Students across the UK are once again being challenged to crack the code in the 15th annual National Cipher Challenge run by the University.
Teams of secondary and college pupils will battle each other in a series of online code-breaking contests in a bid to be the first to crack the code.
Organised by Mathematical Sciences at the University, the Challenge is sponsored by a number of partners including GCHQ, IBM, Trinity College Cambridge and the British Computer Society (BCS).
With its unique blend of story-telling and technical challenges, it has hooked thousands of young people across the UK in the 14 years that it has been running.
Organiser Graham Niblo, Professor of Mathematics at the University, said:
The contest is designed to give the competitors a taste of what it might be like to be involved in codebreaking as a career, but more importantly to engage their imagination in problem solving.
Mathematics can sometimes be described as dry and technical but the National Cipher Challenge shows how you can use mathematics and explore it in a more imaginative way. We hope it will encourage young people to take up careers in mathematics and IT.
Prizes this year reflect both teamwork as well as individual achievements and include:
- a £1,000 GCHQ prize for the top individual entry
- a £1,000 IBM prize for the best team entry
- an £800 Trinity College prize for the runner-up in the individual category
- an £800 University of Southampton prize for the runner-up in the team category
The prize-winners will be presented with their awards at a special ceremony next Spring.
Click here to find out more about the challenge.
