Hackathon Rules, Code Integrity &
100% Student IP Ownership
KAIROS 2027 operates on uncompromising standards of technical merit, hacker safety, and absolute student ownership. Review our full governance framework below.
You Own 100% of Your Code, Blueprints & Inventions
Participants retain 100% ownership of their code, blueprints, and intellectual property. Zero equity or IP claims are made by the organizers, college, or sponsors. Neither AWS Student Builder Group SIST, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, nor any corporate sponsor holds any equity claim, licensing stake, or intellectual property rights over code developed during the hackathon.
1. Fresh Code Standard & Real-Time Commit Telemetry
Enforcing genuine engineering inside the 48-hour clock
Hacking Window: The official 48-hour sprint commences at 12:15 PM IST on Friday, January 22, 2027 and terminates strictly at 08:30 AM IST on Sunday, January 24, 2027 (Hard Code Freeze).
- Public open-source libraries, frameworks (React, Next.js, PyTorch)
- Official AWS SDKs and foundation models via Amazon Bedrock
- Pre-trained open weights (Llama 3, Mistral, Whisper)
- Public boilerplate generators initialized after the starting bell
- Pre-written proprietary business logic authored before the event
- Finished applications with cosmetic frontend changes
- Commits pushed after the 08:30 AM Sunday hard freeze
- Plagiarized codebases or clone wrappers with zero novel logic
* Note: All finalist repositories are registered with the Kairos Webhook Telemetry Engine. Diffs, commit frequency, and author signatures are monitored by our technical audit committee.
2. Team Formation, Dual Registration & Zero Fees
Merit-based admission with mandatory AWS SBGL community compliance
College Identification: Every team member must present a valid physical college ID card issued by their accredited institution during red-carpet check-in on Friday, January 22, 2027.
Dual Registration Protocol: Every team leader and member must RSVP on the official AWS Student Builder Group SIST Meetup page. This ensures compliance with global AWS Student Builder Group community tracking standards.
3. Campus Night Lock-In & Welfare Protocol
Comprehensive safety and security standards during the 48-hour stay
10:00 PM Night Lock-In: To guarantee absolute security, all campus perimeter access gates are secured at 10:00 PM each night. No unauthorized entry or exit is permitted between 10:00 PM and 06:00 AM without express authorization from President Thenappan T and Institutional Security.
Rest Facilities: Dedicated, segregated air-conditioned resting bays for male and female participants are maintained with continuous student volunteer marshals and 24/7 security escorts.
Medical Emergency: Sathyabama Hospital and on-campus 24/7 medical ambulances are stationed on site with paramedics and doctor supervision throughout the 48-hour event.
4. Objective Evaluation & Mathematical Z-Score Normalization
Eliminating judge bias, favoritism, and subjective variances
Multi-Checkpoint Rubric: Evaluation is conducted across 3 rigorous gates:
- Checkpoint 1: Architecture & Feasibility Gate (Friday 04:00 PM – 06:30 PM IST · 25 Pts)
- Checkpoint 2: Mid-Point Prototype & Security Audit (Saturday 02:00 PM – 05:30 PM IST · 35 Pts)
- Checkpoint 3: Final Code Review & Working Demo (Sunday 09:00 AM – 12:30 PM IST · 40 Pts)
Gaussian Normalization: Scores across all 25+ industry evaluators are normalized using standard Gaussian Z-scores (Z = (X - μ) / σ) to eliminate deviations between lenient and strict judges.
Conflict of Interest Recusal: Any judge who shares an institutional affiliation, mentor relationship, or personal connection with a team is required to declare a recusal, whereupon an independent evaluator evaluates that team.
5. Anti-Harassment & Professional Code of Conduct
Fostering a welcoming, inclusive, and high-performance environment
KAIROS 2027 is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, or religion.
Harassment includes offensive verbal comments, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of talks or checkpoint reviews, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention.
Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. Violators are subject to immediate expulsion from the hackathon and disqualification of their entire team, with zero eligibility for prizes, refunds, or certificates.
Have questions regarding rule interpretations or accommodations? Contact Lead Organizer Thenappan T at sistawscc@gmail.com or phone +91 6381801640.