The first #EUvsVirus Hackathon organised by the European Commission in close collaboration with all Member States and Associated Horizon 2020 Countries, as well as with the valuable support of hundreds of volunteers who have organised national hackathons in their respective countries, will take place on 24-26 April. We are expecting some 60,000 participants to take part.
On Tuesday 7 April, EU Ministers for Research and Innovation held a videoconference with the EU Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Ms Mariya Gabriel, in order to exchange views on how to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. One of the many topics discussed was the financing of European research and innovation projects and the sharing of scientific data and infrastructure among research and innovation centres. In this informal video-conference meeting, EU Research Ministers expressed support for a first set of 10 actions which can be implemented at EU level within a very short timeframe. These actions were co-created with DGs in charge of R&I in Member States (please see following link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/research_and_innovation/research_by_area/documents/ec_rtd_era-vs-corona.pdf).
To participate in the hackathon, one needs to register at the link: https://euvsvirus.org/#register. One can participate in three different ways:
1. As a problem solver, you can register either as an individual or as a team with other colleagues.
2. As a mentor, you can register either as an expert to provide mentorship to the teams, or as a team coordinator using your coordination skills to help the teams to reach their objectives.
3. As a partner (there are different links depending on the category of partners). In all cases partners are expected to contribute one or more possible ways (helping on disseminating, providing cash prizes or perks, providing mentors,..).
For disseminating the #EUvsVirus Hackathon, you can use the Press Kit (https://euvsvirus.org/press/), and by like/retweeting on the following social media channels:
Please do not reply to this email. If you need further information, please send an email to the following mailbox specifically created for this purpose: RTD-PAN-EUROPEAN-COVID-HACKATHON@ec.europa.eu
euvsvirus.org is a Europe-wide online hackathon organised by the most plugged-in and nationally connected actors from all over Europe. It builds upon already conducted national hackathons to enable the rapid execution of brilliant solutions.
The #EUvsVirus is a call to action to each and everyone to participate in the fight against COVID-19: Demonstrate unity and share your skills for the common good across borders and generations! Let’s open EU-borders during this collective challenge!