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Prof. Paweł Gawrychowski: Programming contests should be fun [IDUB Teaching Award]

Applications are open until 31 August for the third edition of the IDUB Teaching Award. We spoke to dr Paweł Gawrychowski, prof. UWr of the Institute of Computer Science and winner of the inaugural award, about teaching in the field of computer science.

You were the recipient of the first IDUB Teaching Award. What teaching activities or projects formed the basis for your recognition?
Dr Paweł Gawrychowski, prof. UWr: My teaching focuses on two main areas, either of which could have contributed to the award. One of them is working with students involved in an unconventional activity – team programming contests. These involve solving mathematical and algorithmic puzzles using a computer. It’s a team-based competition: each three-person team receives a set of problems and must solve them within five hours, receiving real-time feedback on whether their solutions are correct.

Although these are algorithmic competitions, they are quite dynamic – the team must communicate efficiently and quickly. Since they have access to only one computer, collaboration is essential, and task division becomes crucial to make the most of the time. Several of us at the Institute of Computer Science are involved in these contests – Bartłomiej Dudek, myself, and Krzysztof Loryś. I actually took part in the competition as a student back in 2005. You could say that was our first major success – we placed fifth and won a silver medal.

You “could say”? That sounds a bit modest. How many people typically take part in these competitions each year?
The number of teams keeps increasing every year. I’m not sure how many took part back then. Today, we have a whole elimination system – national, regional, subregional – culminating in the World Finals, where typically around 130 to 140 teams compete. Altogether, some 60,000 participants take part in the competition globally each year.

I’m not sure how many teams made it to the finals where we placed fifth, but I believe it was fewer than 100. I remember that for me and my teammates, the trip to Shanghai, where the World Finals were held that year, was our first long journey abroad. We discovered that we could hold our own against teams from the world’s top universities.

Later on, I became involved in preparing the teams academically. The first stage is the Polish Championships, where we send about eight teams. Then come the Central European Championships, where UWr usually sends five teams. This stage rotates across locations every three years – last year, we hosted it at the University of Wrocław, and it will take place here again this year, hopefully with similar success.

Next are the European Championships – recently held in Porto, previously in Prague – and finally, the World Finals, which, as I mentioned, gather around 130–140 teams from all over the globe. We organise a range of activities at the Institute to prepare students: one-to-one sessions, team training, and training camps.

How have you – or rather your team, since you emphasise the work of several colleagues – managed to achieve such strong results? Teams from the University of Wrocław consistently rank among the best in Central Europe and often win medals at world level. Would it be fair to say that UWr is a hub for competitive programming in Poland?

There’s a strong community in Poland in this field, concentrated mainly at the universities of Wrocław, Warsaw, and Jagiellonian. This is largely due to the relatively high standard of mathematics education in secondary schools. While we call these programming contests, programming is really just one part. Another crucial element is the ability to mathematically analyse and model the problem. Strong mathematical foundations are key to success in these contests.

Although I’m not directly involved in it, it’s worth mentioning that the Institute of Computer Science at UWr has long collaborated with Wrocław secondary schools to deliver enrichment classes. If students are introduced to algorithmics already at school, they get an early start and we can identify those with a flair for this kind of activity. Without that early exposure, it would be hard. First-year students already have a heavy workload, and not much time to explore whether they might enjoy competitive programming.

I believe that working with schools helps foster a mathematical culture – one that can be traced back to the tradition of the Lwów School of Mathematics. Programming contests, which are very much based on mathematics and logical reasoning, are a natural extension of that tradition.

How do you train programming champions? How important are innovative teaching methods, or is it just a matter of a pen and paper?

In a way, they train themselves. At such an advanced level, the contestants learn most from one another. Beyond the knowledge itself, they have to invest a lot of time working together to build team synergy – that’s up to them. We mostly coordinate the logistics of the competitions.

I also run a seminar for them where we discuss problems – it’s more of a discussion group than a formal lecture. We talk about whatever seems interesting at the time. The competitions should teach, of course, but above all, they should be fun – students should enjoy solving these puzzles. At some stage, there’s naturally an element of competition, but what matters most is a good atmosphere. These contests are extracurricular, so students need to genuinely want to take part.

Besides the competitions themselves, the preparation process is valuable – the people they meet, the things they learn. These events are great because they allow students to meet people from all over the world and form connections that can last for years, regardless of whether they stay in academia or go into industry. It’s a small but vibrant community.

And the second area of teaching you’re involved in?

The second area is my work with the Polish Olympiad in Informatics, a national contest for secondary school students that’s been running for over 30 years. I currently serve as Scientific Secretary, coordinating the selection of tasks. We have several regional centres for the second round of the Olympiad – Wrocław is always one of them. The final round is usually held in Warsaw.

In addition to the national Olympiad, I also travel as a team leader for the International Olympiad in Informatics. Before the international round, we organise training camps for the national finalists, offering general mathematics and enrichment classes. These also aim to show students what they might explore after the Olympiad.

What gives you the most satisfaction in your teaching work?

Besides teaching, I’m also involved in research. When I work with students on competitions, I try to point out research questions that might arise during their preparation. It’s particularly rewarding when some of these students go on to try their hand at academic work.

Computer science is a very popular field. You don’t have much trouble attracting applicants, many of whom are drawn by the promise of a lucrative career. The question is: how do you encourage graduates to pursue research or theoretical computer science – your personal passion?

People who go down that path are usually driven by intellectual curiosity. I’m not saying everyone should become a researcher – most of our competition participants go into the private sector, often abroad, increasingly in places like London, especially in finance. But different people are drawn to different things, and some find research the most fulfilling path.

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Applications for the third edition of the teaching award are now open! We encourage you to take part in the competition!!!

The IDUB Teaching Excellence Awards competition, “The Best Among the Best – In Pursuit of Teaching Excellence”, is one of the initiatives under the “Excellence Initiative – Research University (IDUB)” programme, financed by the Polish Minister responsible for higher education and science for the years 2020–2026. The competition aims to enhance the quality of education and promote best practices in teaching at the University of Wrocław. Across the two previous editions, a total of 75 laureates have been recognised.

Academic staff from all units of the University of Wrocław are eligible to apply for the IDUB Teaching Excellence Award, provided they are employed on a full-time basis in a teaching, research-teaching, or research position on the day the competition is announced. Full details on how to apply for the award can be found on the IDUB website.