AIRA'S 2035 • OFFICIAL RULES & GUIDELINES

Official Rules & Evaluation Guidelines

Aira International Hackathon 2026 • 30–31 October 2026 (24-Hour Build Challenge)

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1. The 2035 Problem Discovery Standard

AIRA'S 2035 challenges participants to discover humanity's next big problem that hasn't happened yet, prove why it will emerge, and build a working software prototype to solve or mitigate it.

NOVEL Requirement:The problem must be genuinely overlooked, insufficiently recognized, or an emerging consequence not yet widely addressed. Generic problem statements that already dominate today's headlines will score poorly.
PLAUSIBLE & SIGNIFICANT: There must be a realistic causal connection between current technological or social trends and the predicted 2035 scenario. It must carry meaningful real-world consequences for people, industries, or planetary health.
Don't Stop At The Obvious: You may begin with an existing mega-trend (such as AI disruption, unemployment, climate change, or cybercrime), but your submission must identify a deeper second-order consequence emerging from it.
Evidence vs Assumptions: Teams must explicitly distinguish between established evidence/data (what is proven today) and their future assumptions (what changes by 2035). Pure fiction without grounding will be penalised.

2. Team Composition & Eligibility

Flexible Team Size: Teams can consist of 1 to 4 members (solo 1, duo 2, trio 3, or quad 4). Individual developers and multi-member teams are equally eligible to compete for all prize tiers.
Single Team Rule: Each participant may belong to only one team. The backend strictly validates member email addresses to prevent duplicate participation.
Team Leader Authority: Each team nominates one Team Leader who acts as the primary contact and holds final project submission authority on the dashboard.

3. Registration Fee & Strict Deadline

Dynamic Fee Structure: The registration fee is ₹500 per person (1 member = ₹500, 2 members = ₹1,000, 3 members = ₹1,500, 4 members = ₹2,000). Calculated dynamically and validated server-side.
Authoritative Server Deadline: Registration and payment portal will strictly close on 28 October 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. Server clocks are authoritative; no extension requests will be entertained.
Refund Policy: All registration fees are strictly non-refundable once payment is completed.

4. Prototype Requirements & Hardware Simulation

Software Prototype Requirement: Your solution must be demonstrated through a functional software prototype (web application, API backend, CLI, desktop app, or mobile build).
Hardware Simulation Permitted: Physical hardware is not required. Teams working on IoT, robotics, or sensor-dependent 2035 problems may simulate hardware telemetry, sensor feeds, or device state machines in software.
Original Work: All project code must be developed during the hackathon window (30–31 October 2026). Pre-built closed-source commercial applications are strictly prohibited.

5. 100-Point Judging Rubric & Philosophy

The Problem Matters As Much As The Solution. 40% of your total score is dedicated to discovering and proving the problem itself.

Evaluation Criteria	Weight	What Evaluators Look For
Problem Identification & Evidence	40%	Originality, future plausibility, evidence vs assumptions, and significance
Solution Innovation & Relevance	20%	Creativity and problem-solution fit
Technical Implementation	20%	Working prototype, code quality, architecture, and simulated telemetry
Impact & Scalability	10%	Potential real-world impact, viability, and scalability by 2035
Presentation & Demonstration	10%	Clarity, storytelling, demo video walkthrough, and intellectual defence

💡 Key Judging Principle: A technically impressive project can still score poorly if the underlying problem is ordinary, already well-known, or poorly justified. Likewise, a highly original problem with strong evidence can score strongly even if the prototype is relatively simple.

6. Prize Terms & Career Rewards

🏆 Winner Team Benefits

• Cash Prize: ₹20,000 cash awarded to the champion team.
• Direct HR Round: All members of the winning team receive a direct interview round with HR for their role of choice (subject to HR eligibility and process).
• ₹3–5 LPA Job Offer: 1 selected winner-team member will receive a ₹3–5 LPA Job Offer through the HR selection and evaluation process based on role fit, qualification, and performance.
• 100% Course Offer:All remaining members of the winning team receive a 100% scholarship for AIRA's ₹40,000 Premium Course (₹0 payable).

🥈 Runner-Up Team Benefits

• Cash Prize: ₹15,000 cash awarded to the runner-up team.
• 70% Offer: All members of the runner-up team receive a 70% offer on the ₹40,000 Premium Course (Effective fee: ₹12,000 each, ₹28,000 benefit per member).

🎓 All Eligible Participants

• Participation Certificate: Every registered student who submits a valid project receives a verified digital Hackathon Participation Certificate.
• Up to 30% Offer:Up to 30% scholarship on AIRA's ₹40,000 Premium Course.

7. Submission Deliverables & Portal

Submissions close strictly on 31 October 2026 at 8:50 AM IST. All teams submit via the official portal at /hackathon/submit. A valid submission includes:

1. Project Report PDF: Answering the 6 core 2035 discovery questions, architecture diagram, screenshots, and team contributions.
2. Public GitHub Repository: Clean commit log with README instructions to clone and run the software prototype.
3. Demo Video Walkthrough: 3–5 minutes hosted on YouTube or Google Drive explaining the problem, evidence, and running prototype.