UPD1: For non-USTC students, pay attention that you should click on the register button about 6 hours before the contest(9.13 6:00-12:00 UTC+08) to finally join the contest!

2026 Kruskal Cup Programming Contest

The Kruskal Cup Programming Contest, also known as the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) Freshman Programming Contest, is one of the most important activities organized by the Computer Programming Club each year.

Timeline

Contest Details

Staff

• Writers : David_24, Eason_He, Huasushis, jiuxun9x, pjz_pjz, wuxigk, 1xx55
• Human Testers : JerrySyr, caidx233, pjz_pjz, Sayu_zzz, a_little_cute, AllFiction, syk070531, GUAIKATTO, dremlory, yixiuge777, chen_zida, xuanxuan001, Dinshey, gty314159, Serval, WannaWalnut, Illyasv1el, retrosidus, XiaoXia, bookcat, o_yingxing_o, Kown
• AI Testers : Kimi k3, Qwen 3.8-max, ChatGPT5.6 sol extra-high, Gemini 3.1 Pro

Features

• Inclusive for All Levels: Designed for beginners and experts alike to learn, compete, and enjoy.
• Meticulously Crafted Problems: Original, high-quality tasks tested across diverse skill tiers.
• Balanced Difficulty Curve: Thoughtfully graded challenges for a smooth and rewarding progression.

Registration

• Method : The judging system for this contest is USTCOJ for USTC students and Codeforces for non-USTC students. For USTC students, register by filling the form.
• For USTC students: You should log in through the unified identity authentication system.
• For non-USTC students: Register for the contest through this link. Pay attention that you should click on the register button about 6 hours before the contest(9.13 6:00-12:00 UTC+08) to finally join the contest!.
• Join the QQ group 1071340683 or the WhatsApp group to get further information.
• Requirements : No restrictions.

Difficulty

Note : The problems are not sorted by difficulty. Therefore, you should solve the problems optimally and manage your time wisely. A great strategy is to follow the others by checking the scoreboard to identify the easier problems during the contest.

The problem set is designed to accommodate participants of all skill levels, with Codeforces equivalent difficulty ranging approximately from 800 to 3500:

• Beginner-Friendly : Entry-level problems focusing on basic implementation and simple logic.
• Medium : Intermediate problems that require standard algorithms, data structures, and observations.
• Advanced : The watershed problems for strong competitors.
• Expert : The ultimate boss problems designed to prevent a full clear (AK).

Venue

• For USTC freshmen and first-year master's students, you must attend the contest on-site.
• For other USTC students, you can choose to attend the contest either online or on-site, but it is subject to venue capacity.
• For non-USTC students, we regret to inform you that campus access is restricted, so you may only attend the contest online.
• For some reason, we will only inform USTC students of the venue.

Description

You will be asked to solve 13 problems in 5 hours. The contest will follow standard ICPC rules and formats. You should submit your solutions on USTCOJ for USTC students and on Codeforces for non-USTC students.

If you encounter any issues during the contest, please submit them via the clarification system (or raise your hand if you are an on-site participant), and we will reply to you or make a global announcement. The contest may feature traditional problems, interactive problems, communicative problems, and/or output-only problems. Our online judge system supports C, C++, and Python.

We will provide problem statements in both Chinese and English. For on-site participants, we will provide one printed Chinese problem statement per person.

Rules

All rules are identical to standard ICPC rules, with the following exceptions:

• On-site participants are allowed to bring and use their own computers.

• This is an individual competition, rather than the standard three person team format..

• Participants are allowed to use AI strictly for translation purposes only, using the exact prompt below: Translate the following text into [LANG]. Do not summarize, omit, or rephrase anything. Preserve the exact meaning of the original text. Provide only the translation, with no additional explanations, notes, or commentary. The text is: [Content]

Award Eligibility & Rules

We have released the award eligibility and rules for on-site participants and we are soory that we will not deliver any award for online participants. However, for online participants, you can get a certification by submitting a complete screen recording covering the entirety of your competition to [email protected].