Code Kickstart Hackathon

Feb 25-27, 2026 at CSC

Are you working on an R-script or about to start a new coding project in C++? Do you have some uncertainty about which Fortran library to choose? Maybe you feel your Python code could benefit from performance optimization or parallelization but you’re unsure how to tackle the issue. Or is it finally time for long-overdue quality-of-life-and-code improvements like documentation, version control, CI/CD, unit testing or build system upgrade?

CSC is organizing a Code Kickstart Hackathon, aimed at teams or individuals of science and engineering backgrounds or students thereof. The focus of the hackathon is to help you take the next steps with scripting and programming and to leave you with something concrete and useful.

This will be an on-site event at CSC with no remote participation possibility.

Who can apply?

The hackathon is open to all who are eligible to access CSC’s computing resources.

Each team or individual should bring their own code and be prepared to work on it themselves. An expert mentor from CSC will be paired with each team or individual to provide guidance and to help with any arising issues.

As the goal of the hackathon is for you to work on your own project, a prerequisite is sufficient proficiency in the language or technology of your choosing. You’re welcome to start a project with a new language or technology and we will provide guidance and best practices for it, but the burden of learning rests on your shoulders. An additional prerequisite is working knowledge of the computing environment and systems used at CSC, meaning the supercomputers LUMI, Mahti, Puhti and Roihu. This free web course by CSC provides this information, and should be completed before the hackathon, if one is unfamiliar with using supercomputers. If you’re unfamiliar with the command line interface of Linux, this free online course by CSC provides you with the necessary basic skills, and should be completed first.

Up to 5-10 projects/teams will be selected for the event based on applications. The maximum size for a team is 4 people.

Please note that we strongly prefer open-source codes.

What we are looking for

The goal of the hackathon is to write useful code and scripts, not so much to use them. In other words, optimizing AI training parameters, learning to use Gromacs or running long simulations during the hackathon are not in the scope of the hackathon. Instead, implementing a new kernel for AI training, writing some plugin scripts for Gromacs or optimizing the performance of long running simulations so they become not-so-long-running are great goals for the hackathon!

Other possible ideas for hackathon projects:

•     Parallellizing single threaded code
•     Porting a CPU code to GPU
•     Converting a single GPU code to use multiple GPUs
•     Using performance analysis tools to optimize hot-loops
•     Switching from a manual implementation of an algorithm to an optimized library
•     Adding a CI/CD pipeline to version control server
•     Refactoring code to help with adding unit tests
•     Writing tests
•     Upgrading build scripts from bash to GNU Make or CMake
•     Adding documentation generation step to existing CI/CD pipeline
•     Adding version control
•     Adding code formatting and linting tools
•     Rewriting code in a more performant language
•     Reorganizing directory structure for better readability
  Or anything else of similar nature!

How to apply and notifications

Closing date: 16.1.2026

Notifications: by 23.1.2026

Click the Register button and fill in the application form. The applications will be evaluated by CSC. Registrations open 17.12.2025

The teams whose application successfully passes the selection process will need to confirm their participation by 30.1.2026, and all participating team members will need to individually register for the event by the same deadline. The notification of acceptance will include information on how to confirm the participation and how to register each team member.

Attendance fee for the accepted teams

The fee covers lunches, coffee, and snacks during the event, and a pizza evening.

– For academic partipants: 180€ (excl. VAT) per team member.
– For industry: 840€ (excl. VAT) per team member.

Questions?

Contact juhana.lankinen@csc.fi for hackathon details or event-support@csc.fi for registration related questions.

Registrations open 17.12.2025