Rare Hackathon Invites Students to Solve Rare Cases on Rare Disease Day

We are Competing for Rare Solutions!

Rare diseases are defined as diseases that affect 1 in every 2000 people or less. Although rare diseases are rare by definition, they represent approximately 7000 different diseases in total. Most of these diseases are genetic in origin and the majority currently have no treatment. Rare diseases, which affect 350-400 million people worldwide and more than 30 million people in Europe, pose a great burden on human health and health systems. Rare Disease Day, which is held at the end of February each year, aims to draw attention to these diseases and provide patients with better diagnosis, treatment and living conditions.

Some rare diseases cannot be diagnosed with standard medical evaluations, and this causes patients to remain undiagnosed for a long time. Today, thanks to advanced diagnostic methods and advanced genetic examinations, many patients who remain undiagnosed for a long time can be diagnosed. In order to better recognize rare diseases, better understand the diagnostic process and develop treatment methods, the Rare Hackathon competition will be held at the Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Center on February 28, Rare Diseases Day. This competition, organized by the RareBoost ERA-Chair project, aims to raise awareness among young scientists about rare diseases.

In this competition, participants will be asked to develop ideas for solving rare/undiagnosed cases. In addition to gaining professional experience, it is aimed to provide young scientists, studying in the fields of health and life sciences, with group work discipline, project development skills, the capacity to develop an evidence-based approach, the ability to manage complex situations and problem-solving skills.

Participation Conditions

• Students who are studying at any university in Turkey* can apply.
• Applications will be made individually and each person can only apply once. In cases of multiple applications, only the first application will be considered.
• Applications must be made by filling out the form below by February 16, 2025 at the latest.
• Participants must attach a document indicating that they are an undergraduate or graduate student at an educational institution on the date of application.
• Application documents including the application form and student certificate must be sent to rareboostibg@gmail.com e-mail address before the application deadline.
• You will receive an email that your application has been received.
• It must be ensured that all information requested in the application is filled out completely and correctly.
• Incomplete or incorrect applications will not be evaluated.
• Applicants are responsible for the accuracy of the information declared in the application.
• After the application period is closed, the applications will be evaluated by the evaluation board and groups will be formed.

*Participant Profile: Students and researchers in different fields of life sciences such as Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Bioengineering, Molecular Biology and Genetics, Medical Biology, Biochemistry, etc., studying at any undergraduate or graduate level, are eligible to apply.

You can download the application form here:

Important Dates

Last application date: February 16, 2025

Application evaluation: February 18, 2025

Announcement of those who are eligible to participate: February 19, 2025

Nadir Hackathon: February 28, 2025

Place: Izmir Biomedicine and Genome Center, Balçova / Izmir

Hackathon Flow

• The Hackathon will start in the morning, team spokespeople will present the cases in the afternoon, and then the winners will be presented with awards.
• Two cases will be given to the teams, and 60 minutes will be given to solve each case.
• The data deemed necessary to support the diagnosis and treatment process will be provided by the observers upon the request of the team members.
• When the time is up, each group will be given an additional 20 minutes to fill out the case solution form. During this time, the group representative must deliver the solution report to the Hackathon evaluation table. Forms delivered after the time is up will not be evaluated.
• At the end of each case, teams can take a break when needed and then work will begin on the new case.
• Each team will be provided with internet access to scientific sites related to the field they will work on.
• Each team will be given a laptop computer to evaluate the cases.

Prize

The first place team will be awarded,

1. The chance to participate in IBG Rare and Undiagnosed Diseases Platform (RUDiP) projects and do an internship,
2. The right to attend the IBG experimental animal use certificate course free of charge,
3. The first place prize and certificate will be awarded.

Evaluation Criteria

Each criterion will be evaluated with a five-point Likert scale (1-very bad, 5-excellent)

• Innovation
• Creativity
• Applicability
• Prioritization
• Holistic approach(bio-psycho-social approach)
• Answers to questions during the presentation

Note: Only teams whose applications are accepted and pass the pre-evaluation process will be contacted.

Contact Information

You can send your questions about Rare Hackathon to rareboostibg@gmail.com.