TL;DR. If the trip is anchored on May 29-31, don’t plan around an IT conference — the only EPFL-hosted thing on those exact dates is a niche academic Artificial Life workshop at Centre Bernoulli [20]. Lausanne’s headline tech events all sit Feb-April: AMLD (Feb 10-12, AI/ML, ~thousands of attendees from 40+ countries) [1] [3], Insomni’hack (Mar 16-20, cybersecurity + CTF, 500+ delegates) [5] [6], and HackSummit (Apr 22-23, climate hardtech, 800 attendees) [7]. For a tech-event weekend re-roll, aim Feb (AMLD) or April (HackSummit).
The calendar at a glance (2026)
All major IT/tech events in or near Lausanne, by date. STCC = SwissTech Convention Center at EPFL.
| Dates | Event | Venue | Type / audience |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 10-12 | AMLD Intelligence Summit | STCC, EPFL | AI / ML — flagship, public [1] |
| Mar 5-7 | Sustainability Days | EPFL campus | Public outreach [19] |
| Mar 16-20 | Insomni’hack | STCC, EPFL | Cybersecurity + CTF, paid [5] [6] |
| Mar 19 | MT180 EPFL Final | EPFL | Public, research outreach [19] |
| Apr 16-18 | Lemanic Life Sciences Hackathon | Hall SV, EPFL | Hackathon, 120 invited [14] |
| Apr 22-23 | HackSummit | Beaulieu Congress Center | Climate hardtech, paid [7] |
| Apr 30 - May 1 | LakeCTF Finals | EPFL INM 065 | CTF, top-10 academic teams [13] |
| May 7 | Startup Champions Seed Night | Forum Rolex, EPFL | Pitch evening, free/registered [10] |
| May 8-10 | RoboHack | EPFL Makerspace | 36h robotics hackathon, 50 selected [9] |
| May 27-29 | Workshop on Artificial Life | Centre Bernoulli, EPFL | Academic workshop [20] |
| Sep 7-8 | Open Science Days | Lausanne (4 institutions) | Open science [24] |
| Oct 5-9 | Forum EPFL | STCC, EPFL | Recruitment fair — Europe’s biggest [12] |
| Nov 18-20 | EPFL Information Days | EPFL | Prospective-student visits [25] |
| Nov 25 | EPFL Investor Day | STCC, EPFL | Deeptech investors + startups [11] |
| Late Nov (TBC) | LauzHack | EPFL | Student hackathon [17] |
| 2×/year (Spring/Fall) | PolyLAN | STCC / Beaulieu | LAN party, up to 1,350 players [15] |
Flagship events worth planning a trip around
AMLD Intelligence Summit — AI / ML
Feb 10-12, 2026 at the SwissTech Convention Center, EPFL. 10th anniversary edition [1]. Conference + exhibition Feb 10-11, hands-on workshop day Feb 12 [2]. Pulls “thousands of experts and participants from over 40 countries” across industry, academia and government [3]. Format mixes keynotes, fishbowls, roundtables, startup pitches and an open stage [1]. Early-bird closed Dec 9, 2025 [3]. The biggest tech-tourism magnet on Lausanne’s calendar — best single weekend to combine with a Michelin dinner.
Insomni’hack — cybersecurity + CTF
Mar 16-20, 2026 at STCC, EPFL. Mon-Wed workshops, Thu-Fri talks + on-site CTF [5] [6]. Organised by Orange Cyberdefense Switzerland since 2008; ~500+ delegates [4]. Described by its own site as “one of the largest cybersecurity events in Switzerland and neighboring Europe, as well as one of the largest on-site CTF’s worldwide” [5]. The 2026 edition closed Mar 19 — 2027 dates Feb 1-5, 2027 at the same venue [5].
HackSummit — climate hardtech
Apr 22-23, 2026 at the Beaulieu Congress Center, Lausanne. 5th Lausanne edition [8]. Scale: 800 attendees, 100 speakers, 300 investors, 300 founders, 40 startup booths [7]. Two-track structure: Day 1 Industrial Renaissance (manufacturing, energy, materials, mining, DAC), Day 2 Food Sovereignty (alt-proteins, biotech ingredients) [7] [8]. Tickets (last-minute, all sold out at writing) ranged CHF 490 (startup) to CHF 1,520 (corporate) [7]. Audience-credibility note: vendor-blog framing, but the attendee numbers are corroborated by swiss.tech (Switzerland’s federal tech-ecosystem org) [8].
