USI students participate in the SWERC International Programming Competition in Pisa

SWERC 2024 (Southwestern Europe Regional Contest) took place in December at the University of Pisa, bringing together top programming talents from universities across southwest Europe. Among the participants, two teams from Università della Svizzera italiana (USI), consisting of five male students and one female student from the Bachelor in Informatics (Marco Biasion, Zhixiang Dai, Alessandro Della Flora, Lorenzo Guideri, Lorenzo Spada, Zhiyao Yan) , achieved excellent results in the competition. Notably, our first team placed 41st out of 144 teams. The participants tackled complex problems, showcasing their strong preparation and advanced skills.

SWERC is one of the leading international programming competitions for universities. This five-hour contest challenges participants with complex algorithmic problem-solving and advanced coding tasks. The competition is open to teams from France, Israel, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Andorra, Liechtenstein, San Marino, and Vatican City. It also serves as the regional selection phase for the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC). The top teams qualify for the world finals to compete against the most talented programmers from universities around the globe.

Preparing USI students for the SWERC is a highly competitive process. Top programmers are selected through a rigorous evaluation process.

The training programme is supervised by Prof. Laura Pozzi, Prof. Antonio Carzaniga and Prof. Kai Hormann. They not only conduct specific courses to enhance the algorithmic skills of the students, but they also actively support them throughout their training and accompany them to competitions.

Participating in the SWERC offers students a unique chance to test themselves in a highly competitive environment and connect with top programming talent at the university level.

USI is dedicated to fostering student growth by investing in and facilitating participation in such high-calibre international events, recognising their profound impact on academic and professional development.