Title here
Summary here
2026 Oxford Hackathon Event Details
We are pleased to announce an upcoming “bring your own project” hackathon on Chaste.
Event Details
When
Wednesday 16th - Thursday 17th September 2026.
Where
Doctoral Training Centre, 1-4 Keble Road, Oxford.
Workshop Aims
- Provide dedicated, hands-on time to develop participants’ own Chaste-based research projects.
- Offer support from Chaste developers on improving, optimising, and debugging code.
- Offer scientific guidance from experienced Chaste-affiliated PIs on making the best use of Chaste.
- Exhibit the use of Chaste by various researchers in their work.
Audience
This hackathon is aimed at anyone using, or planning to use, cell-based Chaste in their research, for example to answer questions in developmental biology, cancer biology, or related areas of the life sciences. Participants at all career stages are welcome. Bring along your own model, dataset, or research question and work on it over the two days.
What to Bring
Please bring your own laptop. You don’t need Chaste pre-installed: there are several ways to get set up:
- Install locally during the hackathon. This needs a reasonably powerful laptop and admin permissions to install software.
- Use Chaste in the browser via GitHub Codespaces: no local install required.
- Connect to your own server if you already have Chaste running somewhere you can access remotely.
Eduroam is available at the Doctoral Training Centre. As all attendees are affiliated with a university, this should cover everyone, but let us know if you need guest WiFi access arranged.
The room will have monitors with USB-C connectivity. If your laptop doesn’t have USB-C, please bring your own HDMI or DisplayPort cable.
To get the most out of the two days, come ready to hit the ground running on your problem:
- Your data, or a sufficient subset of it, to work on.
- A reasonable description of the problem you’re trying to solve.
- Details of any similar modelling efforts, whether your own or others’, that you can build on or learn from.
Registration
Registration is now closed. If you would like to register last minute, please email directly.
Travel and accommodation costs will be covered for UK-based early career researchers.
Key Locations
| Location | Description |
|---|---|
| Doctoral Training Centre | 1-4 Keble Road, Oxford. Main venue: talks and project work take place here (Seminar Room 1B and Student Room 8). |
| Linacre College | Lunch venue on both days. |
| New College | Workshop dinner venue. |
| Tamesis Guest House | Accommodation. |
| Oxford railway station | Transport. |
| Cosy Club, Cornmarket | Welcome dinner. |
Timetable
Most time will be dedicated to working on your scientific problems alongside experienced Chaste developers.
| Day | Start | End | Description | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 15 Sep | 19:30 | Welcome dinner | Cosy Club, Cornmarket | |
| Wed 16 Sep | 09:30 | 10:00 | Arrivals & coffee | Seminar Room 1B |
| 10:00 | 10:30 | Welcome address & introductions | Seminar Room 1B | |
| 10:30 | 12:30 | Project work | Student Room 8 | |
| 12:30 | 14:00 | Lunch | Linacre College | |
| 14:00 | 15:30 | Project work | Student Room 8 | |
| 15:30 | 15:45 | Coffee break | Seminar Room 1B | |
| 15:45 | 16:15 | Scientific case study | Seminar Room 1B | |
| 16:15 | 17:30 | Project work | Student Room 8 | |
| 18:30 | Workshop dinner at New College | New College | ||
| Thu 17 Sep | 09:00 | 09:30 | Arrivals & coffee | Seminar Room 1B |
| 09:30 | 12:00 | Project work | Student Room 8 | |
| 12:00 | 12:30 | Scientific case study | Seminar Room 1B | |
| 12:30 | 14:00 | Lunch | Linacre College | |
| 14:00 | 15:30 | Project work | Student Room 8 | |
| 15:30 | 15:45 | Coffee break | Seminar Room 1B | |
| 15:45 | 16:15 | Project work | Student Room 8 | |
| 16:15 | 16:30 | Closing remarks | Seminar Room 1B | |
| 16:30 | Departures |
Catering
The following are provided to all attendees:
Breakfast: There is no catering at the Tamesis Guest House. Instead, a light breakfast of tea, coffee and pastries will be served at the Doctoral Training Centre on both mornings.
Lunch: On both days, lunch will be at Linacre College, a short walk though the University Park.
Dinner: The workshop dinner will be at New College on Wednesday 16th.
If you are travelling to the workshop, you may also claim reasonable subsistence along with your travel costs. You should expect to receive an email directly about claiming travel expenses.
Accommodation Information
Accommodation is at Tamesis Guest House, 45-53 Iffley Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX4 1ED.
Arrival: up to 20:00, please go directly to Tamesis House. After 20:00, please report to St Edmund Hall, Queen’s Lane, Oxford, OX1 4AR to check in at reception.
Transport Links
From Oxford railway station to Tamesis Guest House: walking takes approximately 30 minutes. You can alternatively catch the No 5 bus and ask to be dropped off at the first stop on Cowley Road; cross the road, walk to the end of Circus Street, and Tamesis Guest House is on the left.
From Tamesis Guest House to the Doctoral Training Centre: it’s a 20-25 minute walk. Alternatively, take the ST2 bus (run by Oxford Bus Company) from St Clements Street (Stop C) towards Wytham, Field Station. Get off after 4 stops (7 minutes) at Parks Road, close to the Doctoral Training Centre.
From the Doctoral Training Centre to Oxford railway station: it’s a 20 minute walk, or various bus options are available.
Supported by
BBSRC Grant BB/V018930/1