2026 Global Student Challenge

Build | Solve | Change the World

The IEEE Computer Society 2026 Global Student Challenge (GSC) provides a platform for students from around the globe to create innovative solutions to real-world programming and data analytic problems. For this year’s competition, students in teams of two are required to work on several challenge problems based on real-world use cases and/or real-world data sets provided by various academic and industry teams. This initiative aims to energize students and young professional members of the IEEE Computer Society by involving them in large-scale technical challenges while making a special effort to encourage participation from less-covered regions of the globe.

Challenge Prompts

1. Backdoor Attacks in Distributed ML and their Remediation
2. Automatic Discovery of Vulnerabilities in Github CI/CD Workflows and their Patches
3. Analyzing Resource Usage in Data Center Computers and Predicting Events (i.e. Failures or Performance Slowdowns)

Competition Rules

Each team must:

• Submit solutions for all three challenge prompts for Phase I;
• Consist of no more than two (2) students;
• Have at least one member available for Phase II in-person presentation* in December
• Each team can have a professional mentor (optional).

*Travel support for finalist presentations will be provided by IEEE Computer Society

Challenge Timeline

• Registration Opens: 27 May
• Registration Closes: Sunday, 28 June at 11:59 pm ET
• Challenge Phase I Opens (Virtual): Monday, 13 July
• Challenge Phase I Closes (Virtual): Sunday, 9 August
• Judging Period: 10-23 August
• Finalists Announced: Monday, 24 August
• Challenge Phase II (In-Person): Top Five Teams from Phase I to Present to the Judges at IEEE Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC) in Los Angeles, CA (7-11 December 2026)

Prizes

• Total Prize Pool: US$5,000 to be distributed among the top 3 teams, plus 1 year of IEEE and IEEE Computer Society Student Membership
• Travel Support: US$25,000 is budgeted for finalist travel and lodging to ensure teams can present in person.

Reasons to participate

• Global Engagement: Join a community of students from across the world and engage with the IEEE Computer Society.
• Mentorship: Optionally work with a professional member as a mentor, providing high-visibility interaction with industry practitioners.
• Career Exposure: Showcase your skills in a large-scale competition designed to spotlight students and young professional members.

Have questions about the IEEE Computer Society Global Student Challenge? Email us at gsc@computer.org.

Organizing Committee

Technical Contributors