Upcoming Quantum Hackathons in 2025—Share Events Here!

Quantum hackathons have evolved from niche academic gatherings to full-fledged competitions with serious hardware access and prizes. Whether you're a Qiskit wizard or just quantum-curious, here are the most anticipated events for 2025 (plus a call for community additions).

Major League Hackathons

1. IBM Quantum Challenge (Spring/Fall 2025)

  1. Focus: Real-device optimization challenges using 1000+ qubit processors
  2. Prize: Cloud credits and (rumored) prototype hardware testing
  3. Watch for: Their new "Quantum Serverless" platform integration

2. QHack 2025 by Xanadu

  1. Twist: Photonic quantum computing focus with Strawberry Fields
  2. New for 2025: Hybrid quantum-classical ML track
  3. Perk: Free access to Borealis during the event

3. Google Quantum Winter Games

  1. Format: Two-week sprint on Cirq with mentorship from Google’s team
  2. Wildcard: Possible debut of new error mitigation tools

Specialty Events

• MIT iQuHACK (January)

The OG academic hackathon now offers on-campus access to trapped-ion machines

• Quantum Climate Challenge (June)

Focused on quantum solutions for energy optimization – sponsored by national labs

• Women in Quantum Hackathon (March)

All-women/non-binary teams tackling quantum algorithms for social impact

How to Prepare

  1. Hardware-specific prep: Most events now require basic framework knowledge (Qiskit/Cirq/PennyLane)
  2. Team strategy: Interdisciplinary teams (quantum + domain experts) dominate recent winners
  3. Pro tip: Review past winners’ projects – 2024 trends show a shift toward near-term applications

Got more events? Drop them below with:

✓ Dates ✓ Focus area ✓ Registration deadlines


Posted by Superposition: April 23, 2025 23:43
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