hackademIA

The one-day hackathon hackademIA is a special edition of Hackathon Piaget, a hackathon series organized annually by the UNIGE’s SDG Solution Space and partners since 2022. This hackathon series is dedicated to innovations for teaching and learning, in the spirit of Jean Piaget, a pedagogical pioneer of the University of Geneva.

This year, Hackathon Piaget celebrates the centennial of the UNESCO International Bureau of Education (IBE), which Piaget directed from its inception and for nearly 40 years. It is also 50 years since “the oldest debate in AI” took place between Jean Piaget and Noam Chomsky, inspiring some of the lead researchers in AI today to enter the field of Machine Learning.

hackademIA also builds on the track record of two institutional hackathons: Hackademia, managed by the Bureau de la Transformation of the Rectorate of the UNIGE, which brings together members of the UNIGE staff and stude nt community to solve practical challenges since 2021; the Open Geneva Hackathon, launched 10 years ago and co-hosted by UNIGE’s Centre Universitaire d’Informatique, inspiring the creation of an annual city-wide Open Geneva Festival in 2017.

The hackademIA event runs from 9am-5pm on Saturday 22 November at the SDG Solution Space.

 

12 Challenges Selected

  1. MindMoodle: AI Mental Health Companion
    An open-source AI companion integrated into Moodle to support student well-being through emotional check-ins, stress insights, and ethical data management.
  2. SmartSync: Adaptive Academic Calendar
    AI-enhanced, privacy-preserving calendar that securely synchronizes UNIGE course, exam, and Moodle data with students’ personal and work schedules.
  3. EduRisk: Cognitive Models for Risk Literacy
    AI tools explore how education shapes risk perception and decision-making, using open data to improve teaching on uncertainty and behavioral resilience.
  4. RefCheck: Open LLM for Bibliographic Integrity
    An open-source LLM on Hactar detects false or hallucinated references in student or research work, reinforcing transparency and academic integrity.
  5. fAIrbots: Teaching Chatbots to Be Fair
    Reducing AI bias, introducing chatbots ethically to youth, and promoting open educational tools for digital literacy and scam awareness.
  6. SmartFeedback: AI-Powered Learning Coach
    An AI engine that analyzes student responses, identifies errors, suggests micro-strategies, and visualizes progress for teachers using open-science dashboards.
  7. BlockLearn: Documenting HackademIA in Minecraft
    Using Minecraft with LESA to create a gamified, AI-assisted archive of student hackathon projects, promoting open and playful learning documentation.
  8. BeeCoach: Open-Source AI for Hackathon Teams
    With BeeKee, an AI-driven coach helps hackathon teams organize ideas, manage workflows, and collaborate through open-source, transparent AI tools.
  9. PolyPitch: Inclusive Multilingual AI Pitching
    Designing an AI system that translates and enhances hackathon pitches in real time to foster inclusive, multilingual, and accessible innovation.
  10. HackSpace2030: A vision for the future of student spaces at UNIGE
    Developing a strategy for integrating student innovation spaces in current and future UNIGE buildings as well as with local actors (libraries, coffee shops etc).
  11. PiaGPT: The Experiential Learning Avatar
    Creating an AI avatar of Jean Piaget to guide students on experiential learning, merging cognitive science with modern AI pedagogy.
  12. HackCred: Micro-Certification for Hackathons
    Exploring how hackathons can earn AI-verified micro-certifications and ECTS credits, making lifelong learning at UNIGE inclusive and portable.

Teams will be formed based on matching participants’ skills and interests to project topics

Jury and Awards :

  • Potential for the University of Geneva (UNIGE) – Martine Collart, Vice-Rector for Teaching, UNIGE
  • Potential for Education in Switzerland – Lee Howell, Executive Director, Villars Institute
  • Potential for Education Worldwide – Costanza Farina, Acting Director, UNESCO International Bureau of Education
  • Potential for Research – Kerstin Preuschoff, Vice-Dean for Research, GSEM, UNIGE
  • Potential for Entrepreneurship – Kerfalla Cisse, Co-founder of AmenityDev SA and Director of Data and AI

What’s happening?

9:00-10:00 – café croissants and challenges + team formation

11:00-16:00 – Hacking and snacking

16:00-17:00 –  Pitch session

with special guest Costanza Farina, Director of the UNESCO International Bureau of Education

17:00-18:00 – Apéro