AI Cup Announcements
The tickets for all visitors are now open!
You can now invite guests to the event. The AI Futures Day will be a day full of career opportunities and meaningful discussions in the field of AI.
Do not miss this unique moment to connect with researchers, companies, and fellow participants.
🤝 Network with 15+ organizations from multiple areas, for example:
- Research: TNO, Mondai, TUD AI Initiative…
- Corporations: Prosus, Nebius, ADC, RWE, AIC4NL Members…
- Startups/ Scale-ups: Yes!Delft, Whiffle…
💬 Understand what it takes to create real AI solutions.
- Presentation of use-cases from working professionals of Prosus, Nebius, ADC and more.
- Discussion & analysis with students and experts on how AI Cup solutions contribute to real-life AI challenges from TNO.
🔦 Be at the spotlight:
- Receive your nomination certificate in front of all partnering organizations.
- Be part of one of the biggest AI communities, meeting like-minded students and connecting over the newest topics.
🍝 Free food & drinks are included.
Don’t think you’ll win?
If you are a competitor who lost hope in winning, keep in mind that the leaderboard is more dynamic than it might appear. Several teams currently outside the spotlight are still strong contenders and could still win (how?).
Therefore, even if you are not optimistic about your performance, make sure to secure your ticket and attend the event to claim your nomination.
Posted on 09/03/2026
Deadlines are extended, the AI Futures Day is coming! 🎉🎊
We have expanded Nomination Day into something even more exciting. It has evolved into AI Futures Day: Career Fair & Nomination, a larger and more dynamic gathering taking place on March 28 at De Doelen – Schouwburgplein 50, Rotterdam . For this event, we are collaborating with several leading AI companies in the Netherlands that are actively interested in connecting with and recruiting the talented students participating in the AI Cup. The day will feature inspiring talks on the latest AI developments, as well as valuable networking and recruitment opportunities.
“Competitor Tickets 🎟️” are now online. You can obtain them via the Weeztix shop! Be aware that those tickets are exclusive for participants competing at the AI Cup. We are working on the possibility of accommodating a limited about of guests, we will communicate about it as soon as possible.
The new date gives you a little bit more time to work on your solutions as the deadlines have been adjusted. To help you remember , it is always on Tuesdays and Saturdays:
- Team validation – Saturday, March 14 : Team Validation is mandatory, your entire team must complete the validation individually before this deadline.
- Deadline Implementation Track- Tuesday, March 17: This is your final deadline for submitting your implementation proposal.
- Deadline for getting your AI Futures Day ticket- Saturday, March 21: The announcement of the Nominees is part of the AI Futures Day. Presence of at least one team member at the event is mandatory to get nominated, so make sure to save the 28th and get your ticket here in the website.
- Deadline Performance Track- Tuesday, March 24: This is your final deadline for submitting in Kaggle for the Performance Track.
- AI Futures day | Career Fair & Nomination – Saturday, March 28: A large event full of energy, memorable moments and opportunities. The five best teams will be nominated to pitch their solution at the Dutch AI Congress from AIC4NL.
- Dutch AI Congress 2026 – Tuesday, April 14: The nominees will live pitch to a jury panel of experts during one of the breakout sessions and then receive the award during the central plenary program, leading to a beautiful celebration.
By the way, we also would like to give space for emerging organizations at the event. If you know a innovative student team or startup in the field of AI that would like to be part of the AI Futures Day, please reach out to [email protected] !
Posted on 27/02/2026
Dear participants,
The validation process and implementation proposal submissions are now open! You can begin validating your team today and start submitting your proposals (only the last submission counts).
We are impressed with results in the performance track so far, and we are very much looking forward to reviewing the systems you have proposed for the implementation track.
Posted on 24/02/2026
Dear participants,
We had a small delay with the participants validation methodology. We moved the opening of the validation form from 20/02 to Tuesday 24/02.
Posted on 20/02/2026
You have a new tool at your disposal! 🗺️
We developed a data visualizer to help you better understand the structure of the dataset and uncover new insights. You can access it via the Challenge Center or via the Kaggle discussion forum we made. We hope you find it useful and enjoy exploring the data.
By the way, talking about forum… It is a bit quiet right? Engaging into Kaggle discussion forums is in general healthy practice. If you are confused on what to do to improve your predictions just drop a question in there and hopefully you will receive some guidance from the other participants. For those answering, in most cases winning takes much more than knowing good practices, therefore you won’t bring yourself into defeat by giving a little tip.
Just watch-out to not disclose information outside the forum to other teams. Anything you share to a certain team should be shared to all the teams!
