There is publicly available reproductive, maternal, and child health (RMCH) data collected across Ethiopia over the past ten years, called PMA data. This data is nationally representative and consists of a series of cross-sectional surveys as well as longitudinal surveys. It has been used by teams across the globe to answer research questions relevant to global health. However, there are research and policy gaps within Ethiopia which can be answered with this data but have not yet been explored. The Global Health Data Science Hub and Addis Ababa University are collaboratively organizing a hackathon for answering a predetermined set of research questions relevant to Ethiopian RMCH policy and programming using the publicly available PMA datasets. We invite you to get involved in helping analyse this data!

How the hackathon will work:

11 June 2026

The hackathon is entirely virtual and will start on 11 June 2026. On the day the hackathon starts, teams will be given a research question to answer using the PMA dataset. Please note that research questions will be assigned - you cannot come up with your own research question. Teams will be contacted via email - all team members’ emails will be shared with each other so that you can keep in contact once the hackathon starts.  

11 June to 8 July 2026

You will be given approximately one month to work with your team and the available data to answer your given research question. During this time, you can choose to meet with your team members whenever is most convenient for you. However, we will have two virtual drop-in sessions based on everyone’s availability, so that your team can ask the subject matter experts some questions if needed. More information about those two sessions will be provided once the hackathon starts. The amount of time you spend on the hackathon is up to you, but we’ve set it up in a way that should allow participants to carry on with their full-time work!

9 July 2026

At the end of the one-month hackathon period, your team will be expected to complete a 15 minute presentation based on your findings. This presentation will be part of a public webinar hosted by TGHN, and you will be able to watch other teams present too. Your team will be judged solely based on your presentation - more details on how you'll be judged are provided below. 

Who should sign up?

  • This is a virtual hackathon. You can be based anywhere!
  • You don’t need to have a team to sign up. If you sign up as an individual, we will match you up with other individuals or teams. We will aim for a team size of 5-ish people. 
  • You don’t need a research question in mind to sign up. We will provide each team with a designated research question.
  • While knowledge of working with data will be helpful, you don’t need it. If you are new to working with data, we will try to match you up with others that have more experience. 
  • We especially encourage early career researchers to sign up.

How will teams be judged?

Each team will be expected to present for 15 minutes during the concluding webinar in July. This presentation is only thing you will be judged on - there is nothing else to submit to the judging panel. In your presentation, you should: 

  • Explain your research question in more detail, including some background research. 
  • Explain which parts of the PMA data you used. 
  • Explain your methodology. 
  • Illustrate and discuss your findings. 
  • Discuss any policy implications from your findings.

You will be judged by a team at Addis Ababa University. The winning team will be supported in publishing a peer-reviewed manuscript based on their findings. All teams will have their work showcased on The Global Health Network. 

How can I sign up?

Hackathon registration is now open from 21 May 2026 through 4 June 2026; you may find the link in the pink box below. Hackathon participation is free of cost. All we will ask when you register is:

  • Name
  • Email
  • Institution, role, and career stage
  • Country
  • Methodological expertise
  • Brief description of your research interests
  • If you’re signing up as part of a team, there will be a place on the form to list your other team members’ names. Please note that each team member must complete an individual registration form (it is not sufficient for one member to sign up on behalf of the whole team).

Please also refer to these slides from our introductory webinar so that you can learn more about the subject area, the dataset, and hackathon participation rules. We will share the webinar recording on this page once it's ready.