Informatics students win bronze in an international programming competition

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NWERC is a contest in which teams from universities all over the Northwestern part of Europe are served a series of algorithmic problems. The goal of each team is to solve as many problems as possible within the 5-hour time limit. Potential solutions are submitted and corrected by an automated judging system. The teams that solve the most problems at the end of the contest qualify for the ICPC World Finals.

The event was held online on from November 20th – 21st.

The contest involves up to three teams per university qualifying from their sub-regional contest compete for medals. The School of Informatics’ team consisted of three third year students: Justas Zelnia, Nicholas Zhang and Robertas Norkus. 

The problems in the contest require good knowledge of algorithms and data structures, as well as creative thinking and problem-solving abilities. 1 hour before the contest ends, the live scoreboard is frozen - meaning that the final problem solves and hence the final scoreboard would be revealed during the closing ceremony. Team remotED was 19th before this freeze, then managed to jump to 12th place in the final standings by solving a probability problem at this pivotal stage in the competition.

For me, it is always a great experience to participate in these contests, because I like coming up with creative solutions to difficult problems, but winning a bronze medal just makes it even better.

Justas Zelnia, Team member of remotED

Informatics are no stranger to success in the NWERC, having already won bronze in 2019. The team hope to enter again next year with the hopes of qualifying for the World Finals.

Related links

Northwestern Europe Regional Contest