TheInternational Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) is an annual multi-tieredcompetitive programming competition among theuniversities of the world.[1] Directed by ICPC Executive Director and Baylor Professor William B. Poucher, the ICPC operates autonomous regional contests covering six continents culminating in a global World Finals every year. In 2018, ICPC participation included 52,709 students from 3,233 universities in 110 countries.
The ICPC operates under the auspices of the ICPC Foundation and operates under agreements with host universities and non-profits, all in accordance with the ICPC Policies and Procedures.[2] From 1977 until 2017 ICPC was held under the auspices ofACM and was referred to as ACM-ICPC.[3]
The ICPC traces its roots to a competition held atTexas A&M University in 1970 hosted by the Alpha chapter of theUpsilon Pi Epsilon Computer Science Honor Society (UPE). This initial programming competition was titled First Annual Texas Collegiate Programming Championship and each university was represented by a team of up to five members. The computer used was aIBM System/360 model 65 which was one of the first machines with a DAT (Dynamic Address Translator aka "paging") system for accessing memory. Teams that participated included Texas A&M, Texas Tech, University of Houston, and five or six other Texas University / Colleges. There were three problems that had to be completed and the cumulative time from "start" to "successful completion" determined first-, second-, and third-place winners. The programming language used wasFortran. The programs were written on coding sheets, keypunched onHollerith cards, and submitted for execution. TheUniversity of Houston team won the competition completing all three problems successfully with time. The second- and third-place teams did not successfully complete all three problems. The contest evolved into its present form as a multi-tier competition in 1977, with the first finals held in conjunction with the ACM Computer Science Conference.
From 1977 to 1989, the contest included mainly teams of four from universities throughout the United States and Canada. ICPC Headquarters was hosted byBaylor University from 1989 until 2022, with regional contests established within the world's university community, the ICPC has grown into a worldwide competition. To increase access to the World Finals, teams were reduced to three students within their first five academic years.[citation needed]
From 1997 to 2017,International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) was the sponsor of ICPC. During that time contest participation has grown by more than 2000%. In 1997, 840 teams from 560 universities participated. In 2017, 46,381 students from 2,948 universities in 103 countries on six continents participated in regional competitions. Organized as a highly localized extra-curricular university mind sport and operating as a globally-coordinated unincorporated association operating under agreements with host universities and non-profits, the ICPC is open to qualified teams from every university in the world.[citation needed]
UPE has provided continuous support since 1970 and honored World Finalists since the first Finals in 1976. The ICPC is indebted to ACM member contributions and ACM assistance from 1976 to 2018. Baylor University served since 1985, hosting ICPC Headquarters from 1989 until 2022. The ICPC operates under the auspices of the ICPC Foundation which provides the ICPC Global Headquarters to service a globally-coordinated community whose events operate under agreements with host universities and non-profits to insure that participation in ICPC is open to qualified teams from every university in the world. See ICPC Policies and Procedures.[2]
The ICPC World Finals (The Annual World Finals of the International Collegiate Programming Contest) is the final round of competition. Over its history it has become a 4-day event held in the finest venues worldwide with 140 teams competing in the 2018 World Finals. Recent World Champion teams have been recognized by their country's head of state. In recent years, media impressions have hovered at the one billion mark.[citation needed]
From 2000 to 2022, only teams fromRussia,China, andPoland have won the ICPC world finals.[4] Participation inNorth America is much smaller than in the rest of the world, which is partially attributed to the perceived low payoff of participating.[5]
ICPC contests are team competitions. Current rules stipulate that each team consist of three students. Participants must be university students, who have had less than five years of university education before the contest. Students who have previously competed in two World Finals or five regional competitions are ineligible to compete again.[6][7]
During each contest, the teams of three are given 5 hours to solve between eight and fifteen programming problems (with eight typical for regionals and twelve for finals). They must submit solutions as programs inC,C++,Java,Ada,[8]Python[9][10] orKotlin[11] (although it is not guaranteed every problem is solvable in any certain language, the ICPC website states that "the judges will have solved all problems in Java and C++" for both regional and world finals competitions). Programs are then run on test data. If a program fails to give a correct answer, the team is notified and can submit another program.
