In 2016, the Steering Committee of Computer Science and Technology Majors in Higher Education Institutions under the Ministry of Education,the Steering Committee of Software Engineering Majors in Higher Education Institutions,the Steering Committee of University Computer Courses Teaching in Higher Education Institutions, and the National Association for Computer Education Research in Higher Education Institutions jointly founded the "China Collegiate Computing Contest"(abbreviated as C4). Currently, the "China Collegiate Computing Contest"continues to be hosted by the National Association for Computer Education Research in Higher Education Institutions. The Big Data Challenge is one of the key events in this contest and has been included in the National Undergraduate Discipline Competition Rankings from 2018 to 2023, receiving high attention and wide acclaim from all walks of life.

The 2024 China Collegiate Computing Contest—Big Data Challenge (hereinafter referred to as "the Contest")is co-hosted by Tsinghua University and the People's Government of Ordos City, organized by the People's Government of Ejin Horo Banner, Ordos City, the National Engineering Research Center for Big Data System Software, Ordos New Energy Research Institute, and supported by the Ejin Horo Banner Government Service and Data Administration, Ordos Port Economic Zone, Beijing Wending RuiZhi Technology Co.,Ltd., and Shanghai HeJin Information Technology Co.,Ltd. This Contest is a high-end algorithm competition based on real scenarios and actual data, open globally.

**Eligible Participants**

The Contest is open globally with no age or nationality restrictions.College students (including those from vocational colleges,undergraduate programs,and graduate schools),as well as researchers from scientific institutions and employees from enterprises,can participate.Specific requirements are as follows:

-Teams can be formed freely;details for registration and team formation are outlined in related

instructions.

-Contestants must ensure that their registration information is true,accurate,and valid.If any member's information does not meet the requirements,the organizing committee reserves the right to cancel the entire team's qualification and rewards.

-To ensure fairness,individuals who have access to competition questions and relevant data from the organizing,hosting,and supporting units are not allowed to participate.

**Competition Format**

The Contest consists of three stages:registration &team formation,preliminary round,semi-final, and final.In the preliminary and semi-final rounds,teams submit model files online,which are automatically evaluated by the assessment system on the designated platform.The final round requires participants to present and defend their solutions on-site.

**Registration &Team Formation (June 12th -July 22nd)**

Contestants must register and form teams on the official contest website or via the "Ke Sai" mini-program,with no registration fees charged.

The registration system opens at 10:00 am(Beijing Time)on June 12th, 2024, and closes at 12:00

pm(Beijing Time)on July 22nd, 2024.

Registration involves logging into the competition website and completing personal information registration and enrollment via the mini-program;

Each contestant can onlyjoin one team,either as a single-member team or as part of a team of 2-3 members.

Official channels include:

-Official Website:http://nercbds.tsinghua.edu.cn/bdc

-Mini-Program:Ke Sai

-Email:data@tsinghua.edu.cn

-QQ Groups:762146461/901317172

After the registration deadline,adding or changing team members will not be allowed.Midway withdrawals are only permitted to replace the team captain or remove a member within the team.Applications for member changes must be submitted to the organizing committee before the final, signed by all team members or agreed via email, and subject to the committee's approval

**Preliminary Round (June 26th - July 23rd)**

Teams can download training data and submit related model files online. The evaluation system will automatically score and update the leaderboard. Teams must save the source code of their highest-scoring work for review.

From 10:00 am on June 26th, the competition platform provides training data for team training and strategy formulation.

From 12:00 pm on June 26th to 8:00 pm on July 23rd, teams can submit model files twice daily. The assessment system uses the preliminary test set to evaluate scores and updates the leaderboard in real-time. The leaderboard records the optimal scores of each team during this phase.

After the preliminary round, the top 100 teams advance to the semi-finals. The organizing committee will review and disqualify teams violating competition rules, with no substitutions for vacated spots. Among those qualified for the semi-finals, the top 65 teams and the top 15 student teams ranked 66th to 100th will advance. All qualified teams receive preliminary ranking certificates.

**Semi-Final (July 25th - August 12th)**

Starting at 9:00 am on July 25th, the system switches to the semi-final test data. Teams submit models online, with automatic scoring and leaderboard updates.

From 10:00 am on July 25th to 11:00 pm on August 12th, teams can make two submissions per day. The leaderboard will record the highest score, and teams must retain the source code of their best-performing submission for verification.

The leaderboard is updated in real-time, and the final ranking on August 12th stands.

After the semi-final, the top 20 teams submit their code for review, with details outlined in the "Code Specification" document. The code submission deadline is 11:00 pm on August 13th. From August 14th to 16th, the committee will review and disqualify teams with manual annotations, plagiarism, failure to submit code, inability to reproduce results, or other violations. Among the top 20 teams that pass the code review, the first and second place teams composed solely of students directly qualify for the final. The remaining teams advance based on their semi-final rankings.

**Final (August 24th-25th)**

The final round will be a live demonstration and Q&A session held in Ejin Horo Banner, Ordos City, Inner Mongolia. Specific requirements and arrangements will be announced separately. Accommodation for finalists during the event is arranged by the organizing committee, while transportation and other expenses are the responsibility of the participants.

**Prize Structure**

The total prize pool amounts to 300,000 RMB (pre-tax).