Acceptance

Because the main LauzHack event typically receives far more applications than we have physical space to host, we cannot accept everyone. Our acceptance process is a random draw done in batches that balances EPFL and non-EPFL participation. Because the process is done in batches, the earlier you finish the application process, the more chances you have to be accepted.

The process does not take into account your CV, so uploading it or not has no influence on your chances. Your personal details such as dietary restrictions also have no impact on the decision.

If you apply as a group, we guarantee that if one member of the group is accepted, then all others are also accepted. You can form a team with whoever you want during the event, regardless of who you applied with. Accepted participants may not be replaced by someone else nor add someone to their group after acceptance.

Application decisions are final. If you are rejected, the decision is about space constraints, not about you personally. Please do not contact us asking if you could participate anyway.

Friday-Saturday hosting

We have a limited number of places in a sleeping area near the venue. These are free and available on a first-reserved-first-served basis to participants who have been accepted to the event.

The sleeping area is only available if you arrive before 23:00 at EPFL on Friday, which means landing before 21:00 at Geneva Airport. Once you arrive, send a message on the event Discord channel and we will meet up with you and show you the sleeping area. Do not message or email individual staff members, since not all staff members are available at any given time.

After acceptance, you will receive a link to the reservation form. We cannot guarantee there will still be space when you are accepted, since participants accepted earlier may have already filled the space. If the space is already full, you can include the cost of a hotel in the travel reimbursement up to the relevant limit, see below.

You will be able to check in and get your swag bag on Friday, which includes a travel blanket. Please bring a sleeping bag. We also have showers available to everyone, for which you need to bring toiletries.

During the event, the sleeping area is available in the night between Saturday and Sunday on a first-come-first-served basis. It is not available on the night following the event. If you have no flight home before Monday, you may include the cost of a hotel in the travel reimbursement up to the relevant limit, see below.

Travel reimbursement

We reimburse the following upon presentation of receipts, at the end of the event, in CHF cash:

• Per participant from the greater Lausanne area, nothing.
• Per participant from Switzerland, up to TBA of public transport costs, no planes nor cars.
• Per participant from the rest of the world, up to TBA of travel costs including plane, car, train, bus, hotel/AirBnB.

Important:

• No need to let us know about the need for this reimbursement, it applies to everyone and does not impact acceptance to the event.
• Only accepted participants can be reimbursed, do not make travel expenses before you receive an acceptance confirmation.
• You must stay for the entire event and demo your hack to be reimbursed, including attending the closing ceremony.
• If you live away from your university, such as for an internship, provide some basic proof such as the badge of the company you’re interning in.
• You must upload your receipts before the Sunday of the event, the system to do so will be open before the event starts.

Details:

• Public transport trips not yet bought at reimbursement time, such as a train trip back, are reimbursed given the receipt for the one-way trip at the same cost.
• Car rental, fuel, and parking all count.
• Hotel stays from Friday to Saturday, either because the free hosting above has run out or because you cannot arrive early enough, count.
• Hotel stays from Sunday to Monday also count.
• Food and travel-adjacent purchases such as sleeping bags or mobile data do NOT count.

About receipts:

• Receipts must show the price paid, date, origin, and destination when relevant.
• Receipt currency doesn’t matter, we’ll use the conversion rate on the day of the reimbursement.
• Multiple participants can be on the same receipt, such as a shared car or hotel, we will split equally between them.

Please understand that these policies exist to provide fairness for participants and workload management for the organizers, who are volunteers. We will not make exceptions such as not-yet-bought asymmetric train trips, unequal sharing of receipts, late reimbursements, or bank transfers.