27.03.2026
On 23 March 2026, the third edition of the “slow” research hackathon DisInfoHack was officially launched. A total of 44 students from more than 12 universities in Bulgaria and abroad are taking part in a competition focused on researching the Bulgarian media and digital landscape. Their task is to identify disinformation narratives and propose effective solutions for countering them. Participants will be able to choose a topic within six major thematic areas: elections, wars, ecology, migration, patriotism, and crises.
The event was opened on an online platform specially developed for the hackathons. The moderator was Senior Assistant Professor Aleksey Potebnya, PhD, from the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. On behalf of Sofia University, Associate Professor Kaloyan Simeonov, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, delivered a welcome address to the participants.
Senior Assistant Professor Mariya Yurukova, PhD, from the Department of European Studies at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” and leader of the DisInfoHack hackathons, together with Professor Iliana Pavlova from Veliko Tarnovo University, presented the themes and tasks of the hackathon. They explained that, over the course of one month, participants will meet with experts in media studies, media law, security, and data analysis from academia, public administration, and business. They will work with digital tools and platforms for media analysis, e-learning, and collaboration, and will compete for cash prizes, internships, and other awards.
The students are divided into seven teams and are supported by mentors and city coordinators. DisInfoHack 2026 includes teams from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Plovdiv University, Nikola Y. Vaptsarov Naval Academy (Varna), Veliko Tarnovo University, the American University in Bulgaria, Burgas, as well as a team of students studying at other universities in Bulgaria and abroad. In parallel, a special team composed of participants from the teams that placed first and third in the 2025 edition of DisInfoHack is also joining the initiative. They will not compete with the other teams for the prize fund, but will instead develop their own independent research project, now as professionals and members of the DisInfoHack community.
The team mentors are doctoral candidates and researchers from the Department of European Studies at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, the GATE Institute, and Identrics. They include Ralitsa Stoycheva, Iglika Ivanova, Tihomira Doncheva, Bozhidar Angelov, Todor Kiryakov, Ruslana Margova, and Adriana Dikancheva.
The coordinators are Professor Iliana Pavlova from Veliko Tarnovo University; Professor Darina Sarelska from AUBG; Senior Assistant Professor Mariya Yurukova, PhD, from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”; Senior Assistant Professor Blagoy Deliev, PhD, from Plovdiv University; and Senior Assistant Professor Dimitar Dimitrov, PhD, from Nikola Y. Vaptsarov Naval Academy.
The jury chair, who will evaluate the teams according to pre-established and transparent criteria, is Professor Nelly Ognyanova, lecturer and expert in media law.
The closing event of DisInfoHack 2026 is scheduled for 27 April 2026 at 9:30 a.m. at the GATE Institute in Sofia. There, the teams will present their reports and findings, and the hackathon jury will evaluate and announce the best research projects.
DisInfoHack is a format created specifically to counter disinformation and analyse information in a digital environment. Its aim is to engage and educate young people who want to contribute to the creation of high-quality information in the digital age. The first “slow” student research hackathon was held in 2025, and in the autumn of 2025 DisInfoHack Junior, aimed at students in grades 10 to 12, was also launched.
The initiative is part of the activities of the CoDE research project, which seeks to study and analyse the country’s information environment and to consolidate good practices and tools for work in this field. It is implemented by Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – through the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, the Faculty of Philosophy, and the Institute for Big Data for Intelligent Society (GATE) – in cooperation with the Institute of Information and Communication Technologies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the European Software Institute, and the technology companies Webcentric, Kontipso, and Identrics. DisInfoHack contributes to the mission of CoDE by building an ecosystem for countering disinformation, aimed at strengthening information resilience through a scientific and evidence-based approach.
The project is funded by the America for Bulgaria Foundation*, while the sponsors of DisInfoHack are Wiser, Fortinet, the Information Centre of the Ministry of Defence of Bulgaria, and Asterisk Studio.
For up-to-date information and an archive of previous editions of DisInfoHack (2025 and Junior), please follow the official website: www.disinfohack.com, as well as the project’s social media channels:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61574158012635
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/disinfohack-academy
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/disinfohack/
Support for the Grantee is provided by the America for Bulgaria Foundation. The statements and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the Grantee or the respective Project Partner and do not necessarily reflect the views of the America for Bulgaria Foundation or its affiliates.