Programming competition brings together more than 70 undergraduate students

26/5/2025

More than 70 IMPA Tech students took part in the 4th Phase Zeroa free online programming competition held last Saturday (24). Organized by the SBC (Brazilian Computer Society), the competition is aimed at students who have not yet taken part in the SBC Programming Marathon, the most advanced phase of the competition, to solve computational problems of varying levels of difficulty.

Open to teams from all regions of the country, the competition is held in teams of three undergraduate students, led by a professor. Student Mariana Yoshioka had contact with programming for the first time at IMPA Tech and the competition marked her development. “I thought it was really cool. The marathon is a good incentive, even more so because we can see all the [personal] evolution. Three months ago I would have had no idea how to solve the problems. It was also very nice because I really enjoyed coding with the girls,” she said.

The competition took place in the BOCA (BOCA Online Contest Administrator) system, a programming competition environment that allows teams to interact with the platform via a browser, submitting solutions, consulting problems, the scoreboard and exchanging messages with the organization.

The IMPA Tech students were accompanied by Professor Uéverton Souza, who teaches Programming I and Discrete Mathematics in the bachelor’s program. “We had a good performance from the teams, mainly because most of the students were still studying Programming. Although we don’t use BOCA in class, they managed to complete the questions and have already had contact with the system that will be used in the next stages of the Marathon,” said the teacher.

In this edition, Phase Zero focused on Quantum Computing, in honor of the UNESCO/UN Year of Quantum Science and Technology(IYQ 2025). The test and questions featured concepts, historical figures and famous experiments, such as Schrödinger’s Cat thought experiment. More than a thousand teams from all over Brazil took part in the competition.

“The approach to the topic was interesting, bringing a whole context to problems that are more tangible to undergraduates. Some of the questions required interpretation and brought a very cool perspective to programming,” said Mariana.

During the five-hour competition, the overall ranking was updated live on a YouTube broadcast. Photos from all over the country were sent to the presenters, who showed the Porto Maravalley laboratory to the whole of Brazil. “Full house at IMPA Tech. Beautiful! Crowded lab, people with blood in their eyes to compete in Phase Zero. Cheers to Professor Uéverton [Souza], we’ll be waiting for you at the regionals and the Brazilian final,” said the narrators.

The next stage of the competition is the regional stage of the Programming Marathon, which takes place in September. “I was happy to see the students dedicated to solving the questions. After Phase Zero, our aim is to set up teams to continue in the competition,” added Professor Souza, pleased with the result.

Last year, IMPA Tech students represented the Bachelor of Mathematics in Technology and Innovation in Phase One and managed to solve five problems. The team was among the 10 best trios in the state of Rio de Janeiro, out of 40 participating teams. Remember here.

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