Held each year since 2012, the Webfest brings together bright minds to work on creative projects. Participants work in small teams, often designing web and mobile applications that help people engage with CERN’s research, physics, or even science in general. In previous versions of the Webfest, participants have worked on a wide range of exciting projects: from physics-themed video games to mobile-phone cosmic-ray detectors, and from skills-sharing platforms to tools for translating sign language to text.

There are several differences to this year's Webfest event.

Instead of being held over the weekend in a hackathon-style structure, it will run across July and August, providing participants with the opportunity to work together over several months instead of just for a weekend.

The other main difference is that students taking part will be assigned to a challenge related to climate action, with these challenges set by a project linked to CERN. Students will work together in small teams to propose solutions for the challenge they have been set.    

With this year's event also being held online, anyone, from anywhere in the world - provided they are aged 16 years or above - can take part!

The Webfest isn’t just for those that can code: anyone with an idea, a challenge, or other skills is welcome to take part. 

Yes, this year's theme is 'climate action and sustainability'. As part of CERN's Year of Environmental Awareness, the upcoming Webfest will focus on climate action. Students taking part will be assigned to a challenge related to climate action, with these challenges set by a project linked to CERN. Students will work together in small teams to propose solutions for the challenge they have been set.

The event will be held from Friday 8 July - Wednesday 31 August. There will be an introductory session on Friday 8 July outlining the challenges for participants to select and work on, followed by sessions on Monday 25 July and Tuesday 16 August. There will be a wrap-up session on Tuesday 30 August, with the jury vote and winners announcement on Wednesday 31 August. 

This year's Webfest event is going to run differently to previous years - instead of being held over a weekend, this year it will run across July and August. The  event is open to all, meaning that people from anywhere in the world can take part.

Similar to last year, the CERN Webfest 2022 will take place online. We will provide you with the appropriate tools to develop solutions together online. We use Mattermost as a communication platform for teams, and video conferencing for the webinars and workshops. We will also use the Webfest app, which you will have full access to. Detailed technical instructions and access to the individual tools and platforms will be sent to you in time before the start of the Webfest.

Throughout the Webfest, teams will have support from a group of mentors, who will be able to provide support with giving feedback and knowledge, and answer any questions teams and individuals might have. There will be a specific mentor assigned to each challenge who can answer more technical questions, alongside a pool of mentors available to answer more general questions on channels such as Mattermost.

If you would like to contribute to the event as a mentor, please sign up here.

Part of the role of a mentor involves answering general questions from participants throughout the event, from July 8 until August 31.

The Webfest is completely free to attend - there are no registration or other fees.

1. Sign up here:

2. Sign in to our custom app and select the projects you’d most like to work on during the Webfest. Those who have registered for the event will receive a link to access the app on Thursday 7th July and are asked to make a selection by the end of Friday 8th July, following the introductory session to the Webfest.

3. Use the Mattermost chat channels to discuss your ideas related to the challenges you are most interested in. Access to the Mattermost chat channels will be provided through the app.

4. Join us at 16:00 CEST on Friday 8th July for the opening session of the Webfest. We will start with an introductory session, during which each of the challenges will be presented. 

Yes, you are allowed to use third party libraries, but you are not allowed to use any paid libraries or WebAPIs which are trial versions and will work only for a limited period of time. And we  encourage everyone to use open source solutions to implement their ideas, irrespective of the licensing they choose for the final product.

You own all the code you write for the Webfest. However, going by the open-source spirit, we encourage everyone to publicly provide (open source) whatever they build in the Webfest using open licenses like MIT, Apache, GPLv2, GPLv3 or Creative Commons, etc.

We aim for the Webfest to be as global and diverse as possible. Within the teams participants can work in any national language they prefer. However, the moderation, pitching and presentation sessions will all be held in English, so you will need to understand the language, or have someone at your side who can help you with the English.

Yes! There are prizes to be won!

There is! https://www.facebook.com/groups/cern.webfest 

Over 300 people from 63 different countries took part in last year's online Webfest event. This year, the event will be held online again and we hope to welcome a great number of students to take part.

Please email your questions to webfest-team@cern.ch if you have any further questions.

To register check the Webfest's Indico page here. You can register until Tuesday 5 July.