The Universal Cup (abbreviated as UCup) is an international programming competition for teams. Founded in January 2023 by a group of problem setters and contest organizers[1], the organization run systematic competitions based on regional contests and camps, and concludes each season in an international onsite finals. The competition serves hundreds of teams, from all around the world, mostly International Collegiate Programming Contest contestants.[2]
History
The Universal Cup committee announced the competition on January 20, 2023. They initially established agreements with regional contest organizers, to use their problem sets prior public distribution. By the second season (2023-2024), participation grew to over 900 teams from 500 institutions.[3]
The organization hosts onsite competitions to complement its regular online stages. The 2024 Summer Summit took place in Cancún, Mexico.[4] In February 2025, UCup held its annual Finals at the Huawei Ox Horn Campus in Dongguan, China. The 2026 Finals took place in May at the Huawei Lianqiu Lake R&D Center in Shanghai, China.[5]
| Season | Date | Location | 1st place | 2nd place | 3rd place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2024-06-22 | Cancún,  Mexico |
USA1 | Polish Mafia | HoMaMaOvO |
| 2 | 2025-02-22 | Donnguan,  China |
USA1 | 03 Slimes | HoMaMaOvO |
| 3 | 2026-05-10 | Shanghai, China |
USA1 | Amstelpark | Flammable Dumpster |
References
- "1st Universal Cup Announcement". Codeforces. Retrieved 2026-06-10.
- Cup, Universal (2023-07-27). "2nd Universal Cup Announcement - Universal Cup". ucup.ac. Retrieved 2026-06-10.
- Cup, Universal. "About - Universal Cup". ucup.ac. Retrieved 2026-06-10.
- "Standings for Universal Cup Summer Summit (all years) - Competitive Programming Hall Of Fame". cphof.org. Retrieved 2026-06-10.
- "Standings for Universal Cup (all years) - Competitive Programming Hall Of Fame". cphof.org. Retrieved 2026-06-10.