Competition Rules and Regulations

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This competition is limited to currently enrolled undergraduate students at The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) under good academic standing. Teams can be comprised of 1 or 2 students, from any college or department at CU Boulder.

The competition is scheduled to launch Feb 1 and run until May 1 (with the first “official scored entry” on Feb. 12). Teams may use the Sandbox and familiarize themselves with the system ahead of time.

Each team’s entry will be run daily at 5 AM (MST) to provide feedback. Entries will be officially scored weekly each Sunday and these results will be displayed on the public scoreboard. The final competition score will be a weighted average of past weekly scores (with more recent scores having significantly more weight). Specifically, your final score will comprise:

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With your rankings, not raw scores, impacting your final score. Note that a lower score is better!

Judging Criteria

Criteria:

  • Best overall composite score : $4000

  • Best L-2 Norm of Demand : $2000

  • Lowest contribution to community peak : $2000

  • Golden Gnome Award (competition administrators choice award based on a vote. Criteria may include most innovative, highest risk/reward strategy, most improved, etc.) : $2000

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Note that a team may only win in one of the above categories. Thus, four different teams will receive prizes. Note that in order to be eligible to prizes, an *active effort on the participant’s part* has to have been made.

Prizes

Prizes will be awarded in the form of one-time stipends (checks or direct deposit) issued by the university at the end of the competition (in early May 2023) subject to any university restrictions. For teams of 2, prizes will be split evenly and individually awarded as such unless both team members inform the competition adminstrators ahead of time of a different desired distribution. The Griffin Lab and Gnomes4Homes team are not responsible for mediating disputes between team members regarding prize disbursement or distribution.

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Other Terms and Conditions

Any violations of CU’s Honor Code will result in removal of the team from the competition. As this is meant to be a friendly environment and an education-focused competition, any displays of bullying, cyberbullying, or inappropriate behavior to other participants or the competition adminstrators may result in an immediate ban from the competition. As the competition is targeted towards undergraduates, any excessive assistance (some assistance may be okay - if you are unsure if something is classified as “excessive”, please contact us) from graduate students, professors, or others who are not CU undergraduates may also result in removal of the team from the competition. Lastly, stipend payments are subject to any university restrictions. Rules and regulations regarding these payments is subject to change at any time. Please contact us if you are concerned about your eligibility in the competition.