MedForage : The CADD Hackathon, organized by the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, M. S. Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences (RUAS). This event will bring together the brightest minds in technology and pharmaceutical sciences for an epic drug discovery dockathon.
Event Highlights :
• Themes :
- AI/ML Based Drug Discovery
- Virtual Screening
- QSAR Modelling
- Pharmacophore Modelling
• Prize Pool: ₹50,000
• Proposal Submission: 09 October to 24 November, 2024
• Registration Fee Per Team: ₹500 (Incl. of GST)
Eligibility : The competition is open to students, researchers and professionals in pharmaceutical and life sciences, computational biology, bioinformatics, chemistry and related fields.
Team Size : Participants can compete individually or in teams of up to 4 members including a mentor (mentor is mandatory). Each team must be registered before the competition begins.
Registration : All participants/teams must complete the registration process through the official portal before the deadline. Communication: All official communications shall be through the registered email addresses.
Fair Play : All participants are expected to compete fairly. Any form of cheating, plagiarism or unethical behavior will result in immediate disqualification.
The competition is divided into four modules
1. Virtual Screening
• Participants need to present their work, which involves molecular docking studies using appropriate software
• Evaluation will be based on hypothesis, docking accuracy, binding affinity and innovative solutions for ligand-receptor interactions 2. Pharmacophore Modelling
• Participants must create pharmacophore models from the reputed data base
• Assessment criteria will include model accuracy, relevance to biological targets and the robustness of the generated models 3. QSAR (Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship)
• Teams will need to develop QSAR models to predict the biological activity of compounds using statistical techniques
• Evaluation will focus on model performance (accuracy, R2-squared value, etc.), data interpretation and novelty of the approach.
4. AI and Machine Learning in Drug Design
• Participants must apply AI/ML techniques (Random Forest, Neural Networks, etc.) to predict molecular properties or optimize drug candidates
• Evaluation will include accuracy, algorithm selection and justification of the chosen AI/ML approach
Competition Timeline : The competition will run over a designated period. All projects must be submitted before the final deadline
WRITING AND FORMATTING
File format Editable source files should be provided for the entire submission (including figures, tables and text graphics).
Some guidelines :
• Save files in an editable format, using the extension .doc/.docx for Word files
• Lay out text in a single-column format
• Use spell-check and grammar-check functions to avoid errors Tables Tables must be submitted as editable text, not as images. Some guidelines :
• Place tables next to the relevant text
• Cite all tables in the manuscript text
• Number tables consecutively according to their appearance in the text
• Provide legends along with the tables
• Place any table notes below the table body
• Avoid vertical rules and shading within table cells
We recommend that you use tables sparingly, ensuring that any data presented in tables is not duplicating results described elsewhere in the article.
Figures When submitting figures :
• Cite all images in the manuscript text
• Number images according to the sequence they appear within your article
• Submit each image as a separate file using a logical naming convention for your files (for example, Figure 1:, Figure 2: etc).
• Please provide legends along with the artwork
• Text graphics may be embedded in the text at the appropriate position Title page
• Title of the paper: [Font size 16, Calibri(body)]
• Author’s name (Font size 14)
• Affiliations (Font size 12)
• E-Mail ID :
• Article titles should be concise and informative
• Provide the given name(s) and family name(s) of each author with affiliation
• Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence for your article at all stages of the refereeing and publication process and also post-publication
Abstract
• Font Size: 14, Bold, Calibri
• Font Size: 12, Calibri, Line Spacing: 1.15 You are required to provide a concise and factual abstract which does not exceed 250 words. The abstract should briefly state the purpose of your research, principal results and major conclusions.
Some guidelines :
• Abstracts must be able to stand alone as abstracts are often presented separately from the article
• Avoid references
• Avoid non-standard or uncommon abbreviations. If any are essential to include, ensure they are defined within your abstract at first mention
Keywords You are required to provide 3 to 5 keywords. Keywords should be written in English. Please try to avoid keywords consisting of multiple words (using "and" or "of") Introduction, Methodology, Results and Discussion, Conclusion, References
• Font Size: 14, Bold, Calibri
• Font Size: 12, Calibri, Line Spacing: 1.15 1. Introduction The introduction should clearly state the objectives of your work. We recommend that you provide an adequate background to your work but avoid writing a detailed literature overview or summary of your results.
2. Methods The methods section should provide sufficient details about the materials and methods to ensure reproducibility by an independent researcher. Some guidelines :
• If the method used has been published, provide a summary and reference the originally published method
• If a previously published method is quoted, use quotation marks and cite the source
• Describe any modifications that made to existing methods
3. Results and discussion Results should be clear and concise. Kindly read the sections in this guide on supplying tables, artwork, supplementary material and sharing research data The discussion section should explore the significance of the results; however, the results should not be repeated. The results and discussion sections may be combined into one section, if appropriate. We recommend avoiding the use of extensive citations and discussion of published literature in the discussion section
4. Conclusion The conclusion section should present the main conclusions of the study. Conclusion section may be stand-alone or included in a subsection of your discussion or results and discussion section
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