News

Below we report on recent advances in the field of data science at the University of Bremen and keep you informed about the activities of the DSC and its members. You will find news about research projects, education and training opportunities, transfer activities, and much more.

Organized by DSC member Prof. Dr. Sebastian Siebertz, the PACE Challenge brought together teams from around the world to tackle two particularly challenging computational problems. The DSC provided the technical infrastructure that ensured fair and reliable conditions for all participants.

This year, the Theoretical Computer Science Group of the University of Bremen’s Faculty 03 – led by DSC member Prof. Dr. Sebastian Siebertz – hosted the international PACE Challenge. Together with Dr. Mario Grobler, he formed the program committee responsible for the scientific and organizational direction of the competition. Around 70 teams from across the globe took part, working on complex algorithmic tasks. The Challenge has been held annually since 2015 and focuses each year on new mathematical and algorithmic topics.

What is the PACE Challenge?

The PACE Challenge focuses on problems that are difficult (for computers) to solve because they require exploring or comparing a large number of possible solutions. In 2025, two problem types were at the center of the competition: Dominating Set and Hitting Set.

The teams developed their own algorithmic solution approaches (“solvers”) and competed against one another. Submissions were evaluated based on criteria such as correctness, solution quality, and computational efficiency.

The Challenge provides a platform for researchers worldwide to compare, refine, and openly share their approaches. In doing so, it helps theoretical research gain practical traction – for instance in data analysis, network design, or AI-related applications.

DSC provides the technical infrastructure

To ensure that all solvers could be evaluated under identical and reliable conditions, the DSC provided the IT infrastructure used to run the Docker-based evaluation environment. The environment itself was developed by Dr. Mario Grobler, with technical support from DSC colleague Nils Leusmann in adapting and running it on our infrastructure. This setup was essential for a fair and reproducible assessment process and highlights how valuable the DSC’s technical expertise is for supporting complex scientific activities at the University of Bremen.

The DSC’s contribution illustrates how effectively the University of Bremen combines research and technical capability. By helping to ensure the smooth operation of an international competition like PACE, the DSC strengthened the visibility of Bremen’s computer science community within the global research landscape. At the same time, the collaboration between the Theoretical Computer Science Group and the DSC shows how important well-coordinated cooperation across university units is for successfully delivering ambitious scientific events.

The winners of this year’s competition were announced in August 2025 (more information available here).

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