The Novartis Oncology Hackathon 2026 has been developed by Novartis International AG, whose registered office is located at Forum 1, Novartis Campus, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland.
Definitions
"Hackathon" means the Novartis Oncology Hackathon 2026, as described in these Terms and Conditions.
"Participant" means any individual who applies to take part in the Hackathon, whether individually or as part of a Team.
"Team" and "Team Leader" have the meaning given in Section 3.
"Idea" or "Submission" means the proposal submitted by a Team or individual Participant in response to a Hackathon Challenge, as further described in Section 5.
"Challenge" means each of the strategic challenges defined by Novartis for the relevant edition of the Hackathon, as described in Section 4.
The Novartis Oncology Hackathon 2026 (the "Hackathon") is an innovation initiative organized by Novartis Pharma, with the objective of generating innovative, feasible and impactful solutions to real healthcare challenges within the field of oncology.
The Hackathon aims to bring together students and recently graduated individuals from European business schools to collaborate in teams and develop business-oriented solutions addressing two strategic challenges identified by Novartis.
The initiative combines innovation methodologies, business design, Artificial Intelligence tools and mentoring by Novartis professionals and innovation experts to transform early-stage ideas into practical and scalable concepts.
The Hackathon consists of two consecutive phases:
Participation in the Hackathon implies full acceptance of these Terms and Conditions
Participation is open exclusively to current postgraduate students (including, but not limited to, MBA students), or to recent postgraduates who have not yet commenced full-time employment ("recent graduates"), from the following invited universities: X, Y, and Z.
For the purposes of this Section, "postgraduate students" refers to any individual who has completed a Bachelor’s degree and is currently pursuing a further form of advanced education, including MBA, MSc or MA programmes, as well as Doctoral degrees (PhD or equivalent). Master’s students are therefore expressly included within the eligible participant profile.
Participants must possess sufficient English language and accept these Terms and Conditions.
Conflicts of interest and exclusivity: Participants must disclose to the organizing team any existing confidentiality, non-disclosure or other contractual arrangement that could affect their participation. Participants agree not to submit, during the application and selection period, the same idea submitted to this Hackathon to any other competing hackathon, competition or innovation programme without prior written notice to Novartis.
Participants may apply either individually or as part of a team.
While individual applications are accepted, applicants are encouraged to participate in teams of three (3) to five (5) members. Team members may come from any of the partner universities participating in the competition and are not required to belong to the same institution.
Each team must designate one member as the Team Leader, who will serve as the primary point of contact with the organizing team and will be responsible for submitting the team's idea and any required documentation on behalf of all team members.
The organizing team reserves the right to review, approve and, where necessary, modify the final composition of participating teams and applications.
Participants may submit ideas for one or both of the official Hackathon challenges communicated by Novartis.
For the 2026 edition, the challenges are:
Challenge 1: Close the Screening Gap
Challenge 2: Accelerate the Referral Pathway
Each challenge is accompanied by a set of thematic sub-challenges intended to help participants identify relevant opportunity areas and focus their ideas. Participants are encouraged, but not required, to address one or more of these proposed sub-challenges when developing their solutions.
Detailed challenge descriptions, background information, thematic sub-challenges, scope and constraints will be made available through the official Hackathon website and supporting documentation.
All submitted ideas must fall within the scope of the selected challenge(s) as defined by Novartis.
Participants must submit their idea by 25 October 2026 by completing the online application form available on the Hackathon website. Selected participants will be notified by 5 November 2026. Following notification, they will have one week to confirm their participation in the Hackathon day. The Hackathon Day will take place in Basel, Switzerland, on 3 December 2026. As part of their confirmation, selected teams must confirm that all team members are available to travel to Basel and attend the Hackathon Day in person.
A team may submit more than one idea, including ideas for different challenge topics.
Each team must submit one proposal including, at minimum:
All submissions must be completed in English. Late, incomplete or inaccurate submissions may be excluded from the selection process. Novartis reserves the right to request clarification or additional information regarding any submitted proposal.
