The competition window is an execution sprint — teams have had access to the instance generator for weeks before the real instances drop. Develop freely, then push hard when the leaderboard goes live.
Officially announced at the closing of the V EPIO (Spring School on Operations Research). Call for participation, rules, and problem description published. Team registration opens.
Teams form and register. Continued dissemination through SMIO and Hexaly channels. Development of the instance generator, solution verifier, and web platform.
Open-source Python code released so teams can create additional test instances and develop their methods. A set of mock instances with feasible solutions and the verifier code are also published. Official competition instances are not published at this stage.
Generation of official instances (internal). Hexaly runs its solver to produce the baseline solutions. Platform testing and final checks.
Official instances and Hexaly baseline solutions published. Solution submission opens. The leaderboard goes live.
Teams submit solutions through the platform. The leaderboard tracks the best participant solutions in real time. Lead-time scoring rewards finding good solutions early and holding them.
No more submissions accepted. Final verification of all solutions begins.
Results analysis and winner determination. Contact with winning teams to coordinate presentations and travel logistics for CSMIO.
Preparation of the Challenge session for the CSMIO program. Results dissemination materials.
Challenge results presentation session. Hexaly workshop. Award ceremony. Winners present their approaches to the community.
Publication of all results, instances, and solutions as a permanent benchmark for the research community.
Exact competition launch and close dates will be confirmed once the instance generator is finalized. Follow SMIO's channels for official updates.