Nucleate x LAB³ | Bio-Hackathon Mainz 2026
24 hours. Three challenge tracks. One mission: turn biological data into bold solutions.
What can happen when ambitious students from biotechnology, computational biology, data science, engineering, and related fields come together for an intensive 24-hour challenge?
Join Nucleate Germany x LAB³ e.V. in Mainz for an intensive 24-hour Bio-Hackathon, bringing together aspiring scientists, innovators, and problem-solvers to transform biological challenges into creative, computational solutions.
Working in interdisciplinary teams, participants will tackle challenges from the biotech ecosystem, receive expert mentorship, develop innovative solutions, and pitch their ideas to industry experts and judges.
Whether you bring coding expertise, biological knowledge, AI/ML skills, or creative problem-solving abilities, this is your opportunity to build, learn, collaborate, and connect with the next generation of life science innovators.
What Is a Bio-Hackathon?
A hackathon is a collaborative innovation sprint where teams develop creative solutions, prototypes, or proofs of concept within a limited time of 24 hours.
No finished product is required — the focus is on problem-solving, experimentation, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Challenge Tracks
Participants will work on one of three challenge tracks:
📊 Omics Data (confirmed)
🧬 Protein Design (tentative)
🔬 Imaging (tentative)
The challenge tracks are preliminary and subject to change. Final track details and challenge partners will be announced before the event.
What to Expect
🕓24-hour hands-on innovation sprint
💪Interdisciplinary teams of 4–6 participants
🧪Expert mentoring from scientists
🏢Opportunities to meet collaborators, co-founders, and future employers
🗨️ Final pitches, judging, and an evening showcase
🏆 Prizes, goodie bags, and certificates of participation
🍕 Food, drinks, and overnight refreshments
Who Can Participate?
Open to bachelor's and master’s students, PhD researchers, postdocs, early-career scientists, and graduates from life science, biotechnology, biology, bioinformatics, AI/ML, medicine, computer science, engineering, and related fields.
No previous hackathon experience is required. You can apply individually — we will support team formation by bringing together participants with complementary backgrounds
We’re looking for curious, motivated participants ready to learn, collaborate, and innovate!
Event Schedule
Friday, 27 November | Kickoff & Hacking
14:30–16:00 | Registration, Opening & Challenge Introduction
16:00 onwards | 24 hours Hackathon, Mentoring & Overnight Hacking
Saturday, 28 November | Final Sprint
08:00–13:00 | Breakfast, Mentoring & Pitch Preparation
13:00–16:00 | Final Sprint & Submissions
16:00–17:30 | Team Pitches & Evaluation
Saturday Evening | Public Showcase
18:00–19:30 | Welcome & Jury Session
19:45–21:00 | Finalist Pitches & Awards
21:00–22:30 | Networking, Food & Drinks
Registration
‼️APPLICATION CLOSE ON: 22nd November ‼️
Apply through this Luma page and complete all registration questions thoughtfully.
Registration does not guarantee participation. Applications will be reviewed, and selected participants will receive confirmation and further details. If you can no longer attend, please inform us as early as possible.
About the Event Hosts
Nucleate Germany
Nucleate is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering the next generation of biotech leaders. With chapters spanning 41 geographic regions and participation from over 280 academic institutions, Nucleate sparks new intellectual communities and embeds emerging talent within a global biotech community. Through open-access educational programming, Nucleate helps democratize biotech innovation — removing barriers and helping founders concentrate on building transformational technologies. Visit https://nucleate.xyz/privacy-policy/ to read our privacy policy.
LAB³ e.V. - Co-Host
LAB³ e.V. is a nonprofit organization focused on the practical side of research and innovation, in cooperation with universities, research institutes, and foundations.
A central part of its work is the infrastructure it provides: the physical spaces, equipment, and technical environments used to build, test, and develop new ideas. Alongside this infrastructure, LAB³ provides technical expertise and support. Students. researchers and startups can access both the facilities and the guidance needed to take a project from an early concept to a working prototype. In this way, the organization supports the transition from research and ideas toward concrete results.
biomindz - Venue Sponsor
biomindz – a hub designed for growth!
Mainz is one of Germany’s most dynamic cities, home to a vibrant biotech hub that unites cutting-edge research, global connectivity, and a fast-growing ecosystem. The 12-hectare Life Science Campus—under development next to the university—will empower startups, companies, researchers, and investors to shape the future of biotech in the heart of Europe. As a municipally owned nonprofit, biomindz drives this growth through site development, networking, and positioning Mainz as a globally visible biotech hub.
