NUS (Suzhou) Research Institute 2025 AI Competition




Advisor National University of Singapore (NUS)

                SIP Science & Education Innovation District Administrative Committee

 

Organiser: National University of Singapore Suzhou Research Institute (NUSRI)

 

Competition Overview:

As part of the 8th China – Singapore International Innovation and Entrepreneurship Festival – InnovFest Suzhou 2025 (to be held on 15–16 October 2025), the NUSRI AI Competition 2025 will take place prior to the main conference. It is open to outstanding 3rd and 4th-year undergraduate students in Jiangsu Province, with a focus on solving real-world problems through artificial intelligence applications and modeling.

 

The competition covers the full pipeline of AI problem-solving, including data preprocessing, machine learning model training and evaluation, and deep learning model development and optimization. It aims to provide participants with a platform to demonstrate their technical capabilities and AI application skills.

 

An award presentation ceremony will be held during InnovFest Suzhou 2025. This gives participants an opportunity to gain exposure to cutting-edge developments in AI, and expand their academic and industry networks through the broader conference platform.


Awards:

     Top 6 winners will receive certificates and cash prizes. Top 3 winners will additionally be awarded a full Master’s scholarship by the National University of Singapore (subject to successful admission and enrollment into an NUS Master’s programme by September 2027).


       All participants will receive a commemorative competition T-shirt and souvenir.



Eligibility

The competition is open to full-time 3rd and 4th-year undergraduate students enrolled at universities in Jiangsu Province (as of September 2025).

 

There are no restrictions on the major of the students. However, participants should have a basic background in programming and artificial intelligence.

 

Date, Location & Format

Date: 21 September 2025 (Sunday)

Time: 13:00–17:00 (4 hours)

Location: National University of Singapore Suzhou Research Institute (NUSRI), Suzhou

Format: Individual competition (on-site)

 

 

 

Important Dates

Event

Date

Online Registration

Open: 00:00, 25 July 2025 (pending final approval for release)

Close: 23:59, 31 August 2025

Competition Day

(On-site)

21 September 2025 (Sunday)

Award Presentation Ceremony (On-site)

15 October 2025 (Wednesday)

Note: Subject to change. Please refer to official announcements for updates.

 

Prerequisite Knowledge

      Basic python programming

      Basic knowledge in AI and ML

      Familiarity with packages for data analytics and AI

      The following packages are recommended: numpy, pandas, scipy, sklearn, tensorflow, pytorch

      Possible topics in AI/ML:

      Classification

      Regression

      Clustering

      Computer Vision

      Spatio-Temporal Data

      Data Analytic

      Deep Learning

      Neural Networks

 

Competition Structure

 Theory Round: Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) and short-answer questions assessing fundamental AI and machine learning knowledge.

● Application Round: Dataset-based problems of varying complexity, as follows:

  Easy Problem: Implement a Python program based on a clearly specified requirement.

 Medium Problem: Train a machine learning model on a provided training dataset to perform a specified task. Submit your model’s predictions for the test dataset. Evaluation will be based on the accuracy of your submitted predictions compared to actual test labels.

 Hard Problem: Tackle an advanced modelling challenge using a provided training dataset, requiring higher-order feature engineering, model selection, and optimisation skills.

Example questions are available at the end of this announcement.

 

 

 

Contest Rules and Resources

      Each participant will be provided with a PC pre-installed with a Python programming environment and configured to run JupyterLab as the only coding editor.

      Internet access will be disabled during the contest.

      Participants will receive:

      Offline documentation for relevant Python packages

      Required readings covering essential AI concepts

      Starter code scripts for routine tasks (e.g. reading datasets from files, saving results to files).

 

Awards

Rank

Prize (RMB)

Additional Award

1st Prize (Gold)

¥5,000

Full Master’s Scholarship at NUS

2nd Prize (Silver)

¥3,000

Full Master’s Scholarship at NUS

3rd Prize (Bronze)

¥2,000

Full Master’s Scholarship at NUS

4th–6th Place

¥1,000

All Participants

Commemorative T-shirt & souvenir

The NUS Master’s Scholarship covers full tuition fees (living expenses not included). It is valid for enrollment in any Master programme at NUS before September 2027, subject to successful application and admission.

 

Registration

Participants are required to complete online registration and submit their information by scanning the QR code below via WeChat before 23:59 on 31 August 2025:




The competition is open to 100 participants. All applications will undergo an eligibility review, and final admission will be subject to confirmation by the Scientific Committee via email.

 

Contact Us

      Email: aicomp@nusri.cn

      Phone:0512-6299 5027

Working hours: Monday to Friday, 09:00–17:30, excluding public holidays


Please click the link to download the sample questions:

en.nusri.cn/nusrien/etp/innovfestsz/sample(eng).pdf