Forum EPFL — recruitment fair
Oct 5-9, 2026 at STCC. 44th edition. 188 companies + 133 startups + 18 NGOs/IGOs, 23,500 expected visitors [12]. Marketed as “the biggest student recruitment fair in Europe” [12]. Less useful for tourists, but a serious destination if recruiting EPFL graduates is on the agenda.
EPFL Investor Day — deeptech investors
Nov 25, 2026 at STCC. Two-part day: invite-only AM (investors + Western Switzerland deeptech startups), public PM [11]. Partners: UBS, Canton of Vaud, Swisscom Ventures [11]. EPFL ranks “4 in Europe for deep tech spinout value” per the European Deep Tech Report 2025, the framing of the event [11].
Hackathons and CTFs
| Event | Dates 2026 | Selectivity | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lemanic Life Sciences Hackathon | Apr 16-18 | 120 max, waitlist | 3 days, clinicians + life sci + data sci [14] |
| LakeCTF Finals | Apr 30 - May 1 | Top-10 academic CTF teams | Jeopardy CTF, finals only at EPFL [13] |
| RoboHack | May 8-10 | 50 selected, two tracks | 36h robotics build, Software + Hardware tracks [9] |
| Swiss {ai} Weeks Hackathon (typical: Sep) | TBC 2026 | Open, ~teams of 5 | 36h AI hackathon, EPFL AI Center + LauzHack [18] |
| LauzHack (typical: late Nov) | TBC 2026 | Open student hackathon | EPFL’s flagship student hackathon since 2016 [17] |
Around the May 29-31 weekend specifically
Slim pickings for IT/tech. What’s actually on:
- Workshop on Detection and Emergence of Complexity: Artificial Life Perspectives — May 27-29, 9:15 AM-6:00 PM, Centre Bernoulli, EPFL [20]. Academic, narrow, but free and a chance to sit in on a niche EPFL research seminar.
- PolyLAN 43 wrapped earlier in May 2026 [16]; next PolyLAN won’t be until ~Nov.
- Pitch Training (Jun 11) at EPFL Innovation Park and Business Creation Engineering (Jun 3-4, 17-18 + Jul 2) at Unlimitrust, Prilly — adjacent-dates startup workshops, both small-format [21].
- No headline conference at STCC or Beaulieu that weekend per the calendars consulted [19] [21].
Recommendation: treat the May 29-31 trip as restaurant-and-lake-anchored. If aligning a future trip to a tech event matters, the highest-density weekends are:
| Weekend | Why |
|---|---|
| Feb 13-15, 2027 | Likely AMLD 11th edition (10th was Feb 10-12, 2026) [1] |
| Feb 4-5, 2027 | Insomni’hack 2027 talks (workshops Mon-Wed prior) [5] |
| Late Apr 2027 | HackSummit; pattern suggests Apr 21-22 or similar [7] |
Venues you’ll see repeatedly
- SwissTech Convention Center (STCC) — on the EPFL campus, the default venue for AMLD, Insomni’hack, Forum EPFL, EPFL Investor Day, and big PolyLAN editions [23] [15].
- Beaulieu Congress Center — north of the city centre, used by HackSummit and one of PolyLAN’s recurring locations [7] [15].
- EPFL Innovation Park — 100+ startups in residence, hosts most of the smaller pitch / training events [26].
- Forum Rolex / Rolex Learning Center — Startup Champions Seed Night and several research showcases [10].
Worth knowing but not Lausanne
- Microsoft AI Tour — the Lausanne stop ran Jun 16, 2025; the 2026 Swiss stop has moved to Zurich (Apr 29, 2026), so don’t plan a 2026 Lausanne trip around it [22].
- Crypto Valley Conference is in Zug, not Lausanne — useful to flag if “Switzerland blockchain” search results push it. EPFL’s Blockchain Student Association ran a stablecoins-focused day in Lausanne on Mar 20, 2026, but it’s a student conference, not a destination event.