Swiss Olympiad in Informatics

First Round

Pick your favourite programming language and solve the tasks of the first round online.

Tasks for the contest 2020

The first round is conducted online. It starts on 15 September 2019 and ends on 30 November 2019. Everyone who satisfies the conditions of participations can participate. There are two categories: junior and regular. If you can participate this year and the following two more years, you are eligible for the junior round. The five (junior round) resp. six (regular round) tasks are chosen to promote creativity and good ideas – prior knowledge in programming and algorithms is useful, but not required.

Workshops

The graph lecture during the workshops.

Main page for the workshops

The workshops teach you everything you need to know to the tasks of the first round. You’ll learn about C++ and algorithmic problem solving. The workshops can be attended free of charge. No matter how much background knowledge you have, you will certainly benefit.

Part one:

• Zurich (German): 12–13 October
• Lausanne (French): 19–20 October
• Bern (English): 26–27 October

Part two:

• Zurich (German): 1–3 November
• Lausanne (English): 8–10 November

SOI Day

Creativity task tournament at SOI Day 2018

The SOI Day, on January 4, 2020, is an event in Zürich during which the results and awards of the first round will be published. Furthermore, the tourney to find the winner of the creativity task will take place at SOI day. Finally, there will be gripping speeches on topics of Computer Science.

Sarnen Camp

Group picture in 2018 in Ftan

The Sarnen camp is a week-long training camp for top 16 participants from the regular round, the top 8 participants of the junior round and some guest countries. There are lectures, practice tasks and training contests, but there is also ample time to meet the other participants and have lots of fun.

Second Round

Students working on the theoretical part of the second round

A total of 60 participants (20 junior, 40 regular) of the first round qualify for the second round. Participation in the SOI-Camp is not mandatory for participation in the second round.

The second round consists of three parts:

• 2T (400pts, theoretical): 5h pen-and-paper exam at ETH Zürich or EPF Lausanne
• 2P (400pts, practical): online exam written from home during a 5h time-slot of your choice
• 2H (200pts, homework): solve some full-feedback training tasks starting from December 1st

Finals

The winners of the finals in 2019

The top 10 participants of the second round together with two selected by us are invited to the final round in Bern and Zürich. During the final round there are four practical programming contests that are held on two weekends in Bern and Zürich. In the finals and at IOI, you will not be allowed to use any language other than C++ or Python to solve the tasks.

CEOI

The Swiss delegation at CEOI 2019 in Bratislava

http://ceoi.inf.elte.hu/

The CEOI, the Central European Olympiad in informatics, is similar in style to the IOI. While smaller in scale, getting a medal is usually more difficult than at IOI.

IOI

Two bronze medals for Switzerland at IOI 2019 in Baku

https://ioi2020.sg/

Over 80 nations send their 4 best students to compete in the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI). The IOI is the most important, but not the only international event where the best participants of the SOI can meet, exchange and compete with other teenagers.