IN 14 DAYS

CBAI Boston Biosecurity Hackathon

CBJessica Chen
view event ↗
when15 Nov 2026
where20 Brattle St
prize$5,000
priceFree
formatIn-Person
organiserJessica Chen

about this event

A hands-on AI challenge for life scientists. No coding required.

Join the ASTRAL team and CBAI for a day of hands-on AI testing, friendly competition, and conversation about biosecurity. This is not a typical coding hackathon. You won’t need to build an app or train a model.

Throughout the day, we’ll explore both ordinary scientific use and adversarial red-teaming. That means trying realistic scientific questions using public or fictional examples, as well as taking on challenges that test how AI responds to difficult requests and safety boundaries.

The resulting dataset supports CBAI's ASTRAL project (an open-source scanner for biological-misuse risk in AI logs) and will be made available to qualified biosecurity research groups under a research-use governance framework.

CBAI is sponsoring $5,000 in cash prizes. CBAI will also provide food and cover token costs.

Successful applicants include: Research assistants, students with research experience, postdocs, industry scientists, clinicians, public-health researchers, and others. We also encourage people with relevant adjacent backgrounds to express interest.

Alongside the competition, the event is an opportunity to learn about AI and biosecurity, meet people across the local research community, and contribute to the ASTRAL team’s research on evaluating AI conversations and potential misuse.

This is a research event: Transcripts are governed under a documented retention policy shared with participants in advance. Misuse takes place inside a hosted environment under CBAI's accounts, not on participants' own accounts.

Questions? Reach out to ASTRAL@detection.bio.

when

November 15, 202610:00–17:00 EST

CBAI Boston Biosecurity Hackathon

A day of hands-on AI testing, friendly competition and conversation about biosecurity, including scientific use and adversarial red-teaming.

◍ 20 Brattle St

tickets

Ticket types, prices and availability for CBAI Boston Biosecurity Hackathon
ticketspriceFeeStatusdescription
General AdmissionFreeNoneAvailableFree admission; CBAI provides food and covers token costs.

prizes

Prize places and values for CBAI Boston Biosecurity Hackathon
#PRIZEprice
Cash prizes$5,000 in cash prizes sponsored by CBAI$5,000

faq

Do I need coding experience to take part?+
No. This is not a typical coding hackathon — you won’t need to build an app or train a model, and no coding is required.
What will participants actually do?+
You will explore ordinary scientific use of AI by trying realistic scientific questions using public or fictional examples, and take on adversarial red-teaming challenges that test how AI responds to difficult requests and safety boundaries.
What happens to the data collected?+
The resulting dataset supports CBAI's ASTRAL project, an open-source scanner for biological-misuse risk in AI logs, and will be made available to qualified biosecurity research groups under a research-use governance framework. Transcripts are governed under a documented retention policy shared with participants in advance, and misuse takes place inside a hosted environment under CBAI's accounts rather than participants' own accounts.
Who should apply?+
Research assistants, students with research experience, postdocs, industry scientists, clinicians, public-health researchers and others. People with relevant adjacent backgrounds are also encouraged to express interest.
How can I get in touch?+
Reach out to ASTRAL@detection.bio.
CBAI Boston Biosecurity Hackathon15 Nov 2026 · 20 Brattle St · $5,000
view event →

never miss a hackathon

one email a week with every new listing. no spam, unsubscribe any time.