KUK VIRTUAL HACKATHON

These rules bind every registered participant of the KULN Global Virtual Hackathon 2026, running 16–22 November 2026, from registration until the winner announcement on 29 November 2026. Registering for the hackathon means accepting these rules in full.

1. The KULN Global Virtual Hackathon 2026 (the "Hackathon") is organised by Kelab UMNO Korea ("KULN Korea" or the "Organiser"), with TechTamu as Industry Partner and EzyEvents and RunCloud as strategic partners (together, the "Partners").

2. The Hackathon is 100% virtual and runs on Zoom, Discord and Devpost.

3. In these rules:

1. "Participant" means an individual whose registration has been confirmed by the Organiser.

2. "Team" means a group of 3–4 Participants registered together.

3. "Hacking Period" means 16 November 2026 to the Submission Deadline.

4. "Submission Deadline" means 22 November 2026, 23:59 Korea Standard Time (KST).

5. "Committee" means the KULN Korea organising committee.

1. These rules should be read together with the Participant Guideline. Where the two conflict, these rules prevail.

2. All official times in these rules are in Korea Standard Time (KST, UTC+9).

1. To take part, each Participant must meet all of the following:

1. Hold Malaysian citizenship.

2. Be currently enrolled as an undergraduate student at a university in Korea.

3. Be available for the Hacking Period and the pre-event briefing.

4. Commit to participating as an active member of their Team throughout the event.

1. Postgraduate and PhD students are not eligible by default. They may write to the Committee before registration closes; any exception is at the Committee's sole discretion.

2. Members of the organising Committee, judges and mentors may not compete.

3. The Committee may ask any Participant for proof of citizenship or enrolment, such as a student ID or enrolment certificate. Failure to provide proof within 3 working days may lead to disqualification.

4. A Team with any ineligible member may be disqualified, including after prizes are announced.

1. Each Team must have at least 3 and at most 4 members. Individual entries are not accepted.

2. Each Participant may join one Team only.

3. Teams may include members from different universities in Korea. Multi-disciplinary Teams are encouraged.

4. At least one member of each Team should be able to write code, since every Team must deliver a working web application.

5. Each Team must name one Team Leader as its main contact with the Committee.

6. Team names must be appropriate. The Committee may require a Team to change any name it considers offensive, political or misleading.

7. Team membership is fixed once registration closes on 31 October 2026. Changes after that date need written approval from the Committee.

8. If a member withdraws or becomes unreachable, the Team Leader must inform the Participant Experience team on Discord immediately. The Committee decides case by case whether the Team may continue, replace the member, or continue with fewer members.

1. Registration is through the official Google Form only, shared on KULN Korea's Instagram (@umno_korea) and Discord when it opens in October 2026.

2. Registration closes on 31 October 2026 at 23:59 KST. Late registrations will not be accepted.

3. Every member must submit accurate details: full name, IC number, university, student ID, year of study and field of study. False information leads to disqualification.

4. A registration is confirmed only when the Participant receives a confirmation email with a Team ID, normally within 3 working days.

5. Confirmed Participants must join the official Discord server and attend the pre-event briefing on Zoom on 14 November 2026.

6. The Committee may cap the number of Teams (about 25–30 are expected). If demand exceeds capacity, the Committee may accept Teams in order of complete registration.

1. The official problem statement from sponsors will be revealed at the Opening Ceremony on 14 November 2026. The provisional theme is ESG Automation ("Data to Action") and may change.

2. Hacking runs from 16 November 2026, 00:00 KST, to the Submission Deadline on 22 November 2026, 23:59 KST. It is not a non-stop event; Teams work at their own pace within this window.

3. All project work must be original and created during the Hacking Period. Pre-built projects, or projects submitted to other competitions or courses, are not allowed.

4. Teams may plan, research, form ideas and set up accounts and tools before 16 November. No product code may be written before then.

5. Generic starter templates and boilerplate (for example, a framework's create-app template) are allowed if disclosed in the Devpost description.

6. Teams should work in a version-controlled repository created on or after 16 November 2026. The commit history may be used to verify originality.

7. Teams may not share their solution or code with other Teams.

8. Teams may not receive help on their solution from people outside the Team, except official mentors during mentor sessions and the #mentor-support channel.

1. There are no restrictions on programming language, framework or hosting platform.

2. Teams may freely use open-source libraries, frameworks and public APIs, provided they respect each licence.

3. AI tools (for example GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT or Claude) may be used to assist with coding, design and writing. The core idea, solution design and implementation decisions must come from the Team.

4. Teams must list the main AI tools, APIs and third-party services used in their Devpost description.

5. Images, icons, fonts, music and datasets must be original, properly licensed or free to use. Credit sources where the licence requires it.

6. Teams must not use real personal or confidential data without permission. Use sample, synthetic or public data where possible.

Each Team submits one project on Devpost by 22 November 2026, 23:59 KST. Items 1–3 are mandatory; a submission missing any of them will not be judged.

