EUC 2024 Rules

The ICPC Europe Championship 

ICPC Europe is organized into four contest regions: CERC (Central Europe), NWERC (North Europe), SEERC (South-East Europe), and SWERC (South-West Europe). These regions cover more than 40 countries and are home to more than 1500 universities among which many of the best-ranking universities in the World. In the 2022-23 Europe regional contests over 450 teams participated in the qualifying regionals to gain a spot in the World Finals. Participation has increased in recent years and since only a limited number of teams can advance to the World Finals, the European Championship (EUC) is a way to enlarge the World Finals experience to more teams in this Continent.

The 2024 ICPC Europe Championship (2024 ICPC EUC) will be hosted by Czech Technical University in Prague, from the 22nd till the 25th of March, 2024. It is the first championship of Europe’s super-region.

Advancing to the ICPC Europe Championship

Qualification for the 2024 ICPC EUC is based on performance at European regional contests. In total, between 44 and 52 teams will qualify based on the following advancing rules:

  • Each region is conceded 25% of the slots in the EUC.
  • The best-ranked teams in each European regional, one per university, advance to the EUC.
  • A second team from a university, not yet qualified for the World Finals, ranking in the top 10 at the regional, advances to EUC;

Team notification and confirmation

  • Within 10 business days of receiving an invitation, the team coach must confirm to the EUC committee (euc.committee@icpc.global) that the team is ready, willing, and able to compete in all events of the 2024 ICPC EUC. Teams participating in the EUC must be ready, willing, and able to participate in the World Finals.

Qualification to the World Finals

The promotion rules of Europe’s teams to the World Finals may be adjusted yearly. For the 2024 World Finals, the following rules apply:

  • Around 75% of the slots assigned to the super-region are distributed among the best-ranked teams in each regional contest.
  • Four slots are left to be decided in the EUC based on the best-ranked teams not yet qualified.

Request for contestant replacements

Coaches may request a contestant replacement, however, the following constraints apply:

  • A team that qualified for the world finals through the regional may request the replacement of a contestant for their participation at EUC; however, the team being invited for the world finals is the team that earned the qualification.
  • A team that requested a replacement for EUC and earned the qualification at EUC for the world finals is the one being invited.

The EUC Contest

  • The EUC contest will be conducted in person in a manner similar to the World Finals and in-person regional contests.
  • Teams of three (3) will work on a single computer configured with the official EUC contest image.
  • Contestants may not bring additional computers, computer terminals, calculators, or other electronic devices to their Team Area.
  • Each team member may bring an unannotated natural-language printed dictionary.
  • The 2024 ICPC EUC will support the same programming languages as the ICPC World Finals.
  • The programming language tools include Java, C, C++, Kotlin, and Python.
  • The contest control system is DOMjudge: https://www.domjudge.org/.  Everyone should become familiar with using DOMjudge prior to the competition.
  • The scoreboard will be frozen 1 hour prior to the end of the contest and will remain frozen until the closing ceremony.
  • The contest will be 5 hours.

Judging and Scoring of the Contest 

  • All judging and scoring of the contest will adhere to the ICPC World Finals Rules and
  • Compile-time error submissions do not count for penalization; however, abusive behavior (continuous compile-time error submissions) will be interpreted as tempering with the system and other teams and may lead to team disqualification.

Eligibility rules 

Eligibility to compete in EUC is the same as defined in the Regional Rules: ICPC Regional Rules.

At on-site registration, participants must provide a picture ID (passport, driver’s license, etc).  Contestants must show proof of enrollment at the university during the term of the regional contest at which they qualified.  A letter on university stationery with the signature of a university official accompanied by an English translation is sufficient.

Code of Conduct 

The ICPC EUC is conducted according to the ICPC World Finals rules unless noted otherwise.

Note that:

  • DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING at the team workstations until so directed by the designated proctor.
  • Communication with anyone other than your team members (contestants only) is NOT allowed during the contest. The only exception is that members of the Contest Control System, contest organizers, and the technical team may assist with submitting problem solutions, clarifications, and technical help.
  • The Team Reference Document (TRD) is the only source for pre-written code permitted during the contest.
  • Other non-code items that are allowed at the contest, such as a dictionary, can also be found at https://icpc.global/worldfinals/on-site-registration.
  • A team may be disqualified for any activity that jeopardises the competition.
  • Failure to comply with this code of conduct may result in contestant expulsion from the EUC as well as future contests.

Attendance at Events 

All team members are required to attend all mandatory online and in-person contest events as noted in the schedule for the ICPC EUC. The coach is expected to attend team registration and all team check-in events and be available by phone or similar during contest activities. Failure to attend any of the designated contest events may result in disqualification.

Awards and Rankings 

  • Teams are ranked according to the most problems solved. Teams who solve the same number of problems are ranked first by the least total time and if need be, by the earliest submission time of the last accepted submission.
  • The top-ranking team will be awarded a gold medal; the second and third-place teams will be awarded silver medals; the fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-place teams will be awarded bronze medals.
  • Diplomas will be awarded for the first solution in the contest and the first solution to each of the problems.

Complaints, Appeals, and Remedies 

In accordance with the process described in the ICPC Regional Rules, coaches may file complaints or appeals to the EUC Committee (euc.committee@icpc.global). That process begins with the coach submitting a complaint, according to the “Complaints, Appeals, and Remedies” Section of ICPC Regional Rules within one business day after the results are announced.

Revision

These rules may be revised yearly as needed.