WashU Data Viz Competition

The WashU Data Viz Competition is part of Love Data Week and is supported by the Digital Intelligence & Innovation (DI²) Accelerator, Office of Institutional Effectiveness, University Libraries, and Becker Medical Library. The second annual competition is now open and accepting submissions until Sunday Jan 25th, 11:59 p.m. CT. 

Students, faculty, and staff are invited to participate by transforming a dataset into an engaging visual story. The competition encourages innovative approaches to data visualization using tools such as Tableau, Power BI, or other platforms that help our community interpret and communicate data effectively.

Submit your visualization here

The competition is open to WashU students, faculty and staff.

  • Students must be currently enrolled at the university, either as undergraduate, graduate, or continuing education students, and actively engaged in coursework, thesis, or dissertation work.
  • Faculty, staff, or trainees (postdocs, residents, and fellows) must be actively employed by the university and engaged in research, academic, clinical, or administrative roles.
  • Participants may form cross-functional teams or submit individual entries. A single team captain will submit the entry and receive the award.

  • Entries must include a minimum of one data visualization.
  • Any tool (or a combination of tools) may be used. The competition is tool-agnostic.
  • Participants must include a citation/credit section within the submission to attribute support and data sources.
  • All submissions must comply with institutional data policies: Data Sharing Agreement, Research Data Management with no inclusion of sensitive information, such as Social Security Numbers, HIPAA-protected health data, or confidential student records.
  • All visualizations must be accessible through a public link that does not require a login during the judging and showcase phases.

  • Participants may use one of the supplied datasets, or they may use one of their own.
  • Additional publicly available data may be used to supplement the chosen dataset.

Submission deadline Sunday Jan 25th, 11:59 p.m. CT
Submissions reviewed Tuesday, Jan. 27 – Monday, Feb. 3
Networking Event & Awards Reception Tuesday, Feb. 10, 5:00 p.m., with awards presented at 5:30 pm.

Awards will be given in two categories: students and faculty/staff. There will be a first-, second- and third-place award for both categories. Additionally, a People’s Choice Award for each category will be selected by attendees at the Love Data Week networking event. Winners will be featured on WashU’s digital platforms and social media.

Students

  • First Place: $150 gift card
  • Second Place: $100 gift card
  • Third Place: $50 gift card
  • People’s Choice Award: $50 gift card

Faculty/Staff

  • First Place: $150 gift card
  • Second Place: $100 gift card
  • Third Place: $50 gift card
  • People’s Choice Award: $50 gift card

2026 Awards Reception

The WashU community is invited to view the entries at the 2026 Networking & Awards Reception where the top visualizations will be showcased, and attendees can vote to determine the People’s Choice Award. All competition participants are encouraged to join us at the reception, where they will receive a free participation t-shirt and sticker.

  1. Communication and narrative:
    1. Does it tell a compelling and clear story?
    2. Is the narrative logical and engaging?
    3. Does it deepen understanding of the data or theme?
  2. Design and aesthetic quality:
    1. Is the design aesthetically pleasing?
    2. Are layout, typeface, and/or colors used appropriately to enhance understanding?
    3. Are labels, titles, and data points easy to read and well-organized?
  3. Data integrity and accuracy:
    1. Are the data accurate and from a reliable source? Are data sources clearly cited?
    2. Are findings correctly represented?
    3. If original data processing is involved, is it transparent?
  4. Accessibility and inclusivity:
    1. Do the design decisions support interactions with all users?
    2. Consider color contrast, color blindness and altext where applicable. Are visuals color-blind friendly?
    3. Does it use inclusive language, and considering representation of equity appropriately?
  5. Creativity and originality:
    1. Does it employ creative techniques and design approach?
    2. Is this a novel way of displaying data?

View the winners of the 2025 Data Viz Competition.

The annual 2026 Love Data Week Data Visualization competition is tool-agnostic, welcoming diverse approaches to data visualization.

For questions regarding the submission form, please contact Renée Racette at rener@wustl.edu.

Submit your data visualization competition entry here by Sunday, January 25th by 11:59 pm.