Make an Impact on Society and Healthcare: Join the Hybrid Hackathon at ECDHM 2025!
>> Sign up here! <<
Why Participate?
Do you want to make a real difference in healthcare? Are you eager to apply your skills to meaningful, real-world challenges? Sanquin, the Dutch Bloodbank Organization, is inviting students from the Bachelor's and Master's programs in Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence, as well as Data Science & Society, to participate in this unique hybrid Hackathon, organized in collaboration with Flow as part of the 6th European Conference on Donor Health and Management (ECDHM 2025).
You will work on real challenges (which can be found at the end of this text) submitted by international blood banking experts that impact donor health, the safety of the blood supply, and the future of healthcare. These experts are eager to collaborate with you to develop innovative solutions using technologies such as AI, data science, robotics, and gaming! When you register, you will select your preferred partner through the registration form.
This is a unique opportunity to use your skills to make a tangible societal impact, to co-create with international professionals, and to present your work in a competition at the end of the event, where a jury will select the winning team.
Event Details
The Hackathon takes place from September 10-12, 2025, during the ECDHM. This is a hybrid event, with participants working from two locations: the conference venue in Wijk aan Zee and MindLabs in Tilburg.
Prepare for Success
Before the Hackathon, you will be supported with background information by Dr. Elisabeth Huis in ’t Veld, assistant professor at the Department of Cognitive Science & Artificial Intelligence at Tilburg University and PI Donor Cognition at Sanquin. In addition, the partner organizations that submitted challenges will be available by email to answer questions and provide clarification ahead of the event. This will ensure a flying start during the hackathon itself!
A Unique Hybrid Format
Each group can send one team member to the conference venue in Wijk aan Zee, where they will stay overnight and collaborate directly with the challenge partner. The rest of the team will join from MindLabs in Tilburg, where catering will be provided throughout the event. This hybrid setup makes it easy to stay connected and work closely with your partner organization, whether you are on-site or remote.
Present Your Solution and Compete to Win
At the end of the Hackathon, each team will pitch their solution to a jury of experts. The most promising and innovative ideas will be awarded! Sanquin also loves to work with you after the Hackathon, for example, by developing videos with your results, which they can distribute to the blood banking community at large!
Sign Up Now!
Spots are limited, so don’t wait, register now via this form!
- When signing up, make sure to indicate your preferred challenge in the registration form.
- The registration deadline is June 20th. You can sign up as a group (preferred) or as an individual.
- Do you have questions? Contact Elisabeth Huis in ’t Veld (e.m.j.huisintveld@tilburguniversity.edu)
ALL PARTICIPATING PARTNERS:
Partner: Executive director of the European Blood Alliance.
Challenges:
- How can we improve the recruitment and targeting of young donors to donate plasma in European countries?
- If countries in the EU are better able to collect plasma in their own country, rather than relying on plasma from the US, can we develop a way to estimate (country-specific) reduction in greenhouse gas emissions?
Partner: University of Nottingham (UK), Blood services in the UK and Australia (NHSBT, Lifeblood, etc.).
Challenges:
- Donors often don’t know when their local blood center is low on supply. There is no easy way to connect with donors in a personalized way. Idea: Create a “BloodBuddy” that pulls live data (via public APIs or through the blood service) on local blood stock levels by blood type, nearby donation appointments (availability, urgency), and that then creates personalised prompts ("Your blood type is in urgent need! Book now at [nearest location]")
- Potential or lapsed donors often have unanswered questions: Am I eligible? What happens at a donation? What if I’m scared of needles? Also, how can we as blood banks empower and reassure donors? Idea: Design an AI chatbot (web or extension-based) trained on donor FAQs, eligibility rules, and emotional support scripts.
Partner: Researchers from Red Cross Australia.
Challenges:
- How can we develop personalised donation frequencies for donors based on their donation history, health statistics, and demographic data (e.g., age, gender, BP, pulse, length of donation, history of DAEs)?
- Can we customize the timing and content of donor communications based on prior donation patterns and response to donor communications, to maximize retention, encourage them to book their next appointment, but also avoid donors feeling like they are asked to donate too much?
- Are there novel solutions that can help to improve recruitment and participation in research among donors?
- We have done a lot of research with donors over the last 10 years or so, in various formats and on various topics. Is there a way to use this data to optimize future research recruitment efforts?
Partner: Communication department of Sanquin, Netherlands.
Challenges:
- How can we recruit men to become blood or plasma donors?
- How can we recruit minorities to become blood or plasma donors?
- How can we recruit Gen Z to become blood or plasma donors?
- How can we reach people who are not naturally inclined to do volunteer work when it comes to donor recruitment?
- How can we position ourselves as an attractive alternative employer for physicians?
- What roles (in terms of personnel) are needed at a blood bank location?
- What are ways to reach donors within Dutch legislation who have not opted in to receive a newsletter?
- How can we ensure that donors show up for their scheduled donation appointments?
- How can we ensure that donors make an appointment to donate after receiving a call to donate?
Partner: Researchers from Sanquin
Challenges
- How can we make use of games, Virtual Reality, or robots in blood donation (centers)?
Partner: Red Cross, Belgium
Challenges:
- The European plasma supply is not self-sufficient. How can we increase the number of plasma donations? Possible related or subquestions could be regarding the costeffectiveness of different plasma administration techniques, a comparison and prediction of the use of plasma in the future in European countries, and the (effects of) different indicators of plasma administration in Europe.