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Background
The competition has been jointly organized by the International Knowledge Centre for Engineering Sciences and Technology under the auspices of UNESCO (IKCEST), Baidu, and Xi’an Jiaotong University. The Ministry of Education, and the Universities Alliance of the Silk Road are also involved. The aim is to identify top talent in the global big data and artificial intelligence sector, particularly talented individuals from Belt and Road countries, in an effort to help the government, industry, and higher education institutions jointly drive the research, application, and development of the big data industry, and cultivate innovative AI talent.
Topic: Photo-Based Question Recognition and Problem-Solving with AI Large Model

Currently, AI Large Model is advancing rapidly, and AI-based text and image recognition technology has permeated various aspects of our life and work. In addition to writing and reading, the recognition and solving of mathematical problems constitute a significant research direction within the field of text-image recognition. For the first time, the topic encourages participants to incorporate open-source large models into their algorithm designs, with a focus on enhancing the models' reasoning capabilities. The integration of large models will offer greater innovative potential for question recognition and problem-solving.

In this competition, participants are required to solve mathematical problems spanning from elementary school to university levels based on photos of questions taken via mobile phones. The question types include common multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the-blank questions, and short-answer/application problems. Participants may employ traditional visual algorithms or large models (text-based or multimodal, with model parameter sizes ≤ 3B) to perform image preprocessing, text and graphic detection, OCR recognition, and problem-solving reasoning on the question photos, ultimately outputting the answers.

Schedule setting
The contest is comprised of the preliminary, semi-final, and final rounds. (Application Time: June 12th, 2025– September 9th, 2025)
Preliminary Round (Application Time: June 12th, 2025– September 9th, 2025)

1）June 16th – The data and baseline are available for download，the competition will be officially launched;

2）June 16th –The online evaluation system opens. Each team is allowed five online evaluations per day and the rankings will be updated daily in real time;

3）September 9th – The end of the preliminary round. The top 100 ranking teams in the preliminary round will enter the semi-final round (The scores will be verified through real-name registration to eliminate non-participating teams or accounts. This number will increase or decrease based on the actual situation. The list of semi-finalists shall be determined by the organizers as soon as possible).

4）During the competition, an AI Model Training Camp will be held. The specific time and location will be announced later.

Semi-Final Round (September 15th, 2025 - October 20th, 2025)

1）September 16th– the data pertaining to the semi-final round will be made available for download;

2）September 16th – The online evaluation opens. Each team is allowed 5 evaluation opportunities per day and the rankings are updated daily in real time;

3）October 20th – End of the semi-final round. The semi-finalists shall submit their files and codes in the required time. The top 16 ranking teams from the semi-final round will enter the final round (May increase or decrease based on the actual situation. The list of finalists will be determined by the organizers as soon as possible).

Final Round and Award Ceremony (November 2025 See the notice for details.)

The final round will be held in the form of an on-site defense session, and its location will be determined at a later date.




Note: The timelines and details mentioned above are subject to adjustment based on actual circumstances. Please refer to the official website and QQ group notifications for the final information
Registration and Evaluation
01
Qualified Participants

1、Qualified Contestants: the contest is open to all institutes of higher learning, scientific research organizations, businesses, creative teams and individuals around the world. Each team shall have 1-5 members including at least one current student. Please register to form a team on the official website of the contest.

2、Instructing Teacher: each team can be instructed by 0-2 teachers. Please register and form a team on the official website of the contest and register the identity as the team’s “teacher”.
Note: Individuals affiliated with the Baidu Contest Proposition Team are not allowed to participate in the contest. The ultimate power of interpretation is reserved by the Contest Organizing Committee.

