Opening of the University Cup (UCUP-2025): how did the large-scale student IT competition start?
IT ClusterOn February 22, the opening of the University Cup in Programming 2025 took place in Kharkiv – a large-scale competition that unites students, schoolchildren, teachers and IT specialists.
The event was organized by the Kharkiv IT Cluster and the Q-BIT Youth Scientific Society in cooperation with leading universities in Kharkiv and Ukraine: NTU “KhPI”, Kharkiv Institute of Information Technology, S. Kuznets KhNEU, KhNURE and V.N. Karazin KhNU. The general partner of the opening was the IT company NIX.
This year, about 2,000 participants will take part in the Cup. These are students, teachers, schoolchildren and their mentors from leading universities in Kharkiv and all of Ukraine. The opening of the competition was also a great opportunity to bring together educational partners, business and youth to sum up the results of cooperation, award leading partners and determine further interaction
Development of IT education and new opportunities for students
The event was opened by the executive director of Kharkiv IT Cluster Olga Shapoval. She gave a brief overview of the results of the IT industry in 2024. Olga Shapoval outlined the prospects for the development of the IT industry in Ukraine and emphasized the important role of Kharkiv in the formation of future specialists for the IT industry:
“For Kharkiv IT Cluster, education has been and remains a key area for cooperation at the regional, national and international levels. Today, Kharkiv IT Cluster has a very developed network of educational partners, including all relevant ministries of Ukraine, national agencies, and educational institutions. Kharkiv has always had significant educational and scientific potential and it is very symbolic that we are opening today’s event in Kharkiv”
The Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Kharkiv IT Cluster and the founder of AltexSoft company Oleksandr Medovoy says that Kharkiv is the largest city in the east of Ukraine, which after 3 years of full-scale war continues to work and develop. However, he noted that for Kharkiv IT Cluster it remains very important to invest in education and training of future specialists.
The opening was also attended by the mayor Igor Terekhov, who emphasized the importance of developing the IT sector and creating new technological hubs in the city. The mayor awarded the Kharkiv IT Cluster, the IT4Life charity foundation, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Kharkiv IT Custer Oleksandr Medovoy, the executive director of Kharkiv IT Cluster Olga Shapoval, the deputy executive director of Kharkiv IT Custer Olena Loyenko, the head of the youth scientific society Q-bit Mykola Arzubov and the rector of the S. Kuznets KhNEU Volodymyr Ponomarenko.
Panel Discussion: The Future of the IT Industry?
During the opening of the University Cup, a panel discussion was also held on the future of IT education and the industry in general. It was attended by:
✅ Halyna Lytvynets — Director of the Department of Digital Transformation of the Kharkiv City Council;
✅ Oleksandr Lutsyk — Head of the Kharkiv EPAM Office;
✅ Volodymyr Ponomarenko — Rector of the S. Kuznets KhNEU and Chairman of the Council of Rectors of Higher Education Institutions of the Kharkiv Region;
✅ Oleksiy Rubel — Head of Technical Training at the NIX Corporate Training Center.
The main topics of the discussion were 👇
📌 How to make Ukraine the IT center of Europe
📌 Cooperation between IT companies and universities
📌 The impact of the war on IT education and student outflow
📌 New educational standards and personnel training
Volodymyr Ponomarenko, Rector of the S. Kuznets KhNEU Kuznets, emphasized that IT is the only field for which demand continues to grow, despite the war and the decrease in the number of entrants.
“After the full-scale invasion, many students left Ukraine, but in the IT field we see a unique trend – the number of entrants is increasing, and the passing score is increasing. This shows that IT is the future of our economy.”
The participants summed up the discussion, recognizing that the Ukrainian IT industry remains competitive, but educational opportunities need to be expanded.
“We need to create new standards for specialties with the participation of IT companies and representatives of educational institutions. We will need to create new models of training, become more flexible. Dynamics and development should become the main mottos in the development of the IT industry,” said Oleksiy Rubel, head of technical training at the NIX Corporate Training Center.
The panel discussion participants also emphasized the need to create new educational standards together with IT companies.
“We need to develop new curricula taking into account rapid changes in technologies. After Ukraine’s victory, a global transformation of education awaits us, and we must be ready for it,” said Oleksiy Rubel (NIX).
The main competition and the Cup final
In order to participate in the competition and receive all the necessary information, you must subscribe to the official Telegram channel of the University Cup, as well as register on the UCUP platform. Access is now open!
Participants who have registered will be able to expect interesting meetings with experts, workshops and training stages. The main competition will take place on March 29, where students will compete in solving complex algorithmic problems on the DOTS (Distributed Online Test System) platform. Each problem will be evaluated with a maximum of 100 points.
The Cup final and the awarding of the winners are scheduled for April 2025. The best students will receive certificates and special prizes.
🚀 Join the Kharkiv IT Cluster to build the future of Ukrainian IT together!
