WashU Data Viz Competition

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 award reception. 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

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, 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.
• All visualizations must be accessible through a public link that does not require a login during the judging and showcase phases.
• All submissions must adhere to WashU’s institutional data policies, with no inclusion of sensitive information, such as Social Security Numbers, HIPAA-protected health data, or confidential student records. 

Student Requirements

• Students must use the supplied dataset, now available.
• Additional publicly available data may be used to supplement the primary dataset. 

Faculty/Staff/Trainee Requirements 

• Faculty and staff may use the supplied dataset, now available.
• Additional publicly available data may be used to supplement the primary dataset. 

1. Communication and narrative:
   • Does it tells a compelling and clear story?
   • Is the narrative logical and engaging?
   • Does it deepen understanding of the data or theme?

2. Design and aesthetic quality:
   • Is the design aesthetically pleasing?
   • Are layout, typeface, and/or colors used appropriately to enhance understanding?
   • Are labels, titles, and data points easy to read and well-organized?

3. Data integrity and accuracy:
   • Are the data accurate and from a reliable source?Are data sources clearly cited?
   • Are findings correctly represented?  
   • If original data processing is involved, is it transparent?

4. Accessibility and inclusivity:
   • Does the design decisions to support interactions with all users?
   • Consider color contrast, color blindness and altext where applicable.  visuals color-blind friendly?
   • Does it use inclusive language, and considering representation of equity appropriately?
5. Creativity and originality:
   • Does it employ creative techniques and design approach?
   • Is this a novel way of displaying data?

The inaugural 2025 Love Data Week Data Visualization competition is tool-agnostic, welcoming diverse approaches to data visualization.