The winner is the team which correctly solves the most problems. If necessary to rank teams for medals or prizes among tying teams, the placement of teams is determined by the sum of the elapsed times at each point that they submitted correct solutions plus 20 minutes for each rejected submission of a problem ultimately solved. There is no time consumed for a problem that is not solved.[12]
Compared to other programming contests (for example,International Olympiad in Informatics), the ICPC is characterized by a large number of problems (eight or more problems in just 5 hours). Another feature is that each team can use only one computer, although teams have three students. This makes the time pressure even greater. Good teamwork and ability to withstand pressure is needed to win.
The 2004 ACM-ICPC World Finals were hosted at the Obecni Dum,Prague, byCzech Technical University in Prague. 3,150 teams representing 1,411 universities from 75 countries competed in elimination rounds, with 73 of those teams proceeding to the world finals. St. Petersburg Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics from Russia won, solving 7 of 10 problems.[13] Gold medalists were St. Petersburg Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics,KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden), Belarusian State University, and Perm State University (Russia).
The 2005 world finals were held at Pudong Shangri-La Hotel inShanghai on April 6, 2005, hosted byShanghai Jiao Tong University. 4,109 teams representing 1,582 universities from 71 countries competed in elimination rounds, with 78 of those teams proceeding to the world finals.Shanghai Jiao Tong University won its second world title, with 8 of 10 problems solved.[14] Gold medal winners were Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Moscow State University (Russia), St. Petersburg Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics (Russia), and University of Waterloo (Canada).
The 2006 ACM-ICPC World Finals were held inSan Antonio,Texas, and hosted byBaylor University.[15] 5,606 teams representing 1,733 universities from 84 countries competed in elimination rounds, with 83 of those teams proceeding to the world finals.Saratov State University from Russia won, solving 6 of 10 problems.[16] Gold medal winners were Saratov, Jagiellonian University (Poland), Altai State Technical University (Russia), University of Twente (The Netherlands).
The 2007 ACM-ICPC World Finals were held at the Tokyo Bay Hilton, in Tokyo, Japan, March 12–16, 2007. The World Finals was hosted by the ACM Japan Chapter and the IBM Tokyo Research Lab. Some 6,099 teams competed on six continents at the regional level. Eighty-eight teams advanced to the World Finals.Warsaw University won its second world championship, solving 8 of 10 problems. Gold Medal Winners were Warsaw University, Tsinghua University (China), St. Petersburg Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics (Russia), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (United States). Silver Medal Winners includeShanghai Jiao Tong University (China) and 3 other universities.
The 2008 ACM-ICPC World Finals were held at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, in Banff, Alberta, Canada, April 6–10, 2008.[17] The World Finals was hosted by the University of Alberta. There were 100 teams in the World finals, out of 6700 total teams competing in the earlier rounds.[18] TheSt. Petersburg Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics won their second world championship.Massachusetts Institute of Technology,Izhevsk State Technical University, andLviv National University also received gold medals.
The 2009 ACM-ICPC World Finals were held in Stockholm, Sweden, April 18–22, at the campus of the hosting institution,KTH Royal Institute of Technology, as well as at the Grand Hotel, the Radisson Strand, and the Diplomat Hotel. There were 100 teams from over 200 regional sites competing for the World Championship. TheSt. Petersburg Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics defended their title, winning their third world championship.Tsinghua University,St. Petersburg State University, andSaratov State University also received gold medals.[19] The 2009 World Finals pioneered live video broadcasting of the entire contest, featuring elements such as expert commentary, live feeds of teams and their computer screens and interviews with judges, coaches and dignitaries. The event was broadcast online, as well as by Swedish television channelAxess TV.
The 2010 ACM-ICPC World Finals were held inHarbin, China. The host isHarbin Engineering University.Shanghai Jiao Tong University won the world championship.[20]Moscow State University,National Taiwan University, andTaras Shevchenko Kyiv National University also received gold medals.
