High Frequency Trading Competition

Stevens School of Business

About / Overview

The Stevens HFTC is a global competition for undergraduate and graduate students. Teams design and run algorithmic strategies on the SHIFT high-frequency simulation platform—with realistic microstructure and a low-latency environment.

Innovation in quantitative finance

Go beyond templates: market making, momentum, stat arb, and microstructure-aware execution in a high-fidelity simulator.

Real-world trading skills

Show applied engineering and finance ability through Python, disciplined workflows, and professional-grade tooling.

Python GitHub FIX

Talent for finance & tech

A credible, skills-forward signal for quant roles and graduate study—backed by a leading innovation university.

Why Participate

A technical, academic, and career-forward experience designed for modern markets.

Technical Skill Deployment

Build and deploy trading algorithms
Low-latency simulation experience
Backtesting and strategy optimization

Academic + Career Value

Strong resume signal for quant finance roles
Graduate program preparation
Industry recruitment visibility

Strategic Resilience

Multi-week adaptive competition
Multiple trading scenarios
F-1 scoring system across 5 trading days

Core Rules

A clear, professional rule set designed for fast scanning and high trust.

Trading Assets

Dow Jones 30 or synthetic tickers

Trading Scope

Intraday only

Initial Capital

$1,000,000 (reset daily)

Execution

Fees + rebates apply

Platform

SHIFT Python API virtual machine

Eligibility

Who can apply

Open globally to accredited universities
Undergraduate + graduate students
Cross-university teams allowed

Team requirements

Team size: 2–4 members
Team leader required
At least one member must know Python + GitHub

What matters

Clean engineering practices
Robust risk controls
Clear documentation and reproducibility

Prize pool

Awards for the top three teams, presented after the final trading period and scoring review.

2nd place

$1,200

1st place

$2,000

3rd place

$400

How to apply

Three clear steps. No application fee to start.

1
Application
- Deadline February 1, 2026
- Application fee None
2
Technical assessment
- Released February 6, 2026
- Due February 13, 2026
3
Final selection
- Notification February 20, 2026
- Team registration $100/team, due February 27

Start your application by email

Your mail client will open with a pre-filled subject line for faster routing.

Timeline

Key dates from application through the award ceremony.

Feb 1, 2026

Application Deadline

Feb 6, 2026

Technical Assessment Release

Feb 13, 2026

Technical Assessment Due

Feb 20, 2026

Final Notification

Feb 27, 2026

Registration Deadline

Mar 4, 2026

Orientation

Mar 9, 2026

Test Run 1

Mar 13, 2026

Test Run 2

Mar 27 – Apr 24, 2026

Competition Trading

May 1, 2026

Award Ceremony