Overview

The Palestine Techno Park in partnership with Taawon and Logestechs is proud to announce the Techno Park AI Research Award, a flagship competition held as part of AI Week 2026. We invite academics, researchers, and postgraduate students to submit original, unpublished research that addresses real-world challenges through Artificial Intelligence. All submissions will be evaluated through a blind review process. Winning papers will be celebrated during AI Week at Techno Park, Birzeit.

All submissions will be evaluated by a distinguished panel of judges through a blind review process. Winning papers will be announced and celebrated during AI Week at Techno Park, Birzeit, where winners will present their work before an audience of global experts, industry leaders, and investors.

1. Eligibility and Participation Rules

Who Can Submit

The competition is open for submissions until April 10, 2026. We welcome research submissions from Palestinian researchers worldwide, including those based in Palestine and in the diaspora.

Eligible participants include:

• Faculty members and Independent Researchers.
• Postgraduate students (Master’s and PhD candidates).
• Undergraduate students are eligible to submit, provided the research is conducted under the supervision of a faculty advisor who is listed as a co-author.

Authorship  Ruls

• Single or Group: Both individual and team submissions are allowed. Maximum team size: 5 members.
• First Author Requirement: The submitting participant (the person competing for the prize) must be listed as first author and must meet the eligibility criteria.
• Co-Authors: Co-authors from any institution or country are permitted, provided the first author meets the eligibility criteria.

International Collaboration

International Collaboration: International co-authorship is permitted and highly encouraged. At least the first author must be of Palestinian nationality and/or hold an active affiliation with a Palestinian institution. International collaborators are welcome as co-authors.

Prize Distribution

Group Submissions: Prizes will be awarded equally among all listed team members. The first author (or the lead researcher) will serve as the primary point of contact for all coordination, communication, and prize distribution logistics.

2. Evaluation Criteria

All submissions will undergo a confidential evaluation by a panel of judges. Each paper will be assessed by at least two independent reviewers based on the following rubric:

Criterion	Weight	Description
Novelty and Originality	20%	New approach, method, or insight not previously published.
Technical Rigor	20%	Sound methodology, properly designed experiments, validated results.
Relevance to Palestine/MENA	20%	Addresses a real local or regional challenge with clear context.
Clarity of Writing	15%	Well-structured, clearly written, and easy to follow.
Real-World Impact	15%	Can be translated into practical applications or policy.
Prototype/Demo	10%	Evidence of a working prototype, pilot, or software/hardware demo.

3. Submission Guidelines

Paper Format

• Page Template: IEEE Two-Column Format.  A template will be provided at: 
  https://www.ieee.org/conferences/publishing/templates.html
• Page Limit: 6–8 pages, excluding references. References may occupy up to 1 additional page.
• Language: English only. All sections, including abstract, body, figures, tables, and references, must be in English.
• File Format: PDF only. Authors may use the provided Word or LaTeX template, but must export the final submission as a PDF

Blind Review Process

To ensure fair and impartial judging, all submissions must be anonymized. Authors must:

1. Remove all author names, affiliations, and contact information from the submitted PDF.
2. Avoid self-identifying references (e.g., replace “as we showed in [Author, 2024]” with “as shown in [Anonymous, 2024]”).
3. Do not include acknowledgments that reveal author identity.

All participants must upload two versions of their research paper via the form link provided in this document:

• Full Version: Includes the title, full author details, affiliations
• Anonymous Version: Excludes all author names, affiliations, and any identifying information to facilitate a neutral assessment by the judges

Paper Structure (IMRaD)

Section	Description
Abstract	Concise summary (150–250 words) of the problem, methodology, and key results.
Keywords	3–5 technical terms (e.g., Deep Learning, Digital Maturity, NLP).
Introduction	Background, problem statement, and the contribution of the paper.
Related Works	Summary of existing literature and how your work differs.
Methodology	Detailed technical approach, algorithms used, and data processing.
Experiements	Hardware/software setup, datasets, and performance metrics.
Results	Visualizations (graphs/tables) and statistical analysis.
Conclusion	Summary of findings and future research directions.
References	Cited works in IEEE format.

