- Catered meals and snacks throughout the day
In-Person Registration Details
Deadline: October 12, 2025
Fee: Free (sponsored by Open Targets consortium).
Capacity: Limited to 40 participants
Travel and accommodation: Participants are responsible for organising and funding their travel and accommodation expenses.We are hoping to organise a travel fund for students.
Register for In-PersonVirtual Benefits
- Access to all livestreamed sessions
- Dedicated virtual rooms for team collaboration
- Online Q&A with experts and mentors
Virtual Registration Details
Deadline: October 12, 2025
Fee: Free (sponsored by Open Targets consortium)
Requirements: Reliable internet connection, webcam, and microphone for full participation in collaborative activities.
Time Zones: Main sessions will be scheduled to accommodate multiple time zones when possible. All sessions will be recorded for asynchronous viewing.
Register for VirtualHackathon Code of Conduct
All participants must agree to abide by the code of conduct.
All event attendees (whether participating online or in person) are expected to abide by this Code of Conduct. We aim to ensure that no individual or groups feel harassed or uncomfortable participating in the event or at social activities, in-person or online. We ask all members of our community to help maintain supportive and productive workspaces and to avoid behaviours that can make individuals feel unsafe or unwelcome.
Questions, concerns, or ideas on what we can include? Get in touch at outreach@opentargets.org.
Ethos
We support the dissemination of knowledge in an open and respectful environment. We promote diversity and equality and do not discriminate on gender, race, age, religion, physical appearance, disability, sexual orientation or any other information provided.
We aim to provide a friendly, safe and welcoming environment for all participants. Therefore, we ask that attendees treat all speakers and participants with respect, courtesy, and professionalism.
Code of Conduct
Be aware that certain language and images can offend groups and cultures different to your own. If you have any doubt about whether specific language or images in your presentations could be misinterpreted, remove them.
We will not tolerate harassment or intimidation of any person, whether verbal, physical, or written (including on our networking channels, social media, or by email).
Harassment includes, but is not limited to:
- Offensive or unwanted comments on gender, race, age, religion, physical appearance, disability, sexual orientation.
- Use of sexual images, inappropriate physical contact, unwelcome sexual attention or stalking.
- Sustained interruption of speakers or those asking questions.
- Unwanted photography or filming. Make you sure ask permission before taking photos of a group and taking screenshots of individuals during video calls, especially if you plan to post them online.
Intimidation includes, but is not limited to:
- Making threats
- Bullying
- Personal attacks
Behaviour that results in damage to Campus property is not acceptable and you will be expected to pay for repair/replacement/cleaning.
Reporting an incident
If someone makes you feel uncomfortable through their behaviours or actions, report it as soon as possible.
You can reach out to members of the hackathon organisation committee (Annalisa Buniello, Carlos Cruz, Helena Cornu, and Szymon Szykowski) directly, or contact a member of the Open Targets team.
Issues directly concerning members of the committee will be dealt with by other members of the core team — possible conflicts of interest will be taken into account.
All reports will be handled with the utmost discretion and confidentiality.
You can also report any violations to administrator [at] opentargets [dot] org. In your email report, please do your best to include:
- Your contact information
- Identifying information (e.g. names, nicknames, pseudonyms) of the participant who has violated the Code of Conduct
- The behaviour that was in violation and the circumstances surrounding the incident
- The approximate time of the behaviour (if different than the time the report was made)
- Other people involved in the incident, if applicable
- If you believe the incident is ongoing
- If there is a publicly available record (e.g. mailing list record, a screenshot)
- Any additional information
- After you file a report, one or more members of our team will contact you to follow up on your report
The organisers reserve the right to remove, edit, or reject comments, commits, code, and other contributions that are not aligned to this code of conduct, or to ban temporarily or permanently any contributor for other behaviors that they deem inappropriate, threatening, offensive, or harmful.
We also reserve the right to ask any individual to leave the event (whether in-person, on campus or virtual) if they break the Code of Conduct. They will not be given a refund of any fees, and will not be allowed to reside on Campus (if they have Campus accommodation) and will not have access to the virtual platform for the remainder of the event.
Attribution and acknowledgements
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about the Open Targets Hackathon
Still have questions? Feel free to reach out to us directly.
Contact UsGet In Touch
Have questions about the hackathon? We're here to help!
Contact Information
Our team is available to answer any questions about the hackathon, Open Targets Platform, or how you can get involved.
Discussion Forum
Address
Open Targets
Wellcome Genome Campus
Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SD
United Kingdom
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