Overview
Education has long-term implications for health that are believed to last well into old age, and it is also a key determinant of late-life social disparities in health. However, there is limited understanding of the mechanisms linking education and health across the life course. To encourage rigorous investigation into this topic and to promote use of newly created harmonized education variables, the Gateway to Global Aging Data is hosting a research hackathon.
The hackathon is a four-day team-based competition where early career researchers will come together to investigate a common theme: the role of education in determining risk, resilience, and disparities in non-communicable diseases, with a special interest in cognition. Teams will collaborate on a study addressing this topic and will present their interim projects on the final day to a panel of judges. Winners will receive financial support for attending future conferences to present the work and journal article submission or publication costs.
The hackathon will ask participants to investigate one of two research challenges that investigate relationships between education and later-life health outcomes. The hackathon’s research challenges are:
Use education policy changes within a country (or countries) to identify causal effects and mechanisms for education’s impact on altering risk of non-communicable diseases.
Undertake a comparative (e.g., cross-country or cross-cohort) study of education’s role in determining life course risks that relate to mid- or late-life non-communicable diseases outcomes.
For both challenges, successful projects will investigate different education periods (e.g., early childhood education, primary, secondary, and tertiary education) and adopt a lifecourse approach. Participants are encouraged, but not required, to use data from the Health and Retirement Study and its international network of studies in their projects.
The hackathon will take place from July 27-30, 2026, in Washington D.C at the USC Capital Campus near Dupont Circle in downtown D.C. Applications are due Friday, April 17, 2026.
Eligibility
The Gateway education team welcomes applications from early-career researchers across disciplines. Early-career researchers include recent PhD recipients (within the last 10 years) and individuals in the final year of their dissertation work. International and U.S.-based applicants are welcome. Mid-career researchers who are transitioning into this field are also welcome to apply.
To Apply
Interested applicants must pick from one of two challenges above and submit an individual research proposal and a CV to hackathon@g2aging.org by Friday, April 17, 2026. Please note that CVs should indicate applicant's proficiency in programming languages.
The research proposal should identify which challenge the applicant is interested in and should describe a proposed project’s research question, data, and methods, as well as the contribution it makes to the field. Proposals should be between 1-2 pages in length, excluding references.
Participation is limited, and invitations will be extended to applicants based on the quality of their research proposal. The hackathon’s organizing committee will review applications and send out invitations by May 15, 2025. Participants will be sorted into 3-4 person teams prior to the hackathon. Team assignments will be made based on the applicant’s selected research challenge and common research interests. The scientific committee will aim to create teams that blend disciplines and research skills.
Costs
Meals will be provided. Participants will need to cover their hotel and transportation to the hackathon. The Gateway has some limited funds for travel support that will be awarded based on need and available resources.
When submitting their research proposal, applicants should note if they would like to be considered for a travel scholarship. The organizing committee will allocate travel scholarship funds based on a combination of proposal strength and financial need.
Questions
For questions about the hackathon and the application process, please contact hackathon@g2aging.org