Build Day is a 12 hour hackathon at Durham University for people who have never been to one.
At 9:30am we release a problem set written by investors/VC and operators the things people who fund startups for a living actually want built. Teams choose a problem from that list and have until 7pm to build something that works.
Our first event ran in October 2026. 174 people applied for 116 places. 73% had never been to a hackathon, 44% had never shipped anything in their lives, and all 32 teams finished with a working product. Teams built a monitoring system for undersea cable faults, a ranking tool for asteroid flyby risk, and a deposit-protection service for student renters. Twenty-one of those teams are still building.
Build Day 2 is bigger. Open to students across the North East, with hands on workshops from OpenAI on validation and deployment, Vercel on building AI agents, and Microsoft, plus cash prizes and food through the day.
No experience needed. Teams are two to four people and we match solo arrivals on the day. You need a laptop and nothing else.
Saturday 28 November 2026 · Durham · 9am to 10pm
Requirements
1. Register. Sign up through the form on our page. Places are limited and we were oversubscribed by half last time, so do it early.
2. Bring a laptop and a charger. That is the whole kit list. Food and drinks are provided.
3. Do not prepare. The problem set is released at the keynote, not before, so nobody can start early. Turn up with nothing and that is an advantage, not a gap.
4. Come alone or come with a team. Teams are two to four people. If you arrive solo, go to the team-forming table at check-in and we will match you.
5. On the day. Registration opens at 9am. Keynote and problem set at 9:30. Build from 10am. Submissions close at 7pm. Shortlisted teams pitch at 8pm and prizes are at 9pm.
6. Submit here on Devpost. Every team submits a written entry before 7pm: what you built, what problem it solves, and a link to your code or demo. Judges shortlist from the written entries and the shortlist pitches live.
Prizes
TBC
To be confirmed
Judges
Amit Vijapur
Open AI
Judging Criteria
-
Clarity
Can we understand what you built and why, from the written submission alone? Judges shortlist from the writing before anyone pitches, so a clear 200 words is worth more than a clever one. -
Ambition in a day
How much did you take on, given you had nine hours? We account for your starting point. A first-time team shipping something simple and complete scores as well as an experienced team shipping something complex. -
Problem fit
How well does your build answer the problem you picked from the set? We are looking for a solution that someone with that problem would actually use, not a general-purpose tool pointed loosely at it. -
It works
Does the thing run? We would rather see a rough demo that does one real thing than a polished mockup that does nothing. Working code, a live deployment, or a video of it functioning all count.
Questions? Email the hackathon manager