Posted on 19/02/2026
Dear participants,
The AI Cup 2026 kicked off yesterday with a strong start at our opening event. We began with a short introduction to the challenge — “Building AI technology that can identify bird species using radar data to improve bird conservation around wind farms.” This was followed by three expert talks from Remco Verzijlbergh, Bart Kranstauber, and Inald Lagendijk.
After the expert sessions, we presented the broader vision behind AI Cup, followed by the formal challenge introduction delivered by Joep Breuer (TNO). We then closed the morning programme with the competition briefing, covering all practical details needed to begin working on the challenge. In the afternoon, we hosted a hands-on workshop aimed at supporting beginner and intermediate participants in getting started.
All sessions were recorded; however, video processing will take a few days. The presentation slides are already available at the bottom of the Challenge Center page.
We are aware that some participants experienced issues when trying to join the Kaggle competition. Access must be done via the blue “Kaggle” button or the “Performance Track” button on our Challenge Center platform. This controlled access point is intentional, as it ensures that only eligible participants can enter the competition.
Stay up to date
For last-minute updates, changes, and reminders, make sure to check this page with some regularity and follow us on Instagram (@teamepoch.delft).
Posted on 14/02/2026
Dear participants,
The kick-off is happening this Friday!
150 students will receive the challenge first-hand, with the opportunity to explore it on-site, receive exclusive merch, and network with fellow participants, researchers, and industry partners. Last week, we invited a few more participants from the waitlist to fill spots from cancellations. Registration for the Kick-off is now fully closed.
The walk-in time is from 10:00 to 10:30, make sure to be on time to not miss anything and ensure a good seating spot. We will offer coffee and cookies at the entrance, lunch will happen around 13:00. The detailed programme can be seen at the end of this page, it will also be sent via email to the Kick-off participants.
Don’t have a ticket?
If you were unable to secure a place at the Kick-off, don’t worry. All essential materials to start the challenge will be made available online in the Challenge Center from 14:00 on the day of the event. After the Kick-off, we will also publish the challenge context videos and workshop recordings to ensure everyone has a fair start.
Something went wrong?
You will need a ticket to enter the event. If you completed the Kick-off registration (not just the general AI Cup registration) and still have not received a ticket, please contact us at [email protected] as soon as possible.
Stay up to date
For last-minute updates, changes, and reminders, make sure to check this page with some regularity and follow us on Instagram (@teamepoch.delft).
Posted on 09/02/2026
Hey,
We are thrilled to announce that the registration for the Kick-off day has been opened this morning and the spots are filling up quickly!
An invitation email has been sent to all participants who are registered for the AI Cup event. If you did not receive this email, you can still register for the Kick-off Day using the link below:
After completing the registration form, you will be officially registered for the Kick-off Day and will receive your ticket before 6 February. Please note that each team member must complete the form individually.
If all available spots are filled, you will be placed on a waiting list. Don’t worry, participation in the Kick-off Day is not required to compete fairly, as all additional information shared during the event will also be made available online.
During the kick-off day, you will be able to:
- Receive first-hand technical and contextual information about the challenge
- Form a team, if you don’t have one yet
- Participate in a beginner-friendly workshop
- Network with researchers and industry partners
- Enjoy free food & merch!
Keep in mind that you will need an access ticket to attend the event!
Only participants who confirm their attendance via the kick-off day registration form will receive an access ticket.
Posted on 26/01/2026
Hello everyone,
As you might have already seen on social media, we’re excited to announce that our AI Cup kick-off day will take place at the Mondai | House of AI (Delft) on 13th February at 11 am.
The kick-off marks the official start of the challenge and is a great opportunity to connect with all partner organizations, including Team Epoch, AIC4NL, Mondai, and TNO, while getting up to speed on the competition.
During the kick-off day, you will be able to:
- Receive first-hand technical and contextual information about the challenge
- Participate in a beginner-friendly workshop
- Form a team, if you don’t have one yet
- Network with researchers and industry partners
- Enjoy free food & merch!
Please note that capacity is limited, so we are using a phased registration approach:
- 19/01/2026 – Registration opens for the first 150 early birds who signed up for the AI Cup (invitation sent by email)
- 26/01/2026 – Kick-off registration opens to everyone (first come, first served — stay tuned!)
Keep in mind that you will need an access ticket to attend the event!
Only participants who confirm their attendance via the kick-off day registration form will receive an access ticket. Tickets will be sent out by 6 February.
Posted on 21/1/2026
Dear participants,
Thank you for completing the early sign-up for the AI Cup! We are happy to see strong interest from students representing TU Delft, the University of Amsterdam, University of Groningen and more.
Our team is currently working on the preparation of the competition platform and finalizing the technical setup. We will be sharing new updates very soon, including more details about the competition, timeline, and next steps.
Thank you for your enthusiasm and stay tuned!
Posted on 7/1/2026