Peking University, December 12, 2025: The Peking University (PKU) super-computing team’s talent shone through at the 2025 Student Cluster Competition (SC25), held in November this year in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, earning them the second place in the online IndySCC track and the first place in the LINPACK Benchmark.
As one of the most prestigious computing competitions in the world, SC25 had drawn contestants from globally renowned institutions, including UC San Diego, Georgia Institute of Technology, Peking University, Tsinghua University, etc., underscoring the heat of the competition.
The IndySCC competition consisted of two stages. The testing stage required teams to run HPL benchmark test on assigned hardware, while the main competition required participants to complete three demanding scientific computing tasks within 46 hours. The students used remote servers in the IndySCC, placing higher demand on their engineering adaptability, optimization skills, and real-time problem-solving.
Competition poster
During the testing stage, the team conducted multiple rounds of performance evaluation and system tuning on their virtual machine cluster, eventually achieving a perfect benchmark score and capturing the top LINPACK result. In the main competition, the team collaborated closely to complete three complex tasks: Risc-V architectural simulation using the Structural Simulation Toolkit (SST), climate modeling with the Exascale Climate Emulator (ECE) using GPU-accelerated heterogeneous computing, and high-energy particle simulation for the mystery ACTS problem.
This year’s team consisted of six undergraduates representing a diverse range of disciplines, from computer science to Hindi language study, showcasing the inclusive nature of the PKU team.
Team members
Since its founding in 2016, the PKU super-computing team has made strides on the international stage, earning a championship in the ASC Student Super Computer Challenge while placing second in the Student Cluster Competition in 2023 and 2024.
Moreover, PKU has been annually hosting the HPCGame, a pioneering high-performance computing competition in China designed to welcome participants of all levels to gain hands-on experience with HPC systems. The competition has attracted 1300+ students from 100+ universities across the nation, demonstrating PKU’s prowess in this frontier and its success in student training.
Written by: Nicole Ang
Edited by: Rachel Lee, Chen Shizhuo
Source: PKU News (
Chinese)
