Machine Learning for Microscopy Hackathon 2

December 16–18, 2025 · Hybrid (In-person + Virtual)

See the 2024 edition

Watch the recording from the live kickoff session — including the welcome, introduction, and overview of the hackathon.

If you weren’t able to join the Zoom session, this video will help you catch up before jumping into the challenges.

What is the Hackathon?

The Machine Learning for Microscopy Hackathon is a hands-on event that brings together researchers, students, and professionals to solve real microscopy problems using AI and data-driven tools. Participants work in small interdisciplinary teams to explore imaging, spectroscopy, and automation challenges, learning from mentors and peers along the way.

Multi-Site Participation

Attend in person or join remotely — teams will collaborate across sites and time zones. Confirmed 2025 host sites include:

University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK)

North Carolina State University (NCSU)

Northwestern University (NWU)

University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC)

Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia (ICN2) - co hosted by ALBA Synchrotron, Barcelona

University of Toronto

University of Wisconsin

University of Colorado Boulder

Colorado School of Mines

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD)

Thermo Fisher Scientific – Eindhoven

Johns Hopkins University, Maryland

AISCIA Informatics – Doha, Qatar

Pennsylvania State University

University of Pennsylvania

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Republic of Korea

Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore

Texas A&M University

University of Cincinnati

University of Cambridge

University College Dublin

Oklahoma State University

Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST), Republic of Korea

University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign

Online (Global)

Interested in hosting a site? Contact sergei2@utk.edu.

Why Participate?

Learn by doing
Work with real microscopy datasets and apply state-of-the-art AI methods.

Collaborate globally
Form teams with participants from around the world — fully remote participation supported.

Contribute to open science
Share code, data, and discoveries that extend beyond the event.

Grow your visibility
Showcase your work to researchers, labs, and industry partners.

Timeline

Phase	Date	Description
Registration & Team Formation	Now – Dec 14	Register to attend online or in-person at one of our sites. Registration for attending in-person closes Dec 10
Team Formation	Now – Dec 16	Join Slack, and find collaborators.
Hackathon Start	Dec 16	Opening session and challenge release.
Mentorship & Collaboration	Dec 16–17	Hands-on work with mentors and cross-site support.
Final Presentations	Dec 18	Team presentations and submissions.
Judging Period	Dec 19 – Jan 2026	Judging of submissions by the Jury.
Award Announcement	Jan 2026 (TBA)	Winners announced after judging is completed.
Post-Event	Jan 2026	Paper writing and open-source integration.

Logistics

The hackathon will take place in hybrid format using Zoom for talks and Slack + Miro for collaboration.

Sponsors & Partners

Supported by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Thermo Fisher Scientific, Renaissance Philanthropy, Mat3ra – Materials R&D Cloud, Covalent Metrology, Toyota Research Institute, Waviks, Microscopy Society of Ameriica, Student Council, Hugging Face, DENS solutions, Polaron, Theia Scientific and Computational Materials Science (COMMAT), Elsevier . Learn more about our partners on the Awards page.

Join us to connect AI and microscopy — through collaboration, creativity, and open science.