Frequently asked questions
We hope that you are able to find the answer to any questions that you might have about the Mercuria Hackathon on this page.
General
What is a hackathon?
An event in which a number of people meet and collaborate to solve a problem, often (but not always) involving technical problem solving or computer programming.
Why is Mercuria organizing hackathons?
Mercuria is committed to driving the energy transition to cleaner and more sustainable energy across all parts of its business. Our technology teams have their part to play in developing sustainable solutions to technical problems that use less energy and create less waste.
What will attending the hackathon cost?
We aim to keep our hackathon events free if you are selected to participate. However, we invite people to apply to attend each event from a wide area and so whilst we may be able to make a contribution towards you travel costs, you will likely incur some travel expense to get to the hackathon venue.
What if I have never hacked before?
Don’t worry, you can still apply to attend. We want each hackathon to be as diverse as possible and ensure that attendees have the best possible time. When selecting participants and creating the teams, we will ensure that there is a good balance of different experiences taking part – from seasoned hackathon attendees to newcomers.
Registering your interest
What skills are needed to take part?
Anyone that is currently involved in software development – either working in or studying fields related to computing such as computer/data science, devops, coding etc. – and thinks they have the skills to complete the challenge.
Sorry, you need to be over the age of 18 to take part.
Where and when will the events take place?
We are constantly arranging to have at least one Mercuria Hackathon per year.
Our next hackathon is being finalized and will be in India in November 2024. We hope to be running further events in the Middle East and Asia during 2025. Once we have firmed up event details we will be update this website and contacting people that have registered interest so that people can apply to attend.
To stay up to date with the schedule and to ensure that you don’t miss out, register your interest.
Do I need to register as a team?
One of the most fun parts of a hackathon is the collaboration so we expect the challenges will be solved in small teams of up to 4 people. However, another crucial part of a hackathon is the networking and meeting with new, likeminded people.
As such, there is no need to register as part of a team and teams will be allocated by us, based on disciplines prior to the event. If you do register at the same time as your friends or colleagues, there is no guarantee that each of you will be selected for the event as selection will be done on an individual basis.
Can I volunteer to take part as a judge?
No. We will be responsible for the judging of our hackathons, so we only want people to take part in solving the challenge.
Event logistics
What details are there about upcoming Mercuria Hackathons?
We are currently finalizing the details for our hackathon schedule in 2025 and will update this website as soon as more information is available.
The challenges
When will details of the challenges be announced?
In keeping with Mercuria’s purpose to connect markets and advance the energy transition, you can be sure that hackathon challenges will be related to this transition to a zero carbon world, as well as the role that green software can play in the energy transition.
We are still in the process of finalizing the specific challenge for the hackathon in the United States, but it will be related to making power grids more reliable and sustainable.
What is green software development?
We believe that improving information technology has a role to play in the energy transition to a zero carbon world. Green software is the concept for building applications in a way that they emit less carbon into the atmosphere.
You can read more about some of the research, tools, coding and training on the Green Software Foundation github here: GitHub – Green-Software-Foundation/awesome-green-software?
How is intellectual property handled? Do I own my code?
We want to ensure that the event is as open and as inclusive as possible and as such we will be adopting the same Terms & Conditions as is the common standard for most Hackathons, ie:
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- Entrants to the Hackathon will retain ownership of all intellectual and industrial property rights so that they are able to reuse their code in the future.
- At the same time, entrants will grant Mercuria and subsidiary companies a perpetual, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to use, modify and create derivative work from the code.
Full T&Cs will be published nearer to the event and acceptance will be a criteria of attendance to the Hackathon.
How are the challenge solutions judged?
The solutions will be judged in 5 categories: Value, Impact, Scalability, Completeness and Innovation. More details of exactly how solutions will be judged will be made available before the challenge begins.
Will there be prizes?
We believe that the Mercuria Hackathons are amazing experiences for all involved and hope that your motivation for getting involved isn’t to win a prize.
There will be some small prizes given out during the event, but these probably won’t be for what you expect them to be for.
In previous Mercuria Hackathons some of the participants have been able to secure internships and even full time roles with the company after completion of the event.