October 9–12, 2026
Friday 6 PM to Monday 9 AM CT. Results are announced Monday at 5 PM.
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Friday evening through Monday morning, entirely online, from wherever you are. Real problems deserve better answers. Bring your sharpest idea—we’ll bring the structure and tools to make it real.
Every team starts with a real account from someone living the problem. Your job is to listen closely, locate the useful intervention, and build enough of it to learn something true.
Friday 6 PM to Monday 9 AM CT. Results are announced Monday at 5 PM.
“The standard is not polish. It is whether your idea survives contact with reality.”
— THE ONE RULEEvery submission is scored out of 100 against the same five criteria. Each team receives its scores and written feedback privately.
How much of it actually works? Judges run the build, not the pitch.
25%Who is better off if this exists, and by how much?
25%Is this a genuinely new angle, or a familiar one done unusually well?
20%Can someone who has never seen it work out what to do?
15%Does the three-minute video make the case on its own?
15%THE WINNING BUILD
$200Cash to the winning team, a feature in the post-event recap, and an invitation to demo again at the next edition.PLUS TWO SPECIAL AWARDS
$25 × 2For the sharp experiments that teach everyone watching something new.Each edition runs Friday evening through Monday morning, with private judging and a Monday results call. Times below are Central Time; attendance at live calls is recommended, not required.
Join the recommended Google Meet kickoff or open the same private brief in your dashboard. Team membership locks when the event begins.
Work from any timezone. Organizer availability and important updates stay visible in the participant dashboard.
Save your final project summary and private three-minute video before the portal locks. No routine late submissions.
The organizing team reviews every submission. Demo files and links remain organizer-only.
First place, the top three, and two independently selected special awards are announced. Written feedback follows privately.
We want engineers next to organizers, designers next to nurses, storytellers next to scientists. First-time hackers and seasoned builders are equally welcome, from any country and any timezone.
Entirely online. Kickoff and results use Google Meet, official discussion happens in Discord, and applications, teams, submissions, and feedback live in your private dashboard.
The official schedule uses Central Time, and your dashboard keeps the critical brief, deadlines, and announcements in one place. Live kickoff and results attendance is recommended, not required.
No. Apply individually or with up to three teammates. You may add teammates you find yourself until kickoff; DASHATHON does not run team matching.
No. It is free to enter and free to take part. You need an internet connection, a computer, and whatever you like to build with.
Yes. You must be at least 13 and meet the minimum age requirements where you live. DASHATHON does not require a separate guardian form under the current policy.
Absolutely not. The strongest teams mix lived experience, research, design, storytelling, operations, and software.
Your team does. Taking part never transfers your intellectual property. It does give DASHATHON a license to publish and showcase what you build — see below.
Only if your whole team opts in. Demo recordings and links stay visible only to the organizing team and invited judges unless every confirmed member agrees to publish, and any member can withdraw at any time.
Yes. By taking part you grant us a license to publish and showcase what you make for the event — including but not limited to code and repositories, project titles and summaries, screenshots, and photos — at our discretion, with credit where practical. You still own it. Your demo is the one thing we never publish without your team’s opt-in. Full wording is in the privacy notice.