5 Below is the high-level timeline for the IEEE IES Generative AI Hackathon 2026 :
| Phase | Dates | Activities |
|---|---|---|
| Initial Proposal Submission | Jan 25, 2026 – 15-Feb-2026 | - Register and submit a brief proposal outlining your Generative AI idea. |
| Shortlisted for Hackathon | Feb 26, 2026 | - Announcement of shortlisted teams and mentor assignments (During the week). |
| Sprint 1 | Feb 26, 2026 – Apr 6, 2026 | Milestone 1 (Mar 16, 2026): • 200-word abstract. • Brief literature review. • Proposed methodology diagram. • Dataset plan. Milestone 2 (Apr 6, 2026): • Initial draft submission of your paper. |
| Sprint 2 | Apr 6, 2026 – Apr 20, 2026 | - Mentor uplift and review. Milestone 3 (Apr 20, 2026): • Final version submission. |
| Conference peer review Period | Apr, 2026 – June, 2026 | - Peer review each manuscript from the conference reviewers. As this is outside our control, we cannot exactly guarantee of a timeline. |
| Conference paper acceptance | May, 2026 – June, 2026 | - Receive acceptance notification from the conferences. |
| Finalists & Winners | June, 2026 | - Announcement of final results and travel grants |
| Final Sprint | July, 2026 | - Refine manuscripts based on reviewers’ feedback. - Submit final version to conference. |
| IRAI Conference | Sep 5–8, 2026, Melbourne, Australia | - Present your accepted paper at the IEEE International Conference on Responsible Artificial Intelligence conference. |
| IECON Conference | Oct 18–21, 2026, Doha, Qatar | - Present your accepted paper at the IEEE IES IECON conference. |
Stay on top of these dates to ensure you meet all requirements and get the most out of this hackathon experience.