19–26 October 2026 · Warsaw
Qiskit Fall Fest comes to Warsaw. A week of online lectures, a 48-hour hackathon over the weekend, and one in-person day with talks, project demos and 300+ people in the room.
Follow Discord for announcements.
IBM Quantum is the technical partner. More partners to be announced.
01 / About
A gathering for curious minds. AIQT invites students, makers, researchers, and anyone ready to explore what quantum computing can become.
Start with the fundamentals, move through expert-led lectures, build with Qiskit in the lab, then turn your ideas into a challenge-ready hackathon.
02 / Why join
No quantum background needed
The lecture week starts from zero, and complete beginners are part of the intended audience.
Mostly online
Seven of the eight days are online; only Monday 26 October is in person.
Attend any part
The lecture days, the hackathon weekend and the in-person day can be attended independently.
Held in English
Everything is in English, and there is a daily Q&A for questions.
Hands-on
The hackathon is 48 hours of hands-on Qiskit work.
Teams and networking
Team-forming happens on Discord, and the in-person day ends with networking time.
What you leave with
Working knowledge of Qiskit and a project built with it.
03 / Programme
Mon 19 – Fri 23 Oct
OnlineFive days of online lectures. One to two sessions each day, and a Q&A session every day.
Online — joining link sent to registered participants
Each day, Mon–Fri
Online
The lecture track starts from the ground up. No prior quantum background is assumed on day one; later sessions go further for people who already know some of it.
Each day, Mon–Fri
Online
A live session at the end of each lecture day for questions on that day’s material, on setup problems, and on the hackathon.
Fri 23 – Sun 25 Oct
OnlineKick-off on Friday evening, then 48 hours of building through the weekend.
Online — coordinated on Discord
Fri 23 Oct, evening
Online
The briefing and the challenge prompts go live at kick-off. Team-forming happens on Discord.
Fri 23 – Sun 25 Oct
Online
Mentors and organisers are reachable on Discord across the weekend.
Sun 25 Oct
Online
The deadline is published in UTC together with the prompts and the submission route.
Mon 26 Oct
The in-person day: speaker talks, the hackathon showcase and networking. Doors open at 10:30 CET; the programme runs 11:00–17:00.
Warsaw, venue to be announced
10:30 CET
Warsaw
Registration and coffee before the programme starts at 11:00.
From 11:00
Warsaw
The in-person talk block. Speakers are announced here and on Discord as they are confirmed.
Afternoon
Warsaw
Teams from the weekend present what they built. Open to everyone at the venue, whether or not you took part in the hackathon.
Afternoon, until 17:00
Warsaw
Participants, speakers, partners and organisers. The day ends at 17:00.
Main-day times are final. Lecture and hackathon hours are published here and in #schedule on Discord once fixed. Session announcements go out in #announcements.
04 / Speakers
Talks for the online lecture week and the main day in Warsaw.
More to come
This is not the final lineup. More speakers will be announced here and on Discord.
Speaker announcements on DiscordIf you work on quantum computing in research, industry or as a student and would like to give a talk, get in touch with a topic and a rough length. Lecture-week talks are online; main-day talks are in person in Warsaw.
06 / Hackathon
Friday 23 – Sunday 25 October. It starts with a Friday-evening kick-off, then 48 hours of building. Details below; the challenge prompts follow closer to the date.
To be published
The prompts, submission route, team size rules and the deadline (stated in UTC) will be published here and on Discord before the hackathon.
Updates on Discord07 / Prerequisites
Setup takes about fifteen minutes. Do it before the first session.
08 / Venue
Monday 26 October is the only in-person day. Everything before it is online.
In-person day · Monday 26 October 2026
The venue will be published here and on Discord once it is confirmed. Doors open at 10:30 CET; the programme runs 11:00–17:00.
To be confirmed
The room number, entrance and public transport directions will be published here once confirmed with the venue, together with information about food on the day.
The in-person day ends in the afternoon, so a day trip is possible from most of Poland. For accommodation questions, ask on Discord.
09 / Partners
Technical partner
IBM Quantum — technical partner. Provides Qiskit, the SDK used throughout the event, and the IBM Quantum Platform participants run circuits on.
Companies, start-ups and research institutions interested in sponsoring or collaborating on the Warsaw edition — talks, challenge prompts, mentors, prizes or funding — are welcome to get in touch.
10 / Contact
Discord for anything about the programme. Email for anything that needs a written record.
Registration, the programme, or anything not covered in the FAQ.
Access needs for the in-person day, or anything that would make the online sessions easier to follow. Tell us early.
Companies and institutions interested in collaborating on the Warsaw edition.
All three go to one organiser inbox. The links above set a subject line so your message is routed correctly, or write directly to
Announcements, setup help, team-forming and the challenge prompts.
11 / FAQ
No. The lecture week is built to start from zero. Total beginners are an explicit part of the audience, alongside CS students and people already studying quantum computing.
Basic Python helps, and it matters most during the hackathon weekend, where you will be writing Qiskit code. You do not need to be an expert. If you have never written Python, the lecture week is still followable, and working through a beginner Python tutorial beforehand will help.
English, for all eight days. Lectures, the hackathon and the in-person day are all held in English.
Only for one day. Monday 19 to Sunday 25 October is fully online — lectures, Q&As and the hackathon. Monday 26 October is the in-person day in Warsaw, at a venue to be announced.
You can take part in the online week from anywhere and skip the in-person day, or come to the in-person day without having done the hackathon.
No. The week is built in three parts — the lecture days, the hackathon weekend, and the in-person main day — and you can take part in whichever of them you want.
Nothing. The event is free, including the in-person day. Registration is on Luma.
You do not need to arrive with one. Team-forming happens on Discord in the run-up to the weekend, and there is a channel for finding teammates.
Team size limits and the submission rules will be published together with the challenge prompts.
Python, Qiskit, and a way to run notebooks, plus a free IBM Quantum account if you want to run on real hardware. The prerequisites page has the full list and the commands.
Per-session requirements — anything a specific lecture needs beyond the base setup — are published with the schedule.
Yes. Complete all lecture-week workshops, or take part in the hackathon, to receive the Qiskit Fall Fest 2026 Certificate of Participation. The hackathon winners receive the Certificate of Winning Achievement.
Both certificates are designed and signed by IBM Quantum.
Discord is the main channel: schedule changes, speaker announcements, challenge prompts and setup help are posted there first. This page is updated to match.
The Code of Conduct applies to everyone at every part of the event, online and in person, and lives at its own page linked from the footer.
19–26 October 2026 · Warsaw · Held in English
Registration is open. The speaker lineup, schedule updates and the challenge prompts are announced on Discord.
