Neapolis University Pafos Wins International IWLS Programming Contest 2026

A team of students, researchers and academics from Neapolis University Pafos has won first place in the IWLS Programming Contest 2026, one of the world’s leading competitions in logic synthesis and digital circuit optimization.

The achievement marks the team’s second victory in the competition, having also secured first place in 2024. Organized annually as part of the International Workshop on Logic and Synthesis (IWLS), the contest attracts participants from leading universities, research centres and technology companies worldwide, challenging them to develop innovative solutions to complex problems in hardware design and optimization.

This year’s competition introduced a significantly more demanding challenge. Rather than synthesizing a single optimized circuit for each benchmark problem, participants were required to generate an entire Pareto front, capturing the optimal trade-offs between circuit size and circuit depth across one hundred benchmark datasets.

To address this challenge, the Neapolis University Pafos team implemented a wide range of advanced decomposition techniques and optimization approaches, integrating established tools such as ABC, Cirbo, CLI, ESlim and Verilog-based flows. The project also made extensive use of artificial intelligence technologies, including Large Language Models (LLMs) and AI agents, which assisted in the implementation of algorithms, heuristics and software infrastructure for storing, managing and visualizing synthesized circuits.

The winning team consisted of Stanislav Alekseev, Assylkhan Balmukhanov, Fedor Chernogorsky, Grigorii Emdin, Yura Kabkov, Alexander S. Kulikov, Maksim Levitskii, Georgii Levtsov, Sergey Romanov and Daniel Volostnov

This international distinction highlights the growing strength of Neapolis University Pafos in the fields of Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and advanced digital technologies. It also reflects the University’s commitment to fostering high-level research, innovation and international scientific excellence.

Neapolis University Pafos warmly congratulates the entire team on this outstanding achievement and on bringing international recognition to the University through their dedication, expertise and collaborative spirit.