Workshops 2025/26

Photo of Johannes presenting a solution on the blackboard, colourful

Learn everything you need to know for the second round at our workshops

Register now! (The registration link is at the bottom of this page, but please take your time to read through it first.)

We invite you to our workshops to get started with algorithms and competitive programming. You should have some basic programming knowledge, solve the pre-round to see what we expect. Other than that, no prior knowledge is required, though being good at maths can be an advantage. Participating at the workshops is free and we even reimburse your train tickets (see FAQ below).

You can choose to either attend the Zurich or the Lausanne/Geneva workshop. It is still to be decided whether the Lausanne/Geneva workshop will take place in Lausanne or Geneva. The Zurich and the Lausanne/Geneva workshops will cover the same topics.

This year we will carry out the workshops in two separate tracks: Beginner and Advanced. In the Beginner track the focus will be on getting you started with algorithms and competitive programming. In the Advanced track the focus will be on slightly more advanced algorithms used in the second round.

Photo of some participants listening to a lecture, Berne

Dates

  • 18.10. – 19.10. Lausanne/Geneva
  • 01.11. – 02.11. Lausanne/Geneva
  • 08.11. – 10.11. Zurich

During all of these workshops, you can talk to us in German, French or English. The tasks will be available in all three languages. Even if you are not so fluent in, say, French and attend a French workshop, you probably will be able to follow most of it just fine.

Picture of Charlotte helping a participant, Berne

Overnight Stay

We provide the option to stay overnight from Saturday to Sunday at all workshops, as well as Sunday to Monday at the Zurich Workshop. We will stay in the local youth hostel. You’ll share the room with other people from SOI of the same gender.

Preparation

You will need to have qualified for the second round and scored at least 400 points in the pre-round before you can sign up. During the workshop we will be using C++, but you can solve the pre-round in any programming language you like.

If you are completely new and want to get started as fast as possible, we recommend that you refer to the training page.

Registration

Interested? Then please fill in the registration form:



The number of spots is limited and we will consider registrations by order of registration date. Note that the workshop is targeted at beginners. Participants who have attended the SOI camp in Sarnen in the past are not eligible for participation.

We can only guarantee an overnight stay in the youth hostel if you sign up one week before the start of the respective workshop. We will inform you whether you can stay overnight, if you choose to stay overnight and sign up later than that.

For questions ask us on info@soi.ch.

We are looking forward to seeing you!

FAQ

Q: I am already very experienced in programming, does it make sense to attend?
A: Definitely. Don’t worry, there are a lot of tricky tasks and we are sure you will learn something new.
Q: I have just started programming, will it be too hard?
A: The beginners track is intended to help people with little experience to get up to speed quickly. For most of the tasks, you don’t need very complex programming patterns.
Q: Is the content available online somewhere?
A: For the theory, you can read our Wiki. We will publish most of the tasks from the workshops.
Picture of a blackboard containing code for scanline, Berne, higher brightness
Q: Does it make sense to come to the workshops if I can read up everything online?
A: Of course! You have the unique opportunity to:
  • meet like-minded people from all over Switzerland,
  • learn those topics from experts and let them help you debug your code and
  • enjoy a friendly but competitive atmosphere.

Besides the lectures and tons of time for coding and solving problems, we will also have some quizzes and card games.

Q: What do I have to pay?
A: Nothing! We will send you coupons to buy train tickets (half-tax fare), provide you with food and offer you overnight stays for free. We are able to do this because we (mostly students) organize SOI in our free time, and our partners cover the expenses.