Hackathon Rules & Evaluation Model
Every participant, mentor, and team adheres to these standardized guidelines and the 100-point scoring model across all 6 tracks of Citadel Hackathon.
The 100-Point Judging Model
Final pitches and prototype demos are evaluated by an independent jury of senior architects, startup founders, and faculty experts based on 8 weighted criteria totaling 100 points:
Code quality, architectural depth, system robustness, and execution excellence.
Originality of approach and creative utilization of modern technology.
Completeness of the prototype, live demo stability, and feature execution.
Clarity of problem validation, target user understanding, and genuine real-world need.
Interface aesthetics, usability flow, ergonomics, and accessibility.
Potential to scale effectively and create meaningful institutional or societal impact.
Feasibility of evolving the prototype into a lasting product or startup.
Storytelling clarity, demo presentation, and cross-examination defense.
The 10 Official Competition Rules
Teams must adhere strictly to the specified team-size limit of 2 to 5 members. Interdisciplinary collaboration across departments is strongly encouraged.
All project prototypes, codebases, and systems must be actively developed during the permitted hackathon period.
Any existing libraries, open-source models, or preliminary code must be disclosed during concept submission and cannot constitute core hackathon deliverables.
Plagiarism of any kind, including lifting codebases without attribution or submitting pre-built closed projects, is strictly prohibited and leads to immediate disqualification.
Intellectual property violations and unauthorized use of proprietary assets are strictly forbidden. Student teams retain 100% ownership of all original IP generated during the event.
Participants must maintain professional decorum and utmost respect toward mentors, judges, organizers, volunteers, and fellow competitors at all times.
Teams must submit their complete projects (source code repo, demo links, presentation deck) via the official submission portal prior to the announced deadline.
The decisions of the grand evaluation jury and faculty coordinator regarding scoring, shortlisting, and awards are final, binding, and uncontestable.
Participants must follow all college premises, overnight safety, fire safety, and event operations guidelines. Leaving campus during overnight hours without authorization is prohibited.
Misuse of technology, unauthorized access to host campus systems, penetration testing without permission, or disruption of event networks is strictly prohibited.
Official Certification Matrix
Every verified participant, mentor, judge, volunteer, and CITADEL inductee receives formal institutional certification.
Participant Certificate
Official certificate verifying full participation, concept submission, and prototype completion.
Finalist Certificate of Distinction
Recognizing outstanding prototype execution qualifying for the Grand Demo Defense.
Winner Certificate of Excellence
Honoring Champions, First Runner-Up, Second Runner-Up, and 7 Special Category Awardees.
CITADEL Founding Member Certificate
Exclusive credential conferring Founding Member rights, incubator access, and ongoing mentorship.
Mentor Certificate of Commendation
Formal institutional commendation recognizing dedicated technical and entrepreneurial guidance.
Judge Certificate of Appreciation
Acknowledging senior architects, founders, and professors evaluating the 100-point rubric.
Volunteer Certificate of Service
Recognizing student volunteers across technical, operations, hospitality, and media teams.
Operational & Safety Risk Mitigations
Engineered protocols to ensure uninterrupted technical workflow, personal safety, and 24/7 participant welfare.
MITIGATION: Redundant dual-ISP connection with automated failover and local offline dev mirrors.
MITIGATION: Heavy-duty uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and automated diesel generator backup.
MITIGATION: Early 30-day cross-college outreach, pre-event teasers, and team matching workshops.
MITIGATION: Tiered multi-partner packages (Title, Gold, Tech, Swag, Food) offering flexible entry points.
MITIGATION: Dedicated 24-hour first-aid station, trained medical attendants, and on-call campus ambulance.
MITIGATION: Campus security team stationed 24/7, restricted entry points, and separate rest facilities.
MITIGATION: Dedicated technical desk running parallel Git-based submission portals and offline forms.
MITIGATION: Buffer catering of +25% beyond confirmed RSVPs with continuous midnight snack stations.
MITIGATION: Explicit zero-claim charter stating 100% student IP ownership with clear copyright guidelines.
MITIGATION: Immediate induction into CITADEL with the first community touchpoint scheduled within 48 hours.
Full IP Protection: All original source code, designs, datasets, and intellectual property developed during the Citadel Hackathon belong 100% exclusively to the student creators and their team members. Citadel Hackathon, university partners, and sponsors claim zero ownership, copyright, or equity rights over contestant projects.
Privacy & Data Security: All personal registration details, academic proofs, and concept notes are encrypted at rest and in transit in strict compliance with the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act. Contestant data is never sold or shared with external commercial third parties.