HSE University’s Faculty of Computer Science Teams Win ICPC International Collegiate Programming Contest

© HSE University

On April 14–19, 2024, two finals of the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) took place in Luxor (Egypt). The teams from HSE University’s Faculty of Computer Science became world champions in the 47th ICPC final and received gold medals in the 46th final.

Over 840 students from more than 170 universities and 50 countries took part in the 46th and 47th finals. Two teams of students went to represent HSE University in Moscow under the leadership of Mikhail Gustokashin, Director of the Centre for Student Competitions at the Faculty of Computer Science, and Philipp Gribov, a teacher at the Faculty of Computer Science.

The FFTilted team (47th final) consisting of Fedor Romashov, Aleksandr Babin, and Kirill Kudryashov became the world champion and received gold medals. The Undertrained+Overpressured team (46th final)—Maksim Gorokhovsky, Ivan Safonov, and Timofey Fedoseev—took third place and received gold medals. Ivan Safonov became the only three-time ICPC medallist in history. Over the entire period of participation in the ICPC finals, teams from HSE University’s Faculty of Computer Science earned four bronze (2014, 2019, 2020, 2021) and two gold awards (2022, 2023). This is the best result among all Russian universities.

Nikita Anisimov

‘HSE University is a multidisciplinary school that provides opportunities of self-realisation for the talented youth of our country in all areas and fields. At that, the largest share of the university’s graduates today are specialists in the field of computer science and engineering. I congratulate the students of our Faculty of Computer Science on their historic victory, which proves that Russia’s mathematics and computer school is the strongest in the world, and HSE University deserves its place among the top rankings of technology institutes and universities that train specialists in the field of artificial intelligence,’ said HSE University Rector Nikita Anisimov.

Ivan Arzhantsev

Dean of the Faculty of Computer Science

‘Congratulations to our teams and the entire staff of the Faculty of Computer Science on their victory at the ICPC International Collegiate Programming Contest! The gold received by two FCS teams at once at the most reputable international competition testifies to the consistently high quality of student training and the excellent work of the teaching staff. It is especially pleasant that the news of this remarkable result came on the days when the faculty celebrates its tenth anniversary. At the previous final, our team also achieved the highest results among Russian universities, winning a bronze medal and taking ninth place in the world. But the result of this year cannot be surpassed— our teams became absolutely the best in the world. It is now important to stay ahead in the future and strengthen our reputation as one of the world’s leading computer science education and research centres.'

ICPC is one of the largest and most prestigious programming competitions in the world. Teams of three, representing their university, work to solve problems, demonstrating skills such as teamwork, creativity, innovative solutions, and the ability to work under pressure within a limited time. This year, the competition was held with the assistance of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko congratulated the teams on the Telegram channel of the Russian government.

Dmitry Chernyshenko

‘It is thanks to their talents and hard work that we are one of the world leaders in the pace of digital transformation of the economy and social sphere. I sincerely congratulate the students of HSE University on their well-deserved victory, as well as the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology team, which became a finalist of the ICPC contest! I am confident that your skills will allow you to create innovative technology solutions that ensure the technological sovereignty of our country, the importance of which our President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly spoken about.'

Mikhail Gustokashin

Director of the Centre for Student Competitions at HSE University’s Faculty of Computer Science, team coach

‘HSE University has shown the best result in the entire history of its participation in ICPC. Before that, we had four bronze medals in our treasury, but this year, we were able to win the champion title and gold medals in two finals all at once. The participants trained hard to achieve this, and I hope that the members of our teams at the subsequent ICPC finals will also show good results.'

Each team was to solve 11 problems in five hours. During the last hour of the competition, the online results table was frozen. A total of 12 sets of medals were awarded at each of the ICPC finals, four of each denomination. Among the participants from other Russian universities, medals were also received by students from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, who took the third place in the 47th final and the fifth place in the 46th final of the championship.

Teams from HSE University in St. Petersburg also took part in the competition. They finished 19th (46th final) and 58th (47th final).

 Results of the 46th final

 Results of the 47th final

ICPC (International Collegiate Programming Contest) is a prestigious programming competition that has been held since 1970. As part of the contest, teams of students from all over the world compete to solve complex programming problems in a limited time.

Participation in ICPC allows students to showcase their programming, algorithmic thinking, and teamwork skills, while also providing the opportunity to meet top computer science students and professionals from around the world. The contest is held at several levels: regional, national, and global. Successful performance at the regional and national stages allows teams to advance to the final stage, where they compete to become the absolute ICPC champions.