1. Only the Team Leader submits, and all members must be added to the Devpost project page.

2. Late submissions will not be accepted. No extensions will be given, including for technical problems raised after the deadline.

3. Teams may edit their Devpost page until the deadline. Changes to the code, app or video after the deadline are not allowed, except fixes requested by the Committee to restore access.

4. The web app must stay live and unchanged until the end of judging on 28 November 2026. An app that is down when judges test it may lose Technical Execution marks or be disqualified.

5. Judges may stop watching any pitch video at the 3:00 mark.

6. Technical problems with submission must be raised in #q-and-a on Discord before the deadline.h

Judging runs 23–28 November 2026, and every eligible submission is scored out of 100 on five criteria.

1. The panel includes representatives of TechTamu, EzyEvents and RunCloud and KULN Korea leadership. The final list will be announced before the event.

2. A Team's final score is the average of its judges' scores.

3. Ties are broken first by the higher Technical Execution score, then by the higher Relevance to Problem Statement score. If still tied, the panel decides by vote.

4. Judges must declare any conflict of interest, such as a personal relationship with a Team member, and will not score that Team.

5. The Committee may run a first-round screening for completeness and eligibility before full judging.

6. The decision of the judges and the Committee is final. No correspondence will be entered into about scores.

Winners are announced at the Closing Ceremony on 29 November 2026; cash amounts will be confirmed before hacking begins.

1. Cash prizes are provided by KULN Korea / UMNO Headquarters and paid to the Team Leader or split among members, as the Team agrees in writing.

2. Winners must provide payment details within 14 days of the announcement. Unclaimed prizes may be forfeited.

3. Prizes are not transferable and cannot be exchanged. 

4. The Committee may withhold or recover a prize if a rule breach is found after the announcement.

5. Participation certificates are sent by email within 2 weeks after the event to Participants whose Team submitted a complete project.

1. Each mentor from TechTamu, EzyEvents or RunCloud supports about 5 Teams during the Hacking Period.

2. Mentors give guidance only. They will not write code or build the solution for any Team.

3. Teams must not contact mentors or judges privately to seek an advantage in judging.

4. Teams that miss a booked session without notice may lose their next slot.

1. Treat all Participants, mentors, judges, Partners and Committee members with respect.

2. Harassment, discrimination, bullying, threats or offensive behaviour of any kind will not be tolerated, on any platform.

3. Keep all communication professional on Discord, Zoom, WhatsApp, KakaoTalk and Devpost. English is the official language for submissions and pitches.

4. Every Team member must contribute actively. A member who does not contribute may be reported by their Team and removed by the Committee.

5. Plagiarism, including copying another Team's work or submitting someone else's project, leads to immediate disqualification.

6. Do not disrupt sessions, spam channels, share Zoom links outside the event, or record sessions without permission.

7. Raise disputes privately with the Participant Experience team on Discord, never in public channels.

8. Treat all Partner materials and non-public information shared during the event as confidential.

1. Breaches of these rules or the Code of Conduct are handled in escalating steps: a written warning, then Team disqualification, then removal from the event.

2. Serious breaches, such as plagiarism, harassment or false eligibility details, may lead directly to disqualification or removal.

3. Anyone may report a breach privately to the Participant Experience team on Discord or by email to umnokorea25@gmail.com. Reports are handled confidentially.

4. The Committee will give the Team concerned a chance to respond before deciding on disqualification.

5. A Team may appeal a disqualification in writing to umnokorea25@gmail.com within 48 hours of being notified. The Committee's decision on appeal is final.

1. Each Team keeps ownership of the intellectual property in its project.

2. By submitting, each Team grants KULN Korea and the Partners a non-exclusive, royalty-free right to show the project name, description, screenshots and pitch video for promoting the Hackathon.

3. Any further commercial use of a Team's project by a Partner requires a separate agreement with that Team.

4. Personal data collected at registration, including IC numbers, is used only to verify eligibility, run the event and issue certificates and prizes. It will not be sold or shared outside the Committee and Partners who need it.

5. Participants agree that official Zoom sessions, including the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, may be recorded, and that their name, photo and project may appear on KULN Korea and Partner social media.

6. A Participant who does not want their image used in publicity may tell the Committee in writing before the event.

1. The Committee may amend these rules, the theme, dates or prize structure at any time. Changes are announced in #announcements on Discord and by email, and apply from the time of announcement.

2. Participants are responsible for checking #announcements daily during the event.

3. The Committee may cancel, postpone or modify the Hackathon if circumstances beyond its control require it.

4. KULN Korea and the Partners are not responsible for lost data, internet outages, platform failures or technical problems on a Participant's side.

5. Any matter not covered by these rules will be decided by the Committee, and its decision is final.

6. Questions about these rules go to umnokorea25@gmail.com or #q-and-a on Discord. Urgent issues during the event go to the General Secretary, Nur Hanan binti Mohammad Zamri, via WhatsApp (wa.me/60136356028).

Acknowledgement. By registering for the KULN Global Virtual Hackathon 2026, each Participant confirms they have read, understood and agree to follow these Rules & Regulations.