Welcome to The Atomiq Hackathon!

Qiskit Fall Fest 2026 at IEM | Chi(r)ps: A Decade of Harmony on the Cloud

 

Register for Qiskit Fall Fest 2026 at IEM here.

In 2026, IBM Quantum celebrates ten transformative years of cloud-accessible quantum computing. Commemorating this milestone, the Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computing at Institute of Engineering and Management (IEM), Kolkata, in collaboration with IBM Quantum, presents The Atomiq Hackathon as part of Qiskit Fall Fest 2026 at IEM.

Just as IBM’s quantum chips bear the names of birds—echoing the precision tuning of cryogenic hardware—our theme draws inspiration from the lively "chirps" of developers exchanging ideas, debugging circuits, and creating entanglement together. This year, we spotlight qreativity: transforming quantum mechanics, superposition, interference, and real-world device noise into innovative algorithms, artistic computation, and shared discovery.

| At a Glance ⟩

  • Sprint Duration: 24 Hours Virtual Sprint (Nov 10, 10:00 PM IST – Nov 11, 10:00 PM IST)

  • Team Size: Solo to teams of 3 (1–3 members per team)

  • Eligibility: Open to all! Undergraduate & postgraduate students, academic researchers, and industry professionals worldwide.

  • Cost: 100% Free

  • Mode: 100% Virtual

  • Official Website: qff-26-iem.vercel.app

  • Community & Mentorship: Join our Discord

| Theme: Chi(r)ps & Qreativity! ⟩

"Medicine, banking, and supply chains wage a constant war on quantum noise... pouring millions into error-mitigation to force reality to behave. Art and exploration operate on the exact reverse principle."

While classic enterprise domains treat quantum randomness as noise to be eliminated, creativity thrives on it. In the Atomiq Hackathon, superposition, interference, and collapse are the heartbeat of your canvas. Whether you are building practical algorithmic solutions, noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) demonstrations, interactive tools, quantum generative art, or hybrid quantum machine learning architectures—bring your boldest ideas to life!

| Focus Areas ⟩

  1. Quantum Machine Learning (QML): Variational algorithms, quantum kernels, data classification, and hybrid classical-quantum models using Qiskit.

  2. Qreative Quantum & Generative Algorithms: Quantum sound design, generative art, procedural simulations, interactive visualizations, and creative exploits of hardware noise.

  3. Algorithms & Optimization: QAOA, VQE, quantum combinatorial routing, graph algorithms, and utility-scale quantum exploration.

  4. Open Quantum Innovation: Open-source developer tools, educational simulators, quantum game design, and circuit optimization compilers.

| Perks & Recognition ⟩

  • Official IBM Quantum Recognition: Official certificates of completion and participation backed by IBM Quantum.

  • Digital Credentials: Verifiable badges and credentials issued via Credly and Certifier for winners and high-scoring projects.

  • Exclusive Mentorship & Prize Pool: Direct guidance from IBM quantum researchers, faculty and mentors exclusively and a prize pool!

| Organizers & Community Support ⟩

Organized by the Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computing (QuantCom) at IEM Kolkata in collaboration with IBM Quantum.

  • Lead Organizer: Asmita Ghorai (+91 83359 89812)

  • Co-Organizers: Arna Roy (+91 91630 25296) | Tousif Aman Halder (+91 82405 88201)

  • Faculty Convenors: Dr. Moutushi Singh & Dr. Prithwineel Paul

  • Email Support: [email protected]

  • Community: Join our Discord Server

Requirements

| What to Build ⟩

Choose one of the 9 hackathon domains below and craft a functional quantum or hybrid classical-quantum prototype. We encourage you to weave in our core theme—"Chi(r)ps & Qreativity"—by leaning into quantum properties (superposition, entanglement, interference, and even hardware noise) rather than treating them solely as hurdles.

  • | Aerospace and Defense ⟩: Autonomous navigation, trajectory and route optimization under dynamic constraints (e.g., QAOA for multi-vehicle coordination), satellite scheduling, radar cross-section simulations, or resilient quantum-safe communication protocols for aerospace assets.

  • | AIML ⟩: Quantum Machine Learning (QML) architectures, variational quantum classifiers (VQC), quantum kernel methods, parameter-shift optimization, hybrid neural-quantum pipelines, and quantum generative modeling (e.g., QGANs).

  • | Fintech ⟩: Quantum portfolio optimization, multi-asset arbitrage detection, credit risk assessment via amplitude estimation, derivative pricing simulations, or fraud pattern classification.

  • | Automotive ⟩: Electric vehicle (EV) charging network load balancing, smart traffic routing grids, battery chemistry energy state approximations, or supply-chain logistics optimization.

