Megathon 2026: One week, Two Hackathons, 10 Tutorials, and 16 Curated Datasets

Against a backdrop of blue skies, green palm trees, and white sandy beaches, Megathon 2026 became Rosetta Commons’s first ever dual hackathon in one. Hosted in San Juan, Puerto Rico, students and researchers gathered to participate in one of two tracks, Tutorial Hackathon or Data Bazaar Hackathon, for a week of collaboration and learning on March 2 – 6, 2026.

Tutorial Hackathon Recorded 10 Tutorials for Rosetta Tools

Focused on developing meaningful contributions to the broader community, the Tutorial Hackathon brought together developers and high-end users of tools that support Rosetta code to create written and video tutorials for the community. Providing solutions to common protein design problems with these tools, the tutorials will make it easier for new users to get started. 

Over the week, participants shared their tutorials, gained peer feedback on them, and then concluded by getting them professionally filmed. For written tutorials, hours were spent editing, formatting, and creating images to guide users. For video tutorials, participants were excited and surprised at the process to record their tutorials, including a fan favorite teleprompter so they didn’t have to memorize their scripts. The tutorials are currently being edited by the hackathon organizers, Rachel Clune and Austin Seamann, and the videographer, Canyon Florey.

“I find it so compelling to be in a community that is passionate about not only the science, but putting energy into spreading knowledge and resources,” said Austin when asked about his experience. If you work with RFduffusion (V1 & V3), PyRosetta, RFantibody, and more, keep an eye out over the next few months on the Rosetta Commons YouTube channel and their respective documentation pages as these helpful community tutorials are released. There is also a planned publication highlighting this work still to come.

Data Bazaar Curated 16 Datasets on Hugging Face

Designed for all users of the Rosetta Commons Hugging Face Rosetta Data Bazaar collection, participants of the Data Bazaar Hackathon worked to curate datasets for the community and to improve the newly developed data curation guide. The guide is a resource for the broader community to help them when they are curating and publishing datasets.

The hackathon started with teams from different labs learning the basics. Then it moved to a combination of both individual and team-based work as the datasets became more complex throughout the week. One team that formed on day one decided to work together the entire time and were able to upload three datasets. “Watching them work together and troubleshoot their problems really highlighted what makes the Rosetta community so special,” said Hope Woods, one of the organizers of the Data Bazaar Hackathon. 

The work participants completed during the hackathon was more than just a rewarding experience, the plan is to now turn the improved data curation guide into a publication to help set the standards for datasets in the field. Additionally, the goal is to create a spin off team that can continue to maintain the Rosetta Commons Hugging Face datasets collection. There will be more information to come soon on how to join!

Bonding In and Outside of the Hackathon

Beyond the collaboration and scientific developments that happened at the Megathon, the location provided a beautiful and culturally-rich environment for participants to bond. “There were a variety of weekend adventures including a coffee crawl, touring Castillo San Felipe del Morro, exploring Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, and going to Museo de las Americas,” said Rachel. Opportunities like this are rather unique to the Rosetta community, and allows its members to connect through shared experiences beyond a conference room.

The success of Megathon 2026 highlights what the Rosetta community can accomplish when it comes together. Follow up announcements on this work will be released in the coming months.