SEED Hackathon 2026 | The Age of Autonomy

About the hackathon

Built by SEED, judged by global universities

SEED Global Education helps students reach the world's best universities. This hackathon skips the essay and the waiting: you take a real problem, work it in a real team, and what you ship becomes the argument for your admission.

The Age of Autonomy is the 2026 brief. Software is being handed decisions that used to be ours, and most of it still cannot explain itself. The teams that win here are the ones that make autonomy accountable, not just impressive.

First idea to working prototype, across five guided phases.
Mentored by working engineers, founders and university faculty.
Judged on real-world impact, not slide decks.

At a glance

Theme: The Age of Autonomy
Prize pool: ₹2,00,000
Scholarship: Up to 75%
Entry fee: Free to enter
Format: Virtual

Everyone who takes part

A participation certificate for every registered member.
Appreciation letters from international universities for the top 30 teams.
Access to the SEED alumni network and its referral channels.

The brief

Three problem statements. One age.

Pick one and go deep. Every brief is deliberately open-ended, because the jury rewards the team that frames the problem best, not the one that builds the most.

Digital Systems

01

Real-Time Deepfake Detection at Social Media Scale

Build a detection system that processes millions of videos per hour, catches deepfakes that have been compressed 10+ times, works on 5-second clips, identifies partially manipulated content (face swap but real audio), and adapts to new generation techniques daily—all while running at social media scale with <1% false positives.

Ecological Systems

02

Planetary-Scale Biodiversity Monitoring & Ecosystem Collapse Prediction

Build a system ingesting data from satellites, drones, camera traps, acoustic sensors, eDNA samplers, citizen scientists, and scientific literature to create a living model of Earth's biodiversity. Detect species automatically, track populations, predict ecosystem collapse, and recommend interventions—all while handling petabyte-scale streams, incomplete data, and species we haven't discovered yet.

Physical Systems

03

Autonomous Cyber Defense for Critical Infrastructure

Build an autonomous defense system that protects legacy infrastructure without modifying it. The system must understand industrial processes, detect cyber-physical attacks, respond without human intervention (attacks happen in milliseconds), maintain safety requirements, and work with systems from the 1970s—all while being unhackable itself.

Step one

What is abstract submission?

Abstract submission is the first step in SEED Hackathon 2026. It should present a clear summary of your proposed solution, highlighting the problem you aim to solve, your innovative approach, and the potential impact of your idea. The abstract must be unique, non-plagiarized, and not AI-generated. Please ensure your submission does not exceed 1000 words.

Abstract template Abstract guidelines

Original work. Not plagiarised, not AI-generated.
1,000 words maximum. Shorter is usually stronger.
Problem, approach, impact. In that order.

Timeline

How the hackathon runs

Exact dates are confirmed to registered participants by email.

Phase 01

Registrations open

Register as a team of two to three. Short of a teammate? Tell us and we pair you with people who fill your gaps.

Phase 02

Abstract submission closes

A thousand words on the problem you are attacking, how you will attack it, and what changes if you win.

Phase 03

Prototyping sprint

Shortlisted teams build for real. Cloud credits, datasets and weekly checkpoints come with it.

Phase 04

Mentorship week

One-to-one time with working engineers, founders and partner-university faculty.

Phase 05

Grand finale & showcase

Finalists demo live to the jury. Cash, scholarships and fee waivers are announced the same day.

Awards & recognition

Cash prizes worth ₹2,00,000

Every placing team also leaves with a tuition scholarship of up to 75% at a partner university and an application fee waiver, applied at the point of admission.

2^nd

Runner-up

₹60,000

1^st

Winner

₹1,00,000

3^rd

Second runner-up

₹40,000

The George Washington University

Scholarship up to75%

Winning team: Scholarship of up to 75%*
Runner-up team: Scholarship of up to 50%*
Eligibility: Fall 2026 intake
CGPA requirement: 3.5+ (winner) · 3.4+ (runner-up)

Boston University

Scholarship up to50%

Winning team: Scholarship of up to 50%*
Runner-up team: Scholarship of up to 30%*
Eligibility: Fall 2026 intake
CGPA requirement: 3.6+ (winner) · 3.5+ (runner-up)

*Scholarship applies to tuition fees only and does not cover any other expenses. Eligible only for winners who secure admission for the Fall 2026 intake.

Frequently Asked Questions

No. The strongest teams mix engineering with design, business sense and domain knowledge. If you can push a working prototype and a credible pitch forward, there is a seat for you, and mentors are on hand for the whole sprint.

Final and pre-final year BE, BTech and BSc students; first and second year ME, MTech and MSc students; and working professionals in technical roles. Teams may mix all three.

Teams are two to three people. If you are short of teammates, we match you on skills and on the problem statement you picked, so nobody is left hunting for a team.

Winning and runner-up teams receive tuition scholarship offers from our partner universities, subject to meeting each university's academic threshold and completing a full application for the stated intake.

Nothing. Entry is free and the tooling for shortlisted teams is covered. You keep whatever you build, and placing teams also take cash, a scholarship offer and an application fee waiver.

The Age of Autonomy

Autonomy is arriving. Build the part that keeps it honest.

₹2,00,000 in prizes, scholarships of up to 75% at partner universities, and a project worth putting your name on. Entry is free.

Register now Read the problem statements

info@seedglobaleducation.com +91 7658 918 811