Virtual Cell Challenge 2026
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Quick Answer
Arc Institute's AI-for-biology contest: predict gene-knockdown effects in unseen cell lines for a US$100,000 (about ₹95 lakh) grand prize.
- Funding amount
- Varies
- Funding type
- Competition
- Provider
- Arc Institute
- Application deadline
- 2d — 6 Nov 2026
- Location
- International
About this competition
The Virtual Cell Challenge is an annual open competition run by Arc Institute, an independent non-profit research institute in Palo Alto, and sponsored by NVIDIA, 10x Genomics and Ultima Genomics. The 2025 edition drew more than 5,000 registrants from 114 countries.
The 2026 task is zero-shot: there is no training set. Your model must predict how cells respond to CRISPRi gene knockdowns in six cell lines it has never seen perturbed, given only the unperturbed state of those cells and the list of genes to knock down. You may use any modelling approach and train on any data, including public datasets and your own.
Three cell lines power the live leaderboard; the other three are held back to pick the winners. Final rankings use an aggregate of six metrics, scored with Arc's cell-eval tool.
Prizes: US$100,000 (about ₹95 lakh) for first place, US$50,000 (about ₹47.5 lakh) for second and US$25,000 (about ₹23.75 lakh) for third. Prizes are a mix of cash and NVIDIA Brev compute credits; the split is not stated on the announcement.
Timeline: submissions opened on 20 August 2026, the final test set was released on 22 October, and final submissions are due 5 November 2026 at 11:59 pm UTC (6 November, 5:29 am IST). Winners are announced in mid to late November.
Individuals, academic labs, companies and independent research organisations are all eligible. Register and read the full rules at virtualcellchallenge.org before you submit.
Eligibility
See if you're eligible
Full eligibility criteria — entity type, stage, sector, founder profile and registration requirements — plus your fit for this program. Sign up to view.
Organizers
Prizes & Awards
What You Get
First place wins US$100,000 (about ₹95 lakh), second US$50,000 (about ₹47.5 lakh) and third US$25,000 (about ₹23.75 lakh). The prizes are a mix of cash and NVIDIA Brev credits. Winners are announced in mid to late November 2026.
- Disbursement
- Lump Sum
- Bootstrap friendly
- Yes
Timelines & Process
Selection Process
Submissions are scored automatically against Arc's own Perturb-seq measurements, which are withheld as ground truth. Final rankings on the three held-out cell lines use an aggregate across six metrics, computed with the cell-eval tool built with NVIDIA.
Application Process
- 1
Register
Sign up at virtualcellchallenge.org.
You - 2
- 3
- 4
How to apply
Four steps from draft to disbursement — one action each.
- 1
Submit on the official portal
Use the official application link and verify all details before final submission.
- 2
Follow up
Reach out 5–7 days after submitting to confirm receipt and ask about the review timeline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can enter?
Individuals, academic labs, companies and independent research organisations are all eligible.
What are the prizes?
US$100,000 for first place, US$50,000 for second and US$25,000 for third, paid as a mix of cash and NVIDIA Brev credits.
When is the deadline?
Final submissions are due on 5 November 2026 at 11:59 pm UTC, which is 5:29 am IST on 6 November.
Is there training data?
No Challenge-specific training set. You get the unperturbed expression profiles of each cell line and the genes to knock down, and may train on any public or private data.
How is it scored?
A live leaderboard runs on three validation cell lines; final rankings use an aggregate of six metrics on three held-out cell lines.
Sources
Data on this page is compiled from official program and provider references.