The 2011 ACM-ICPC World Finals were held in Orlando, Florida and hosted by main sponsorIBM. The contest was initially scheduled to be held inSharm el-Sheikh,Egypt in February, but was moved due to the political instability associated with theArab Spring.Zhejiang University took first place with theUniversity of Michigan at Ann Arbor,Tsinghua University, andSaint Petersburg State University taking 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively each receiving gold medals.[21]China (2G) United States (1G) Russia (1G, 2S, 2B) Germany (1S) Ukraine (1S) Poland (1B) Canada (1B)
The 2012 World Finals were held in Warsaw, Poland. They were inaugurated on 15 May and hosted byUniversity of Warsaw.[22]St. Petersburg Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics won their fourth world championship, the most by any University at the time.University of Warsaw,Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, andShanghai Jiao Tong University took 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place respectively each receiving gold medals.Russia (2G, 1B) China (1G,1S) Poland (1G) United States (1S) Hong Kong (1S) Belarus (1S, 1B) Canada (1B) Japan (1B)
The 2013 World Finals were held in Saint Petersburg, Russia. They were inaugurated on 3 July and were hosted byNRU ITMO.
2013 top thirteen teams that received medals are:
Japan (1G) Russia (1G, 1S, 2B) China (1G, 1B) Taiwan (1G) Poland (1S, 1B) Ukraine (1S) Belarus (1S) United States (1B)
The 2014 World Finals were held in Ekaterinburg, Russia on June 21–25, hosted byUral Federal University. The final competition was held on June 25.[25] 122 teams participated in the competition andSt. Petersburg State University became the world champion.[26]
Following teams were awarded medals in ICPC 2014:[26]
Russia (2G, 2B) China (1G, 1S, 1B) Taiwan (1G) Japan (1S) Poland (1S) Croatia (1S) Slovakia (1B)
Gold
Silver
Bronze
The 2015 World Finals were held inMarrakesh (Morocco) during May 16–21, hosted byMohammed the Fifth University,Al Akhawayn University andMundiapolis University. The final competition took place on May 20. 128 teams competed to be World Champion. Saint Petersburg ITMO emerged as the winner, having solved all problems (13) for the first time ever. Other medalists included teams from Russia (2G), China (1G, 1B, 1S), Japan (1G), the United States (1B, 1S), Croatia (1S), Czech Republic (1S), Korea (1B), and Poland (1B).
Gold
Silver
Bronze
The 2016 World Finals were held inPhuket (Thailand) during May 16–21. The final competition was on May 19. 128 teams competed to be World Champion. The winners wereSaint Petersburg State University, solving 11 out of 13 problems. The first runners-up were Shanghai Jiao Tong University, also solving 11 problems, but 7 minutes behind the winning team.
Gold
Silver
Bronze
The 2017 World Finals were held inRapid City, South Dakota (United States) during May 20–25, hosted by Excellence in Computer Programming. Due to visa issue, several teams were unable to present onsite, in which the affected schools are allowed direct qualifications for ICPC 2018 besides the usual qualification spots.
The winner wasITMO University. Teams of the following countries were awarded medals in ICPC 2017: Russia (2 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze), Poland (1 Gold), South Korea (1 Gold, 1 Bronze), China (3 Silver), Sweden (1 Bronze), Japan (1 Bronze).
Gold
Silver
Bronze
The 2018 World Finals were held inBeijing (China), during April 15–20, hosted byPeking University.
