Hackathons for biophysics education: simulating the cytoskeleton
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arXiv
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866915218837209088 |
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| author | Pollack, Yoav G. Bhattacharyya, Komal Hussin, Anas Klass, Emily Mendozza, Raffaele S, Krishna Iyer V Wellecke, Gerrit Zimmer, Patrick |
| author_facet | Pollack, Yoav G. Bhattacharyya, Komal Hussin, Anas Klass, Emily Mendozza, Raffaele S, Krishna Iyer V Wellecke, Gerrit Zimmer, Patrick |
| contents | Hackathons are intensive innovation-oriented events where participants work in teams to solve problems or create projects in as little as 24 or 48 hours. These events are common in startup culture, open source communities and mainstream industry. Here we examine how hackathons can be ported to academic teaching, specifically in computational biophysics. We propose hackathons as a teaching modality distinct from traditional courses and structured workshops. In particular, we suggest they can offer a low-stakes platform for students to overcome entry barriers to computational tools or to explore new topics, disciplines, and skills beyond their academic comfort zone. We tested this format in two computational biophysics hackathons on the Göttingen campus in 2023 and 2024, providing practical insights and a preliminary evaluation. To the best of our knowledge, the 2024 event is the first public hackathon dedicated to Biophysics. This paper explores the benefits of the hackathon format for teachers and researchers and provides guidelines for running a hackathon adapted to a teaching goal. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_23492 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Hackathons for biophysics education: simulating the cytoskeleton Pollack, Yoav G. Bhattacharyya, Komal Hussin, Anas Klass, Emily Mendozza, Raffaele S, Krishna Iyer V Wellecke, Gerrit Zimmer, Patrick Physics Education Biological Physics Computational Physics Hackathons are intensive innovation-oriented events where participants work in teams to solve problems or create projects in as little as 24 or 48 hours. These events are common in startup culture, open source communities and mainstream industry. Here we examine how hackathons can be ported to academic teaching, specifically in computational biophysics. We propose hackathons as a teaching modality distinct from traditional courses and structured workshops. In particular, we suggest they can offer a low-stakes platform for students to overcome entry barriers to computational tools or to explore new topics, disciplines, and skills beyond their academic comfort zone. We tested this format in two computational biophysics hackathons on the Göttingen campus in 2023 and 2024, providing practical insights and a preliminary evaluation. To the best of our knowledge, the 2024 event is the first public hackathon dedicated to Biophysics. This paper explores the benefits of the hackathon format for teachers and researchers and provides guidelines for running a hackathon adapted to a teaching goal. |
| title | Hackathons for biophysics education: simulating the cytoskeleton |
| topic | Physics Education Biological Physics Computational Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.23492 |