Following the submission deadline, all eligible proposals will be reviewed by an evaluation committee appointed by Novartis.
Projects will be assessed using the following evaluation criteria:
The Committee's decisions shall be final and not subject to appeal.
If a selected team withdraws before the Hackathon, Novartis reserves the right to invite another team based on the evaluation ranking.
The experience
Selected teams will participate in a one-day innovation event held at the Novartis Campus in Basel. The Hackathon day will be conducted in English on 3rd of December 2026 and is expected to last approximately from 9:00 to 18:00h.
Throughout the event participants will:
Failure to attend the full event without prior authorization may result in the team’s disqualification.
Novartis reserves the right to modify the agenda or activities whenever necessary for operational reasons.
Selected teams will participate in a one-day innovation event held at the Novartis Campus in Basel. The Hackathon day will be conducted in English on 3rd of December 2026 and is expected to last approximately from 9:00 to 18:00h.
Travel & expenses
For participants selected to attend the Hackathon in Basel, Novartis will cover the following expenses:
Any additional expenses not expressly included above, such as additional hotel nights, room service, personal expenses or any other incidental costs, shall be the sole responsibility of the participant.
Participants should note that the Hackathon venue and hotel are accessible by public transport (including train), and suitable public transportation options are available.
At the end of the Hackathon day on 3rd of December 2026, each team will present its solution to a Jury appointed by Novartis.
The Jury will evaluate the final projects using the predefined evaluation criteria. One winning team will be selected for each Hackathon Challenge, resulting in a total of two winning teams.
The winning teams will receive recognition from Novartis through visibility and showcase opportunities within Novartis and, where appropriate, across the broader healthcare and innovation ecosystem. The nature, format and timing of such recognition shall be determined by Novartis at its sole discretion.
The Jury's decision shall be final and binding.
Participants represent and warrant that the ideas and materials submitted as part of the Hackathon (the "Submitted Materials") are original and free from any third-party rights, liens or encumbrances, or that they have obtained all necessary rights and permissions to submit them.
By participating in the Hackathon, participants grant Novartis a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable, sublicensable, royalty-free licence to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, develop, publish, commercialize and otherwise exploit the Submitted Materials, as submitted for the purposes of the Hackathon, without further consent, attribution or compensation to the participants. This licence does not extend to any developments made independently by participants after the Hackathon and outside the scope of the Submitted Materials.
Participants remain free to use the general knowledge, skills, experience, ideas, concepts and know-how they have acquired or used in the course of the Hackathon, subject to their confidentiality obligations under Section 10. Any external use by Novartis of a participant's name, university or affiliation in connection with the Submitted Materials shall be subject to Section 11 (Use of image).
Participants acknowledge and agree that Novartis shall have no obligation to develop, implement or commercialize any submitted idea.
Participants further acknowledge that Novartis may already possess, independently develop or receive from third parties ideas, technologies or concepts that are similar or identical to those submitted through the Hackathon. Participation in the Hackathon shall not restrict Novartis from developing, using or commercializing such ideas, technologies or concepts.
"Confidential Information" means all non-public information relating to Novartis, its business activities, strategic plans or the Hackathon, including any ideas, concepts, materials or information shared by other Teams or Participants during the Hackathon, whether disclosed orally, in writing or by any other means, to which participants receive access in connection with the Hackathon.
Participants agree:
These obligations shall not apply to information which: (i) is or becomes publicly available other than through a breach of these Terms and Conditions; (ii) was rightfully known to the participant prior to its disclosure by Novartis; (iii) is rightfully received from a third party without breach of any confidentiality obligation; or (iv) is required to be disclosed by law or by a competent court, governmental or regulatory authority.
For the avoidance of doubt, Participants shall not use, disclose or further develop ideas or materials submitted or shared by other Teams for any purpose other than the collaborative activities of the Hackathon.
Upon completion of the Hackathon, or upon Novartis' request, participants shall return or delete any Confidential Information in their possession, save for copies required to demonstrate compliance with these Terms and Conditions.