Archived at theWayback Machine (archived April 24, 2018)
| Rank in Final | Country | Institution | First to Solve Problem | Number of solved problems | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 1 |  Russia | Moscow State University | Panda Preserve & Single Cut of Failure | 9 |
| 02 | 2 | Russia | Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology | Getting a Jump on Crime | 8 |
| 03 | 3 |  China | Peking University | Gem Island | 8 |
| 04 | 4 |  Japan | The University of Tokyo | 8 | |
| 05 | 5 |  South Korea | Seoul National University | Comma Sprinkler | 7 |
| 06 | 6 |  Australia | University of New South Wales | Wireless is the New Fiber | 7 |
| 07 | 7 | China | Tsinghua University | 7 | |
| 08 | 8 | China | Shanghai Jiao Tong University | 7 | |
| 09 | 9 | Russia | ITMO University | Go with the Flow | 7 |
| 10 | 10 |  United States | University of Central Florida | 7 | |
| 11 | 11 | United States | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 7 | |
| 12 | 12 |  Lithuania | Vilnius University | Catch the Plane | 7 |
| 13 | 13 | Russia | Ural Federal University | 7 |
In 2018 World Final, problems "Conquer the World" and "Uncrossed Knight's Tour" were not solved.
The 2019 World Finals were held inPorto (Portugal) from March 31 to April 5, 2019, hosted by the University of Porto and the City of Porto.[28]
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Because of theCOVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 World Finals were postponed.[29] The finals took place inMoscow (Russia) from October 1 to October 5, 2021, hosted byMoscow Institute of Physics and Technology.[30] To avoid confusion with dates, in all official materials it was called "World Finals Moscow" instead of 2020 or 2021.
"ICPC World Finals Moscow final standings".ICPC World finals. Archived fromthe original on 2021-10-05. Retrieved2021-10-16.
| Rank in Final | Country | Institution | First to Solve Problem[31] | Number of solved problems | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 1 | Russia | State University of Nizhny Novgorod | B (The Cost of Speed Limits); H (QC QC) | 12 |
| 02 | 2 | South Korea | Seoul National University | F (Ley Lines) | 11 |
| 03 | 3 | Russia | ITMO University | I (Quests) | 11 |
| 04 | 4 | Russia | Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology | 11 | |
| 05 | 5 |  Poland | University of Wroclaw | G (Opportunity Cost) | 11 |
| 06 | 6 |  United Kingdom | University of Cambridge | A (Cardiology) | 11 |
| 07 | 7 |  Belarus | Belarusian State University | 11 | |
| 08 | 8 |  Romania | University of Bucharest | D (Gene Folding); O (Which Planet is This?!) | 10 |
| 09 | 9 | United States | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | E (Landscape Generator); J (’S No Problem) | 10 |
| 10 | 10 |  Ukraine | Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics | 10 | |
| 11 | 11 | United States | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | 10 | |
| 12 | 12 | Russia | Higher School of Economics | 9 |
In 2020–2021 World Final, problems K (Space Walls) and L (Sweep Stakes) were not solved.
The 45-th World Finals initially scheduled for 2021, was held inDhaka (Bangladesh) from November 6 to November 11, 2022, because of schedule changes due toCOVID-19 pandemic, hosted by theUniversity of Asia Pacific.[32] To avoid confusion about dates, it was called World Finals Dhaka in all official materials.
Source:[33]
To synchronize with the schedule after all rescheduling because ofCovid-19 pandemic both 46-th and 47-th world finals were scheduled to take place in the same time in November 2023 inSharm El Sheikh. Because ofGaza war and related safety concerns, it was rescheduled once again and finally happened inLuxor in April from 14th to 19 April 2024. To avoid confusion about dates, the event was referred to as World Finals Luxor (World Finals Sharm before rescheduling), with two competitions as 46th and 47th separately, if needed, in all official materials.
Two competitions were held in parallel, with intersecting problem sets. In 47-th finals, due to very close results (less than 40 penalty minutes difference between 12 and 16 place), additional bronze medals were awarded at the next finals in Astana.
