TL;DR: No exact solutions. No easy wins. Just smart heuristics. Outsmart the problem, out-optimize the competition, and claim victory. Sign up below!

The CPPS track of the Honors Academy and GEWIS proudly present the third edition of ADHOC – Algorithm Engineering Contest, a heuristic optimization battle designed to test your real-world problem-solving skills.

Unlike traditional programming contests where speed and clever tricks dominate, ADHOC focuses on something different: engineering strong solutions under real constraints. This is not about finding the answer. It’s about building better answers.

You will face one open-ended optimization problem based on a realistic scenario. The twist? The problem is computationally intractable - an exact solution within reasonable time simply does not exist. Instead, your mission is to design intelligent heuristics that push your solution closer to the optimum. You start at infinity - the lower your score, the better. When time runs out, the team with the lowest total score takes the win. There even is an actual prize for the first team, sponsored by ASML!

You will have 4 hours to battle multiple instances of the problem. Teams may consist of two to four participants. Bring your laptops, your sharpest ideas, and your most trusted collaborators.

The programming languages supported are Java, Python and C++. You are free to use any open-source tools and libraries. Just like in real engineering practice, you choose your own strategy.  However, paid services, cloud computing platforms, or external compute power are not allowed - we keep the competition fair (no supercomputers 😉).

During the contest, we provide free lunch and snacks. Afterwards, we reveal the leaderboard, break down solution strategies, and award the winning team. There will of course be time to celebrate once the dust has settled.

If you love algorithms, optimization, AI, or simply tackling problems that refuse to be solved easily - ADHOC is for you.

Note: there is a maximum capacity of 25 teams. If more than 25 teams subscribe, a prioritization is given to full teams (consisting of 4 participants).