The five best young computer science talents from all over Germany were honoured at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). A total of 26 finalists had demonstrated their skills in the final round of the 41st National Computer Science Competition.
In two competition rounds, in which more than 1,600 students from all over Germany took part, 26 finalists had qualified for the final round of the annual talent competition. For two days, the young top computer science talents had to face research-related problems at KIT and solve them in group and individual work.
The young people were confronted with the most difficult problems known in computer science. The focus was on algorithms involving structured symbolic expressions and character strings: these topics, which are on the formal side, play an important role in the most diverse areas of computer science.
Winners:
- Raphael Gaedtke, 18, from Winnweiler (Wilhelm-Erb-Gymnasium, Winnweiler)
- Philip Gilde, 18, from Berlin (Rosa-Luxemburg-Gymnasium, Berlin-Pankow)
- Selma Hübner, 17, from Hann. Münden (Internatsschule Schloss Hansenberg, Geisenheim)
- Finn Rudolph, 18, from Pommersfelden (Gymnasium Höchstadt a.d. Aisch, Höchstadt)
- Chuyang Wang, 19, from Telgte (Gymnasium Johanneum, Ostbevern)
The computer science talents each receive prize money of 750 euros.
Special award presented
The performance of Finn Rudolph was particularly outstanding, and he also received the Ingo Wegener Award, which comes with 500 euros in prize money. Other prize winners are Jannik Hammerschmied, Tobias Hettler, Christian Schefe, Annika Schmidt and Moritz Schwalm, who also received an award for their impressive achievements. They won 500 euros in prize money.
“Once again, outstanding young computer science talents have presented themselves at the National Computer Science Competition. The young people's achievements, also in dealing with open questions that were new to them, were very impressive”, commented Professor Christoph Weidenbach, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the National Computer Science Competitions. “Introducing pupils to computer science at an early age and thus preparing them for the challenges of a digitalised society is an urgent concern for us!”, says Professor Bernhard Beckert, Dean of the KIT Faculty of Computer Science. “A competition that aims to arouse enthusiasm for computer science topics in young people and to convey a fundamental understanding of the field while they are still at school fits this claim perfectly.” To this end, the KIT itself has a computer science teaching programme and a teaching-learning laboratory for computer science as a place for pupils to learn.
The National Computer Science Competition places high professional demands on the participants. The winners are therefore usually accepted into the renowned German National Academic Foundation. In addition, the younger finalists get the chance to qualify for the German team at the International Olympiad in Informatics in Egypt in 2024.
