2026 Universal Cup 
Summer Online Challenge sponsored by Huawei

Registration Now Open！

Registration is now open for the 2026 Universal Cup Summer Online Challenge. Co-organized by the Shenzhen Loop Area Institute (SLAI), Universal Cup and Huawei, the challenge is open to participants worldwide who are interested in algorithms, machine learning, wireless communications, and intelligent network optimization.

Contest Overview

Focusing on the frontier topic of channel modeling for wireless networks, the challenge tasks participants with predicting signal strength for new base stations in complex urban environments. Leveraging the world's first large-scale, city-wide measured geo-signal dataset, participants must build accurate channel models based on base station locations and angles, surrounding point cloud data, and measured signal level values to predict signal strength at unknown locations.

More than a test of predictive modeling, this open challenge combines real-world industrial needs, advanced academic training platforms, and the global Universal Cup community. Huawei presents core challenges from real-world wireless scenarios, SLAI offers academic development pathways for future researchers, and Universal Cup convenes top global algorithm and modeling talents, enabling participants to demonstrate their capabilities and gain recognition by solving real industrial problems. The contest awards substantial cash prizes. Outstanding contestants may receive SLAI's Ph.D. pre-admission offers along with scholarship support and Huawei's fast-track recruitment opportunities. SLAI invites participants who are passionate about algorithms and AI to leverage this challenge, transforming their modeling skills into a competitive edge for future industry and research.

Contest Schedule

Registration Opens

June 24

Contest Period

July 20, 20:00 to August 3, 20:00 (UTC+8)

Contest Rules

Participants must submit only model outputs on the test set. The backend judge scores these submissions to determine final rankings.

Awards

In addition to cash prizes:

Champion and Gold Medalists may receive Ph.D. pre-admission offers along with full scholarship from the Shenzhen Loop Area Institute (SLAI) for Fall 2027 if eligible.

Silver and Bronze Medalists will be eligible for an invitation to the Ph.D. selection camp or other admission events of the Shenzhen Loop Area Institute (SLAI) for the 2026–2027 academic year.

Champion, Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medalists may also have access to Huawei's recruitment fast-track and other talent engagement initiatives.

Registration Link

https://challenge.ucup.ac/

For details about contest rules, registration methods, timeline, and awards, please visit the official website.

Join the Community

QQ：965319884
Discord：https://discord.gg/YNEhnkZk7x

Testing Model Capabilities in Real-World Wireless Network Scenarios
Exploring the Future of Algorithms and Intelligent Communications via Industrial Challenges

About Universal Cup

Founded in 2022, Universal Cup is a non-profit community organization aiming at serving the competitive programming community, dedicated to providing high-quality training resources and hosting global onsite events. They aim to establish a communication bridge across the industry, academia, and competitive programming community, creating a community that goes beyond geography and age. To date, Universal Cup has attracted over 8,000 teams from more than 500 schools and organizations worldwide to register and participate in online training, offline contests, and community activities. Since 2024, Universal Cup has hosted summer summits, annual offline finals, and related exchange activities in Cancun, Mexico, and in Dongguan and Shanghai, China. Through multiple seasons, it has evolved into a widely recognized, professionally organized, and highly regarded platform within the global algorithm competition community.

Official Website：https://ucup.ac/

About Huawei

Founded in 1987, Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices. Huawei has approximately 213,000 employees and operates in over 170 countries and regions, serving more than three billion people around the world.

Huawei is committed to bringing digital to every person, home, and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world: making ubiquitous connectivity an equal right for all and the foundation of the intelligent world; providing diverse computing power to ensure cloud services and intelligence are accessible everywhere; redefining user experiences through AI to deliver ultimate personalized smart solutions for consumers across home, travel, office, audio-video entertainment, sports, and health scenarios; and empowering all industries and organizations to become more agile, efficient, and vibrant through robust digital platforms.

Official Website：https://www.huawei.com

About Shenzhen Loop Area Institute (SLAI)

With the goal of strengthening China's core competitiveness in the global AI landscape, SLAI leverages its strategic location at the heart of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. By integrating world-class research resources, cross-border innovation capabilities from Shenzhen and Hong Kong, and leading industry ecosystem resources, Moving beyond traditional exam-based admissions and thesis-only evaluation, SLAI has developed a distinctive "3I" talent-development model. Guided by an International educational vision, supported by an Interdisciplinary academic framework, and characterized by close Industrial collaboration between academia, research, and industry, the model is designed to cultivate future AI leaders with a global outlook, solid theoretical foundations, a cross-disciplinary innovation mindset, and outstanding practical capabilities. At the same time, the Institute is committed to advancing theoretical innovation and application breakthroughs in key areas of AI.

Official Website：https://www.slai.edu.cn/

Source：Universal Cup