  • | Healthcare ⟩: Biomedical image classification using quantum kernels, genomic sequence alignment heuristics, biomarker pattern recognition, or patient scheduling under hospital resource constraints.

  • | Blockchain ⟩: Post-quantum cryptographic signatures, quantum consensus mechanisms, entropy-as-a-service using quantum random number generation (QRNG) on IBM hardware, or quantum-resistant smart contract architectures.

  • | Sustainability ⟩: Smart power grid dispatch optimization, renewable energy balancing, carbon footprint mitigation models, climate predictive modeling, or subsea/ecological infrastructure routing.

  • | Cybersecurity ⟩: Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) simulators, zero-knowledge proofs augmented by quantum circuits, post-quantum cryptography (PQC) migration frameworks, or quantum-enhanced intrusion detection systems.

  • | Chemistry & Pharmaceutics ⟩: Ground-state and excited-state energy estimations via VQE, molecular orbital modeling, small drug-receptor binding affinity heuristics, or catalyst pathway approximations.

| What to Submit ⟩

Every solo hacker or team (up to 3 members) must submit their project through Devpost before the deadline (Nov 11, 2026 at 10:00 PM IST) with the following artifacts:

  • | Public GitHub Repository ⟩:

    • Clean, reproducible source code.

    • A clear dependency file (requirements.txt or environment.yml).

    • An open-source license (MIT, Apache 2.0, or equivalent).

  • | Detailed Project README ⟩:

    • Project Overview: The problem statement, chosen domain, and proposed quantum solution.

    • Quantum Implementation: Clear explanation of your circuit architecture, algorithms used (e.g., QAOA, VQE, QSVM, custom ansatz), and how primitives/transpilation were leveraged.

    • Chi(r)ps & Qreativity Connection: How your approach embraces quantum mechanics, hardware characteristics, or noise creatively.

    • Setup & Execution Instructions: Step-by-step commands to run your code or interactive demo locally or on cloud simulators.

  • | Video Demonstration (1-2 Minutes) ⟩:

    • A publicly accessible link (YouTube, Loom, or Google Drive with open access).

    • Must include: a quick elevator pitch, high-level code/circuit walkthrough, and live demonstration showing outputs, state vectors, counts, or visualizations.

  • | Devpost Submission Form Fields ⟩:

    • Brief text elevator pitch (under 200 words).

    • Selected domain track tag.

    • List of all team members and their designated roles.

The Problem Statements and detailed track information will be officially launched and briefed just before the hackathon kicks off on 10th November.

Hackathon Sponsors

Prizes

₹ 10,000+ in prizes
+ other prizes
1st Place — Atomiq Champion!
₹ 5,000 in cash
1 winner

₹5,000 Cash Prize + Official IBM Quantum Certificate + Verifiable Certifier Digital Badge + Customized Digital Sticker Bundles + Dedicated spotlight across our socials and community platforms.
(Prize amount may increase as additional sponsorships are finalized).

2nd Place — Atomiq Supercharger!
₹ 3,000 in cash
1 winner

₹3,000 Cash Prize + Official IBM Quantum Certificate + Verifiable Certifier Digital Badge + Customized Digital Sticker Bundles + Dedicated spotlight across our socials and community platforms.
(Prize amount may increase as additional sponsorships are finalized).

3rd Place — Atomiq Entangler!
₹ 2,000 in cash
1 winner

₹2,000 Cash Prize + Official IBM Quantum Certificate + Verifiable Certifier Digital Badge + Customized Digital Sticker Bundles + Feature on the public leaderboard across our platforms.
(Prize amount may increase as additional sponsorships are finalized).

Top 10 Global Finalists
10 winners

Official IBM Quantum Certificate + Verifiable Certifier Digital Badge + Dedicated spotlight feature across our socials, community platforms, and official public leaderboard.

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Judges

TBD

TBD
TBD

Judging Criteria

  • Criterion 1: Quantum Rigor & Technical Depth
    Weight: 35% Description: Evaluates technical soundness and circuit design. Assesses algorithm complexity, ansatz formulation, and valid execution or simulation using quantum SDKs and tools.
  • Criterion 2: Originality & "Qreativity"
    Weight: 25% Description: Assesses innovation and theme alignment with Chi(r)ps & Qreativity. Evaluates inventive uses of quantum phenomena, superposition, entanglement, or hardware noise.
  • Criterion 3: Practical Viability & Code Quality
    Weight: 20% Description: Evaluates repository organization, modular code structure, dependencies, error handling, and ease of local or cloud reproducibility.
  • Criterion 4: Presentation, Pitch & Video Demo
    Weight: 20% Description: Assesses communication clarity in the 1-2 minute video walkthrough and the depth, readability, and structure of the project README.

Questions? Email the hackathon manager

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Hackathon sponsors

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