Data Visualization Contest

Northwestern Libraries and Northwestern IT Research Computing Services are hosting a Data Visualization Contest to showcase the work of Northwestern students. The competition runs February 14 – March 29, 2022. All Northwestern students are invited to submit their original visualizations for a chance to receive a monetary award.

Awards

Prizes will be awarded in two categories:

• Dynamic: interactive or animated visualizations
  • Undergraduate winner: $200
  • Graduate student winner: $200
  • Honorable mention: $100
• Static: visualizations as images or posters
  • Undergraduate winner: $200
  • Graduate student winner: $200
  • Honorable mention: $100

Eligibility

This competition is open to all current Northwestern students (as of date of submission). Undergraduate, graduate, and professional students from all disciplines are encouraged to compete.

All entries must be your original work, and you must have the right to use the data in this competition. Entries can include previous work completed at any time; data visualizations created as part of coursework are permitted. Collaborative works are permitted, although awards will be made to the individual submitting the work. Individuals may submit a single entry.

Types of submissions:

Data visualizations may include but are not limited to: maps, charts, graphs, data art, and 3D models. Submissions can be static, animated, or web-based interactive stories. See Evaluation criteria, below, for information about how submissions will be judged. See previous contest winners.

How to Participate

Submissions are now closed. Check back in 2023!

Submission Requrements:

• Name
• Contact info
• College and departmental affiliation
• Student status (undergraduate, graduate, professional)
• Title of work
• Abstract (100 words)
• Attach file (option 1, static – specify file type, maximum file size)
• Link to site (option 2 – video, interactive, can be to a video, GitHub repo, cloud storage link, other)
• Agree to license terms (they retain copyright but allow NU to use, display, etc…) (Check box)
• Agree that it is their own work (Check box)

License terms

By submitting your entry to this competition, you agree to the following, which allows the Northwestern University Libraries to display and provide access to your visualization:

I, _________________, grant to Northwestern University the non-exclusive, perpetual, royalty-free right to digitize the work identified below (the “work”) and to archive, reproduce, distribute, display, disseminate, perform, and transmit the work, in whole or in part, without restriction or limitation, and to authorize others to do so, for educational and promotional purposes, in all formats now or hereafter known. I represent and warrant that I am the sole owner of the copyright in the work, that the work does not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I have the authority to grant the rights requested in this agreement. I acknowledge that I retain the copyright of the work. I have obtained any necessary third-party rights and will provide copies of these permissions upon request by Northwestern University. I expressly release Northwestern University, its trustees, officers, agents, employees, licensees, and assignees, from any and all claims, including without limitation copyright, privacy, and defamation claims, arising out of any use, broadcast, exhibition, publication, or promotion of this work.

By accepting this license, you still retain copyright to your work and do not give up the right to submit the work to publishers or other repositories. The Libraries will clearly identify your name as the creator of the submission and will not make any alteration, other than as allowed by this license, to your submission. By accepting this license, you acknowledge that you have read and agreed to the terms of this agreement and all related Libraries policies.

Evaluation

The submissions will be evaluated by Faculty and Staff in Northwestern Research Computing Research Services group and Northwestern University Libraries. These individuals have years of experience creating and supporting data visualizations across the University.

Submissions will be evaluated on the ability to convey information in a meaningful and aesthetically appealing way. When developing a submission, participants should consider the following:

• Are the data accurate and from a reliable source?
• What is the message or main point of the visualization?
• Is the visualization clear to a non-specialist?
• Is this a novel way of displaying the data at hand?
• Does the visualization use space and color in an effective way?
• If the submission is interactive, is it intuitive?

Submissions using open and reproducible methods are strongly encouraged.

Exhibition of submissions

Winning submissions will be made accessible through the Northwestern University’s Research & Data Repository.

If you have additional questions, please contact Kelsey Rydland, Data Services Librarian, Northwestern University Libraries.

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