Place of event: University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
Date: 24 September 2025
The third dissemination event of the FGPE++ project took place on 24 September 2025 in the premises of University of Porto in Porto, Portugal. The event attracted 40 participants. It featured the presentation of the FGPE++ project and its results, with the focus on Work Package 4’s result: the Full FGPE-supported Course for LMS. After the presentations, the hackathon began. This hands-on session realized using the FGPE platform guided participants through the core skills of programming and data analysis in Python, introducing key scientific libraries such as NumPy, Pandas and Matplotlib, along with a first contact with machine learning concepts. The activity was designed around two parallel narrative paths: Climate or Crypto, each supported by real-world datasets and immersive storylines from the Global Climate Intelligence Agency or the Global Crypto Analysis Agency. While the narratives differed to enhance engagement and contextualization, all participants faced the same learning objectives, technical challenges, and level of difficulty, ensuring a consistent and equitable learning experience.
Throughout the session, students worked collaboratively to solve practical data-driven challenges, applying Python to tasks such as data cleaning, exploration, visualization, and interpretation. The dynamic, self-paced structure of the hackathon encouraged autonomy while promoting teamwork and problem-solving under time constraints.
At the end of the hackathon, prizes were awarded to the best-performing participants, recognising outstanding problem-solving, creativity, and effective application of data science techniques.
