On Tuesday, March 17, 2026, the first round of Arnes’ HackathON was held at the Faculty of Computer and Information Science at the University of Ljubljana. More than 100 competitors from all Slovenian universities participated in 31 teams.
Participants first familiarized themselves with the HackathON format. Then, they heard a presentation about this year’s challenges, which are related to the fields covered by the Slovenian Artificial Intelligence Factory (SLAIF). After that, the students did group work to establish the framework for their solutions.
Even before the first round officially began, participants had the opportunity to attend a training session titled Introduction to Supercomputing, where they learned how to access Arnes’ computing cluster and run basic tasks.
The central theme of this year’s nationwide Arnes HackathON is artificial intelligence—particularly its application across four interconnected domains: AI for science, health and technology, digital society, and the green transition. This year’s event is especially significant, as it offers Slovenian students the opportunity to contribute to the development of artificial intelligence in Slovenia through their ideas, solutions, and innovations, and to help shape the digital future. In recognition of its importance, the event is held under the honorary patronage of the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr. Nataša Pirc Musar.
The Arnes HackathON stands out from similar competitions through its focus on integrating open science, the use of supercomputing, and addressing UNESCO Sustainable Development Goals. It is also organized in two rounds rather than a 24-hour format, allowing participants to further develop their ideas between rounds and deliver more refined solutions.
The second round will take place on Wednesday, 15 April, as part of the Slovenian Informatics Days at Hotel Bernardin in Portorož, where the winners will also be announced.
As in previous years, the winning teams will receive prizes, with a total prize pool of €10,000 for the most innovative solutions, along with practical awards. For the third consecutive year, the competition’s Diamond Partner is Sandoz | Lek, sponsor of the AI for Health and Biotechnology challenge. The event is also supported by Modra zavarovalnica as a Silver Sponsor.
The event is organized by the Academic and Research Network of Slovenia – Arnes, the Slovenian Society Informatika, the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the Faculty of Computer and Information Science of the University of Ljubljana, the Slovenian Open Science Community, Open Data Slovenia, SLING – the Slovenian National Supercomputing Network, the National Competence Centre SLING, and the Slovenian AI Factory – SLAIF.
This year’s Arnes HackathON is also held under the honorary patronage of the Slovenian National Commission for UNESCO.