Photographs, video recordings and other audiovisual materials may be captured during the Hackathon.
By participating, participants authorize Novartis to use their image, name and affiliation for communication, promotional and reporting purposes related to the Hackathon through internal and external communication channels, including websites, social media and corporate publications.
Participants may withdraw this authorization where permitted by applicable law by notifying the organizers in writing before the event.
Novartis will process participants' personal data in accordance with applicable data protection legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), where applicable, and as further described in the Privacy Notice (Appendix 1).
Personal data will be processed exclusively for purposes related to the organization, administration and communication of the Hackathon.
Participants may exercise their rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, objection and data portability by contacting Novartis through the contact information provided in the Privacy Notice.
Participants are expected to behave professionally and respectfully throughout the programme. Participants agree not to:
Failure to comply with these rules may result in immediate disqualification.
Participants acknowledge that they participate voluntarily and at their own responsibility.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Novartis shall not be liable for:
Novartis reserves the right to amend these Terms and Conditions, modify the Hackathon schedule or cancel the initiative where reasonably necessary.
Participants will be informed of any material changes as soon as reasonably practicable.
Novartis shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performing its obligations under these Terms and Conditions where such failure or delay results from circumstances beyond its reasonable control, including but not limited to acts of natural disasters, war, terrorism, civil unrest, epidemics or pandemics, governmental action, strikes, or failures of public infrastructure or transportation. In such circumstances, Novartis may suspend, modify or cancel the Hackathon without liability, subject to reasonable efforts to inform participants as soon as practicable.
These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Switzerland.
Any dispute arising out of or in connection with the Hackathon or these Terms and Conditions which cannot be settled amicably shall be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Basel, Switzerland.
Participants undertake to comply with all applicable anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws and regulations in connection with their participation in the Hackathon. Participants shall not offer, give or accept anything of value in order to improperly influence the selection, evaluation or outcome of the Hackathon.
By submitting an application through the official Hackathon website, applicants confirm that they have read, understood and accept these Terms and Conditions in full, on their own behalf and, where applicable, on behalf of their Team.
Novartis is responsible for the processing of your personal data as it decides why and how it is processed, thereby acting as the “controller”. In this Privacy Notice, “we” or “us” refers to Novartis Pharma AG / Novartis International AG.
1. What personal data will we process?
We will process the personal data necessary to administer your participation in the Hackathon, including your name, contact details, university/institution, MBA programme, and Team composition. Where you are selected to attend the Hackathon Day, we may also process photographs, video and audio recordings, as described in Section 11 (Use of image).
2. For which purposes will we use your personal data and on what legal basis?
We process your personal data where necessary to administer, evaluate and communicate about the Hackathon (performance of these Terms and Conditions and Novartis' legitimate interest), and, where applicable, on the basis of your consent, such as for the use of your image in external communications.
3. Who will have access to your personal data, and international transfers
Your personal data may be accessed by the Novartis organizing team, the evaluation committee and the Jury, Novartis personnel and Affiliates, partner universities (to confirm eligibility) and IT or platform providers supporting the Hackathon. Where personal data is transferred outside Switzerland or the European Economic Area, Novartis will apply appropriate safeguards, such as Standard Contractual Clauses or Binding Corporate Rules.
4. How long do we store your personal data?
We retain personal data for the duration of the Hackathon and for a reasonable period thereafter for record-keeping, reporting and compliance purposes. Images and recordings used for promotional purposes under a specific consent may be retained for a longer period, as indicated at the time consent is obtained.
5. What are your rights and how can you exercise them?
You have the right to request access to, rectification, erasure, restriction or portability of your personal data, and to object to its processing. To exercise these rights, you may contact the Novartis Data Protection Officer at global.privacy_office@novartis.com, or lodge a complaint with a competent supervisory authority.
6. Changes to this Privacy Notice
Any material changes to this Privacy Notice will be communicated to participants in advance through the usual Hackathon communication channels.