| Rank in Final | Country | Institution | Number of solved problems | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 1 | China | Peking University | 10 |
| 02 | 2 | USA | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 9 |
| 03 | 3 | Russia | National Research University Higher School of Economics | 9 |
| 04 | 4 | UK | University of Oxford | 9 |
| 05 | 5 | Russia | Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology | 9 |
| 06 | 6 | South Korea | Seoul National University | 9 |
| 07 | 7 | Ukraine | Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv | 9 |
| 08 | 8 | USA | University of Wisconsin-Madison | 8 |
| 09 | 9 | Japan | The University of Tokyo | 8 |
| 10 | 10 | China | Tsinghua University | 8 |
| 11 | 11 | China | Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications | 8 |
| 12 | 12 |  Taiwan | National Taiwan University | 8 |
| Rank in Final | Country | Institution | Number of solved problems | Penalty time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 1 | Russia | National Research University Higher School of Economics | 9 | 995 |
| 02 | 2 | China | Peking University | 9 | 1068 |
| 03 | 3 | Russia | Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology | 9 | 1143 |
| 04 | 4 |  Spain | Harbour.Space University | 9 | 1304 |
| 05 | 5 | China | Tsinghua University | 9 | 1524 |
| 06 | 6 | China | Nanjing University | 8 | 1013 |
| 07 | 7 | South Korea | Seoul National University | 8 | 1102 |
| 08 | 8 |  Canada | University of Waterloo | 8 | 1120 |
| 09 | 9 | Japan | The University of Tokyo | 8 | 1121 |
| 10 | 10 | Japan | Tokyo Institute of Technology | 8 | 1424 |
| 11 | 11 | US | Brigham Young University | 7 | 842 |
| 12 | 12 | Poland | University of Warsaw | 7 | 940 |
| 13 | 13 |  Argentina | Universidad de Buenos Aires | 7 | 955 |
| 14 | 14 | UK | University of Cambridge | 7 | 962 |
| 15 | 15 | Taiwan | National Taiwan University | 7 | 962 |
| 16 | 16 | China | Xi'an Jiaotong University | 7 | 980 |
The 48th World Finals was held on 15–20 September 2024 inAstana, Kazakhstan hosted by The Kazakhstan Competitive Programming Federation.
Source:[36]
| Rank in Final | Country | Institution | Number of solved problems | Penalty time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 1 | China | Peking University | 9 | 935 |
| 02 | 2 | Russia | Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology | 9 | 1212 |
| 03 | 3 | China | Tsinghua University | 9 | 1218 |
| 04 | 4 | Japan | Tokyo Institute of Technology | 9 | 1322 |
| 05 | 5 | South Korea | KAIST | 8 | 868 |
| 06 | 6 |  Singapore | National University of Singapore | 8 | 934 |
| 07 | 7 | China | Beijing Jiaotong University | 8 | 960 |
| 08 | 8 | Japan | The University of Tokyo | 8 | 1031 |
| 09 | 9 | South Korea | Seoul National University | 8 | 1112 |
| 10 | 10 | China | Zhejiang University | 8 | 1166 |
| 11 | 11 | USA | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 8 | 1324 |
| 12 | 12 | USA | Swarthmore College | 7 | 605 |
The 49th ICPC World Championship will be held inBaku,Azerbaijan, from August 31 to September 5, 2025, hosted byADA University in partnership with theCentral Bank of Azerbaijan.[37][38]
| Wins | Country | Institution | Most Recent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Russia | ITMO University | 2017 |
| 4 | Russia | Saint Petersburg State University | 2016 |
| 3 | China | Shanghai Jiao Tong University | 2010 |
| 3 | United States | Stanford University | 1991 |
| 2 | China | Peking University | 2024 |
| 2 | United States | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 2022 |
| 2 | Russia | Moscow State University | 2019 |
| 2 | Poland | University of Warsaw | 2007 |
| 2 | Canada | University of Waterloo | 1999 |
| 2 | United States | California Institute of Technology | 1988 |
| 2 | United States | Washington University in St. Louis | 1980 |
| Wins | Country | Most Recent Win | No. of Years Participated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | United States | 2021 | 47 |
| 16 | Russia | 2023 | 28 (since 1996) |
| 6 | China | 2024 | |
| 2 | Poland | 2007 | |
| 2 | Canada | 1999 | |
| 1 |  Czech Republic | 1998 | |
| 1 |  Germany | 1995 | |
| 1 | Australia | 1992 | |
| 1 |  New Zealand | 1990 |
