Victory of UD students in Sarajevo 15. Sep. 2025

Altogether, a total of ten teams from as many as six different countries competed in a hackathon held in Sarajevo, Bosnia, aiming to develop innovative solutions for the telemedical, complex care of oncology patients and the digital development of patient pathway management. The University of Debrecen was represented in this contest by two teams made up of international students enrolled at UD.

This year, the event called Conference on Medical and Biological Engineering in Bosnia and Herzegovina was held in Sarajevo for the sixth time. During the course of the event, our partner, the Bosnian Verlab Institut, announced the first idea competition for university students with an international call for entries. The call was brought to the attention of students in Debrecen by the staff of our Innovation Ecosystem Center. Eventually, two teams from the University of Debrecen signed up for entry, and we first organized a preparatory workshop for them so that these young participants could familiarize themselves with the innovation approach and the specifics of the hackathon genre before taking on the actual challenge,” said Lilla Jutkusz, Director of the Innovation Ecosystem Center.

On the first two days, September 11 and 12, the contestants not only worked on their ideas but also attended specific lectures to acquire as much knowledge as possible before giving their presentation in front of the jury. In the meanwhile, the staff members of our Innovation Ecosystem Center acted as their mentors, helping them with everything, ranging from idea development to preparing a four-minute-long pitch as well as getting ready for the question-and-answer session. 

“This idea competition proved to be an exceptional opportunity for these young people from Debrecen, as they were able to participate in exciting workshops led by renowned experts in an international environment, while preparing for teamwork and pitching. Both the professional support from colleagues of our Innovation Ecosystem Center and the feedback received from the experts helped them to further develop their talents in the idea competition,” said Lilla Jutkusz.

The team that consisted of students from the Faculty of Informatics at the University of Debrecen (including Vladimir Alrayyan, Abu Ramilah Tala Jihad and Elsa Shyti), worked on a solution optimized for smart watches that was specifically supposed to help measure the health status of oncology patients. Team Veritas, which was made up of three students enrolled in the public health program at the Faculty of Health Sciences (including Tamari Shenheliia, Isaac Steven Martinez Cornejo and Malika Zhanybekova) and one student from the Faculty of Information Technology (Irodakhon Umurzakova), introduced the development of a chatbot aimed at improving the mental state of patients so that they can focus more efficiently on recovery and coping with their illness by reducing their own anxiety.

“Some of the team members had already participated in training courses and idea competitions hosted by our Innovation Ecosystem Center before, and it was quite evident in Sarajevo that they had a level of experience and background knowledge that perceptibly set them apart from and above their competitors,” said Nóra Kovács.

“The international milieu of the competition, the wealth of new information recived and the support from helpful mentors all inspired these young contestants immensely. It was also a huge help for them that we accompanied them throughout the entire competition process,” said Ákos Kiss.

At the end of the final leg of the competition before the jury on September 13, the panel of judges unanimously identified and declared Team Veritas as the best among the competitors. In addition to the prize money that came with first place, they will also be able to work with professional organizations in the future in order to further develop their ideas.

“It was not just the prize money itself that we left the hackathon with, but also a lot of lessons and experience learned as well as the conviction that innovation can truly bring about change in healthcare,” said the leader of the winning team, Tamarii Shenheliia.

Press Centre