Supplementary Materials

Supplementary materials (code, datasets, appendices) are permitted on an optional basis. Authors may provide these by including a direct link to a repository (such as GitHub/GitLab) or by uploading a single compressed file (ZIP) not exceeding 50 MB. Please note that supplementary materials will not be evaluated during the initial blind judging process, but may be subject to verification post-competition..

4. Competition Timeline

Milestone	Date
Competition Announced	March 05, 2026
Submission Deadline	April 10, 2026
Judging Period	April 20, 2026
Winners Announced	April 27, 2026
Awards Ceremony	April 27, 2026 (During Ai Week)

 

5. Research Tracks

Submissions should fall within one of the following tracks. An open track is available for innovative work outside predefined themes. Participants must select their primary track upon submission.

Track	Example Sub-Topics
AI in Healthcare	Medical imaging and diagnostics, predictive health analytics, Arabic clinical NLP, drug discovery, mental health applications, epidemic modeling.
Smart Agriculture	Precision farming, water resource management, crop disease detection, AI-driven irrigation, livestock monitoring, food security.
AI for Education	Intelligent tutoring systems, automated assessment, Arabic educational content generation, learning analytics, accessibility tools, personalized learning.
Fintech and AI	Fraud detection, credit scoring for underserved markets, blockchain and AI integration, Islamic finance automation, financial inclusion.
Natural Language Processing	Arabic NLP, Palestinian dialect processing, machine translation, sentiment analysis, speech recognition, large language models for Arabic.
Ethics and Governance of AI	Bias and fairness, AI regulation frameworks, digital privacy, responsible AI in developing contexts, AI and human rights.
Open Track	Original AI research with strong innovation and relevance outside the above categories (e.g., robotics, computer vision, reinforcement learning, AI for sustainability).

6. Prizes and Recognition

Rank	Award
1st Place	1000$ + Certificate
2nd Place	650$ + Certificate
3rd Place	350$ + Certificate
Best Paper Award	Certificate + Mentorship opportunity

 

Additional Incentives

• Publication of winning papers in the official AI Week 2026 Competition Proceedings.
• Recommendation letters for outstanding student submissions, signed by the judging panel.
• Winners present their research during AI Week to investors, industry leaders, and policymakers.
• Fast-track consideration for Techno Park incubation and acceleration programs for research with commercial potential.
• Networking opportunities with regional and international AI professionals.

7 How to Submit

1. Download the IEEE two-column template from:
   https://www.ieee.org/conferences/publishing/templates.html
2. Prepare your paper following the Submission Guidelines in Section 3.
3. Ensure the paper is fully anonymized: no author names, no affiliations, no self-identifying references.
4. Export your final paper as PDF.
5. Submit via the online portal at:
   https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1yNVLXm-ApEk8xncBBoWdf-xxM3qUwZQ4q2MiTUJzMyQ/edit
6. You will receive an email confirmation within 48 hours of submission.

8 Contact & Inquires

For questions about the competition, submission process, or eligibility:

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 0097528198481-Dr.Elham Nabhan (Project Manager, AI Week)

Why Participate?

• Prestigious Recognition: Present your work to a high-level audience of global experts, industry leaders, and investors.
• Valuable Prizes: Cash prizes, certificates, mentorship, and incubation opportunities for top-ranking papers.
• Real Impact: Contribute to building Palestine’s national AI strategy and turn academic research into practical solutions.
• Publication: Winning papers will be published in the AI Week 2026 Competition Proceedings.
• Network: Connect with researchers, entrepreneurs, and decision-makers across the MENA region and beyond.

 

judging Panel

Submit Your Research – Where Innovation Meets Opportunity