Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Novosibirsk State University –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
The third All-Russian competition in formal program verification, VeHa-2025, took place from November 4–8 as a satellite event of the 26th Open All-Siberian Programming Olympiad named after I.V. Pottosin. Representatives from leading Russian companies, universities, and research institutes participated in the competition.
The competition's problems focused on verifying the correctness of software systems—from algorithms for solving Diophantine equations using the Indian "chakravala" method and searching for substrings in a text string to control models for Chinese high-speed trains and static program analysis. Participants had to delve into their chosen domain and prove the correctness of their algorithms using formal verification methods.
VeHa-2025 featured teams from Novosibirsk State University, Astra Group, Kaspersky Lab, the Ivannikov Institute for System Programming of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Steklov Mathematical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Neapolis Paphos University, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, ITMO University, MISIS University, and the Institute of Automation and Electrometry of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The NSU teams demonstrated strong results. In the "Step-by-Step Property Inference in Isabelle/HOL" category (Kaspersky Lab), second place was shared by:
— Artem Ishchenko, a postgraduate student at the Faculty of Information Technology (FIT); Lev Boyandin, a third-year student at the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics (MMF).
First place was taken by FIT graduate and now PhD student at the Institute of Architecture and Economics, Ivan Chernenko.
"I'm interested in formal methods and interactive theorem proving systems, so the competition topic was very relatable to me. I participated remotely and discussed the issues with my mentor in a group discussion. Due to my workload, I only chose one category—Isabelle/HOL. There were a couple of challenging moments, but overall, everything went smoothly. I was pleased with the level of difficulty. I'm very happy to have won a prize," said Lev Boyandin.
The team led by fourth-year FIT student Margarita Shabanova was particularly noteworthy, becoming the only nominee for a problem that closely approximated a real-world industrial setting, modeling the control system of Chinese high-speed trains. Also competing were Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics (FMM) student Alexander Kharkov and Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics Master's student Yulia Razbitnova.
"The Olympiad's theme coincided with the focus of my thesis, and I wanted to gain useful skills and broaden my horizons. It was interesting to test my skills on problems beyond the curriculum. The competition was very dynamic: we had to quickly understand the problem and come up with a solution within a limited time. The atmosphere was professional yet friendly—the organizers responded promptly to questions," Margarita Shabanova shared her impressions.
We congratulate the participants and wish them continued success in their research and project work!
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