St Petersburg University students crowned champions of the Northwestern Federal District in algorithmic programming
The first sports programming championship has been held in St Petersburg. It brought together more than 140 teams from 15 regions of Russia at the Museum and Exhibition Centre "Russia — My History." The St Petersburg University team emerged as the regional leader in the Algorithmic Programming category.
Teams from universities, technical colleges, and physics and mathematics schools in St Petersburg competed for the title of the champion in the Northwestern Federal District. The competitors showcased their expertise across five categories: Information Security, Robot and Drone Programming, Product Programming, and Algorithmic Programming. The final challenge tested participants’ ability to optimise and apply various data structures to solve practical cases. The experts assessed the quality of the code produced and the technologies employed in the submitted works.
Competitions like these provide major representatives of the Russian IT industry with an opportunity to gauge the level of students’ education, evaluate their skills, and identify potential employees.
Aleksandr Babich, Senior Vice-Rector for Youth Policy and Admissions at St Petersburg University
"Work on preparing for programming competitions is systematically organised at the University: training camps are held; ICPC model competitions are arranged; and support is provided to students who have become winners and medallists of such contests. The University has also developed a special online course for anyone interested in sports programming," emphasised Aleksandr Babich, Senior Vice-Rector for Youth Policy and Admissions at St Petersburg University.
For their victory in the Algorithmic Programming category, members of the St Petersburg University team — Savelii Grigorev, Mikhail Ivanov, and Evgenii Karpovich — were awarded a sports category. The students noted that the next step is their participation in the Russian championship.
For many years, St Petersburg University has been actively promoting and teaching sports programming. A dedicated coaching staff has been formed at the University, internal competitions based on the ICPC model are organised in collaboration with VK Education, and team trips to training camps and competitions are funded. Student teams from St Petersburg University consistently achieve recognition as winners and laureates in Russian and international Olympiads.
As part of the championship, an agreement was signed between the University and the St Petersburg branch of the Sports Programming Federation. The documents were signed by Aleksandr Babich, Senior Vice-Rector for Youth Policy and Admissions at St Petersburg University, and Denis Kuvikov, President of the St Petersburg Sports Programming Association. According to the agreement, the parties plan to implement joint projects in education and science, as well as provide various forms of financial and professional support for talented students.
"As part of our cooperation, and with the active support of the St Petersburg Sports Programming Federation, we plan to organise targeted training and internships for our students, and ensure employment opportunities for our graduates in major Russian IT companies. Additionally, we hope that the Federation will establish a system of scholarship support for students who achieve high results in sports programming competitions," said Aleksandr Babich.