Hello Vienna: Successful Stop of the CISPA European Cybersecurity & AI Hackathon Championships in Austria

©Felix Koltermann/CISPA

Decorated Christmas trees, happily strolling crowds, and the scent of mulled wine—this was the scene on the second weekend of Advent at Vienna’s famous Christkindlmarkt on Rathausplatz. Not far away, in the historic main building of the University of Vienna, a very different picture emerged: students bent over their laptops, huddled in small groups, racking their brains over complex challenges. Nearly 70 early-career researchers from the fields of AI and cybersecurity came together here for the CISPA European Cybersecurity & AI Hackathon Championship. Following the successful launch of the event in Paris in November, this marked the second regional qualifier.

©Felix Koltermann/CISPA

At the welcoming session on Saturday midday in the lecture hall, the tension among the students—who had traveled from across Austria and partly from Germany—was palpable. At this point, no one could quite grasp what the weekend would bring. But the project initiators, the two CISPA-Faculty Dr. Adam Dziedzic and Dr. Franziska Boenisch, quickly broke the ice. It didn’t take long for the students to become engaged and for a focused working atmosphere to emerge. Along with presenting the tasks, Dziedzic and Boenisch also provided a brief introduction to the topic. “The tasks are completely different every time,” Boenisch explained during a break. “We don’t want to give anyone an advantage. Moreover, we aim to cover a broad spectrum of challenges from the fields of AI and cybersecurity.”

©Felix Koltermann/CISPA

In Vienna, there were three tasks to solve, covering dataset inference, text classification, and the removal of watermarks. Using the last example, Boenisch explained what this entails in concrete terms: “Watermarking in images is a technique used to label creative content. These watermarks are invisible to humans. Model operators can, for example, mark data generated by their models, or artists can mark their own works. It is crucial that these watermarks remain robust, meaning they can withstand attacks aimed at removing them. If a watermark can be easily removed, someone could claim they created the content themselves. For this reason, participants test current watermarking methods. We provide the participants with images containing watermarks, and they are tasked with removing them. We then check how much of the watermark remains and whether it is still detectable.”

©Felix Koltermann/CISPA

In order for participants to solve their tasks—and for the team to later evaluate and assess the results—a sophisticated technical infrastructure is required. “We don’t just have to set up one IT infrastructure, but two,” Boenisch explained. “The infrastructure for the participants primarily consists of powerful GPUs and is provided by the Jülich Supercomputer Cluster. Setting up this infrastructure begins days in advance and only needs to be configured on site.” The more challenging part is the infrastructure used to evaluate the tasks. “For the watermarking task, for example, we need an evaluator model to check whether the watermark is still present,” she continued. Due to the complexity of the technical setup, staff from Boenisch’s SprintML Lab organized themselves into three shifts. This ensured that someone was on site throughout the night to step in if any issues arose.

©Felix Koltermann/CISPA

Dr. Peter Haffke, Head of the Scientific Talent Acquisition and Management Department at CISPA, was also on site in Vienna. “For us, the Hackathon Championship is an excellent opportunity to engage in informal conversations with the next generation of researchers,” he explains. Together with his two colleagues, Lena Gotsche and Pauline Balke, Haffke set up a booth where students could stop by during breaks for a chat. Specifically, the discussions focus on supervising master’s theses, internships at CISPA, and general questions about careers in AI and cybersecurity research. “In addition, we are constantly looking for new PhD students at CISPA. Talking to young talent while they are still studying has proven to be a very effective recruiting strategy,” Haffke adds.

©Felix Koltermann/CISPA

One thing is clear: anyone who performs well in a hackathon definitely brings key skills that are essential for a PhD. Solution-oriented thinking, creativity, and perseverance are all skills that are also required in the day-to-day life of doctoral researchers. n the end, the three teams !!1337, 4braincells, and SarAI impress the jury in Vienna. The participants are at very different stages in their careers. While some are still in bachelor’s programs, others are already working on their PhDs. Regardless of their different backgrounds, they will have to compete against the winners of the other preliminary rounds in St. Ingbert next year. Until then, however, there is still time to prepare. One thing also became clear in Vienna: the better participants are familiar with the current state of research and recent papers from the SprintML Lab, the faster they can begin testing their own solution strategies.

©Felix Koltermann/CISPA

After the award ceremony on Sunday afternoon, and as adrenaline levels quickly subside, the lecture hall empties just as quickly. The tension fades and fatigue becomes noticeable—both among the participating teams, almost all of whom worked through the night with only short breaks, and among the organizing team. Julian Collet, who coordinated things behind the scenes for CISPA, is pleased with the outcome. “At the start in Paris, many things were still unknown,” he says. “For me, a hackathon was something completely new. That meant I had even more questions on my mind: Have we thought of every eventuality? Will everyone who registered show up? Will the schedule work? Will the technology hold up?” In Vienna, many things felt almost like a routine and far more relaxed. “That said, every venue has its own challenges.” Collet is therefore all the more excited about the upcoming hackathons.

The next regional round will take place on February 14 and 15, 2026, in Stockholm.

About the Hackathon Championship

The CISPA European Cybersecurity & AI Hackathon Championship is a Europe-wide competition running from November 2025 to June 2026, organized by the CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security. Across regional rounds in major European university cities, Bachelor’s and Master’s students will form teams of up to four to tackle AI-and cybersecurity-focused challenges over 24 hours. Winners from each region will advance to the Grand Finale in St. Ingbert, Germany competing for cash prizes, trophies, and certificates. By bringing together young talent from across the continent, this Championship aims not only to foster innovation and skills in trustworthy AI and cybersecurity but also to build a pan-European community invested in securing our digital future.