About the Challenge Partners
TRON
TRON gGmbH (Translational Oncology at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz) is an internationally recognized institute for translational research based in Mainz, Germany. TRON develops novel diagnostics and therapeutics for the immunotherapeutic treatment of cancer, infectious diseases, cardiovascular disorders, and other severe diseases with high unmet medical need. Its core areas of expertise include genomics and immunology, with a focus on developing innovative platforms for personalized treatment approaches and identifying and validating meaningful biomarkers. In line with its translational research concept, TRON efficiently accelerates the transfer of promising discoveries from basic research into clinical application. Through close collaboration with academic partners and industry, TRON is at the forefront of innovative drug development. For more information, please visit: www.tron-mainz.de.
curATime
The Cluster for Atherothrombosis and Individualized Medicine – curATime brings together leading stakeholders from academia, medicine, and industry across the Rhine-Main-Palatinate region. By combining artificial intelligence, biomarker research, immunology, and RNA technologies, curATime develops novel, personalized treatment and prevention strategies for cardiovascular diseases. The cluster aims to accelerate the translation of research findings into medical applications and to build a sustainable regional innovation network. Its core partners are TRON gGmbH as the lead institution, the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, and the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI). curATime is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) as part of the Clusters4Future initiative, launched in 2019. The initiative strengthens knowledge and technology transfer and supports regional innovation networks in bringing technological and social innovations into practical application more quickly. curATime will receive a total of EUR 15 million in funding for its three-year second implementation phase. For more information, please visit www.curatime.org.
DFKI
The German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) conducts research on "human-centric AI" in the major groundbreaking areas of AI research and applications with a focus on socially relevant topics and scientific excellence. We are convinced that AI technologies can help in meeting the great societal challenges we face such as man-made global warming, social injustices, and dangerous diseases. We dedicate ourselves with great energy to work on AI solutions to these tasks.
Based on application-oriented basic research, the DFKI develops product functions and patentable solutions in the field of information and communication technology. Research and development projects are conducted in 29 research departments, 13 competence centers and 8 living labs.
DFKI is where a diverse and multinational team is actively shaping the future. Our goal is to further strengthen this diversity throughout our management team. DFKI creates career opportunities for its young scientists in science as well as in industry and supports entrepreneurial spin-offs from within based on DFKI's own research results. The DFKI has been encouraging ambitious researchers from DFKI to set up their own companies and actively supporting them in doing so. Thus, over 100 spin-offs with more than 2500 jobs have emerged from the DFKI so far.
About the Event Partners
Life Science Zentrum Mainz GmbH (LZM) - Bronze Sponsor
LZM, through its brands BioVation RLP and [LiSci]RLP, serves as RLP’s central platform for biotechnology and life sciences. It connects entrepreneurship, innovation, science, and institutions, supporting startups from idea to incubation while offering mentoring and coaching through the [LiSci]RLP program.
FUTURY - Bronze Sponsor
FUTURY is the startup factory for the Frankfurt Rhine-Main region, supported by a strong alliance of 37 corporate and foundation partners as well as four universities – Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, Goethe University Frankfurt, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, and TU Darmstadt. It´s goal is, to strengthen entrepreneurial spirit at universities, support students and researchers in becoming founders, and turn their business models into market-ready companies. In July 2025, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy selected FUTURY as a winner of the "EXIST Leuchtturm Wettbewerb Startup Factories".
As one of only ten Startup Factories across Germany, Futury will receive up to €10 million in federal funding. Its distinguishing approach is to establish a dynamic and professionally connected industry-driven innovation ecosystem that closely links academia, industry, politics, and capital providers, with focus areas including Life Sciences & Pharma, Aviation & Aerospace, Banking & Finance, AI & Cybersecurity, Deep Tech & GreenTech. The ambitious target is 1,000 new startups by 2030; in its first year, around 8,000 people took part in its startup formats, consulting over 300 startups, and it works alongside the early-stage investor FUTURY Capital, which has raised €47 million.
More Partners will be announced soon!
About the Venue
The Bio-Hackathon will take place at meet up | Hechtsheim, a modern and versatile event venue in Mainz. Its flexible spaces for conferences, workshops, and collaborative events make it ideally suited to the hackathon's different phases. Dedicated breakout rooms will give teams a focused environment to develop their ideas, while the main hall will set the stage for final pitches.
More Information
Detailed information about the agenda, accessibility, overnight arrangements and other relevant information will be shared with confirmed participants before the event.