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, : Recently you've been to Petrozavodsk training camp (may be you are still there). Students are more and more involved in ACM ICPC and spend time (up to six years) solving problems and participating in Regionals. Do you think that's ACM ICPC was invented for, or coaches should give students an advise to switch to professional or scientific career?

: The first ICPC contest happened because it seemed like a cool idea at the time. It has evolved into its current form, largely because of the love of problem-solving that permeates our discipline.
The ICPC develops team work, decision making, abstraction, algorithmic knowledge, and programming skills. While these talents require continued development throughout a person's career, the ICPC focuses primarily on the massive uplift that occurs during a university education, limiting competition to those formative years.
As a faculty member, I prefer to present options to students and encourage them to make their own decisions rather than to give advice. It is my hope that the ICPC values -pursuit of excellence, teamwork, skill, and clear thinking - will persist throughout our students' careers.

, : I know that it's not your first visit to Russia. Has any Russian university a chance to hold ACM ICPC World Finals?

: Yes. Sometimes a single university is host. At other times (2007 World Finals), the host is a group of activities. I am confident that the ACM ICPC World Finals will be held in Russia in the near future. I will guarantee that the first World Finals in Russia will be fabulous.

: ICPC ?

: KTH will be doing ICPC Live Coverage during the World Finals. You will be able to see what is going on "behind the scenes" including play-by-play for closely contested medal places. We hope to roll out the ICPC Challenge so that regionals can compete in the near future.

: ?

: We increased the number of teams to 100, a dramatic increase over the past 10 years. We plan to stay with 100 teams for several years.

: NEERC?

: There are some chances for additional slots. The slots are allocated by a complex formula that rewards the number of schools that compete, the number of teams that compete, the performance of the runnersup, and a few fun factors. NEERC will get an extra slot as a prize for having the current World Champion. When the World Finals is held in NEERC, they will get an additional slot. But, the contest is still growing and the competition is keen, so the best way to get to the finals is to be the best you can be.

: , ? ?

: Strange as it might be, I try not to have an opinion about how the slots are allocated other than whether allocation will attract the most teams from the most universities from the most geographical regions in an equitable manner. For teams that are semi-finalists (nearly advanced to the World Finals), we are examining offering a 3-hour competition to determine which among them will advance.

: ( )?

: No, but there are is always room for improvement.

: NEERC ( )?

: The best way to promote change in the ICPC is to analyse the impact of change and share it with your regional contest director, Dr. Parfenov. To the greatest possible degree, the ICPC respects regional autonomy.

SnarkNews ACM ICPC .