02
Application

1、Application Time: June 12th, 2025– September 9th, 2025

2、Official Contest Website: https://www.ikcest.org/bigdata2025. The registration and application of contestants and instructing teachers should be completed before the registration deadline. The contestant is responsible for filling in the information about their instructing teacher on AI Studio. After the deadline, no teams may be formed or merged;

3、The official contest communication channel: please join the QQ Contest Communication Group after applying: 910677969 (Please indicate the name of your team for evaluation and approval by the administrator);

4、Please create your own team name and ensure it contains no indecent or misleading words, such as “Baseline”, “official”, the names of a famous enterprise, etc. Please fill in your team name carefully;

5、To ensure the fairness of the contest, each contestant can only join one team, and an instructing teacher can only be assigned to one team, while an instructing teacher can guide multiple teams;

6、The information filled out on the application must be accurate and valid, otherwise the team’s qualification or any awards granted will be withdrawn.

03
Evaluation Process

1、Time: The evaluation system will be open from June 16th. Each team is allowed 5 evaluation opportunities per day and the ranking list will be updated in real time;

2、Evaluation method: The preliminary and semi-final algorithm scores will be automatically graded by the evaluation system, with results confirmed by the judges. The semi-final presentation scores will be graded and confirmed by the judges according to the competition rules, with details provided during the semi-finals. The final competition will involve a defense of the overall plan;

3、The final score: The semi-final score accounts for 80%, and the defense score accounts for 20%.

Prize setting

Prizes (Before-Tax) Prize money amounts to RMB 200,000

Special Prize

1 team

RMB 100,000

and a prize certificate

the Committee will determine whether to award the Special Prize based on the quality of the final submissions.

First Prize

2 teams

RMB 30,000 each

and a prize certificate

Second Prize

3 teams

RMB 10,000 each

and a prize certificate

Third Prize

10 teams

RMB 1,000 each

and a prize certificate

Excellence Prize

The top 90% of ranking teams from the the semi-final round will earn a prize certificate showing their international rankings

Nomination Award

The remaining 10% of the ranking teams from the semi-final round will earn a digital certificate showing their international rankings;

Excellent Instructing Teacher Prize

Instructing teachers of the top 90% ranking teams from the semi-final round will earn an “Excellent Instructing Teacher” certificate.

The Green Channel of Baidu’s Campus Recruitment

Teams entering the final and semi-final round will gain access to Baidu’s green channel for internal recommendations (non-fresh graduates can hold onto this opportunity for up to two years).

Latest Ranking
排名 队伍名称 奖项 姓名 队长/指导教师 高校/所属组织
Members of Organizing Committee
Advisory Committee

  • Raj Reddy (Turing Award winner, foreign academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, professor of Carnegie Mellon University)

  • Pan Yunhe (Academician from the Chinese Academy of Engineering)

  • Otthein Herzog (Academician of German National Academy of Engineering Sciences (acatech))

  • Narayanaswamy Balakrishnan (Academician of the Indian National Science Academy)

    Zheng Nanning (Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering)

    Jan Eloff (Professor of the University of Pretoria, The Republic of South Africa)

    Wang Haifeng (Chief technology officer at Baidu, Inc.)

    Zheng Qinghua (President of Tongji University)

    Hong Jun (Vice-president of Xi'an Jiaotong University)

Organizational Committee

  • Liu Chang (Chinese Academy of Engineering, IKCEST Secretariat)

  • Li Xuanya (Director of the Baidu Campus Brand Department)

  • Suo Zhihai (Director of the Network Information Center, Xi'an Jiaotong University)

  • Ji Xiangting (Secretary General, Deputy Director of the Baidu Campus Brand Department)

  • Liu Jun (Deputy Secretary General, Xi’an Jiaotong University)

    Zhou Fangdi (Deputy Secretary General, Baidu, Inc.)

    Zhang Yu(Deputy Secretary General, IKCEST Secretariat)

Advisers:

University Computer Course Teaching Guidance Committee of Ministry of Education National Institute of computer education

Silk Road University Alliance

Sponsors:

International Knowledge Centre for Engineering Sciences and Technology under the Auspices of UNESCO (IKCEST)

Baidu

Xi'an Jiaotong University

Frind links： UASR | Silkroadst  | IKCEST | Xi'an Jiaotong University | Baidu | Baidu Campus  | Baidu AI Studio