How the competition works

Teams

Teams have two members, who register together and compete together in every round. Mixed teams are encouraged: a biologist and a computer scientist often cover more ground than two specialists in the same field. Members may come from different institutions and different countries.

The three rounds

1. Questions. An online set of multiple-choice questions covering biology, computer science and bioinformatics, answered within a fixed time window. Teams that reach the threshold in each area go through to the second round.

2. Capture the flag. A set of computational biology challenges, released at the same time to all teams and open for a fixed period. Each challenge hides a flag, a short answer string that a correct analysis reveals, which the team submits on the competition platform. Challenges score according to difficulty; the best-ranked teams go through to the final.

3. Hackathon. Finalists receive a project brief from the organising committee and develop a solution, which they present in person at the Bioinformatics Open Days 2027. A jury assesses the projects, and the winners are announced at the event.

Dates

1. Registration

   To be announced

   Teams of two register online.

2. 1

   Round 1: Questions

   To be announced

   An online set of questions on biology, computer science and bioinformatics. Teams that reach the threshold go through.

3. 2

   Round 2: Capture the flag

   To be announced

   Hands-on computational biology challenges, each hiding a flag to find and submit. The best teams go through to the final.

4. 3

   Round 3: Hackathon

   To be announced

   Bioinformatics Open Days 2027

   Finalists develop a project set by the organisers and present it in person at the Bioinformatics Open Days.

What you will need

• A computer with a reliable internet connection for the online rounds.
• For the capture-the-flag round, the ability to run command-line tools and write short scripts, for example in Python or R.
• For the final, the availability to travel to the Bioinformatics Open Days 2027.

Questions not answered here may be answered in the FAQ; otherwise, write to the organisers.