2026 Data Visualization Contest

Data is everywhere, but then when it comes to finding it, suddenly it can seem like it is hiding.  We are here to help!  Some suggestions are:

• If you collected data for a class project, that might be useful for this purpose.  Just know that you will be expected to make the data publicly available (see the rules below).
• If you have research paper in your field that you like, there is a good possibility that its data is public and available for reuse.
• Government webpages, US and otherwise, can link to a wealth of data.  For example, as of this writing, NOAA maintains a large amount of climate data.
• In keeping with the theme of Love Data Week, there are hundreds of data repositories where you can search for data sets.  A good listing of repositories is re3data.org.
• FSU Libraries subscribes to a service called Sage Data.

The Data Viz librarian, Nathanael Gay, is happy to consult with you as you work on your visualization.  Whether you need help wrangling some data into a useable form, want to run ideas by someone, or have him look at your final product – he is happy to help.

Nathanael will also hold some open help sessions in January and February 2026.  Check back here to see dates, times, and locations.

1. You must have student status in the Spring semester of 2026.
2. The work submitted must be original.
3. Groups of students may enter the contest, but one person must be specified as the lead, and that person will serve as the contact.  Every member must be listed on the entry form.  If a group wins, we cannot guarantee that all members of the group will get individual prizes.
4. Awards will be separated by undergraduate and graduate entries.  If an entry is from a group, the status will be determined by the lead.
5. One entry per person.  If you are a member of a group – that is your one entry.
6. In keeping with the theme of Love Data Week, the data you use must be publicly available.  If you have collected the data, wonderful!, then you must have the data stored in such a way that is it accessible for reuse.  If your data set is not too big (we like technical terms), you can consider using the FSU Digital Repository to store your data.  Otherwise, please contact a librarian to discuss finding a repository that can hold your data.
7. At the award ceremony, winners will be expected to say a few brief words about their visualization, its creation, inspiration, the data used, the code and/or process used etc… and take some friendly audience questions.
8. Entries must agree to the display of the visualization, and its reuse for FSU promotional purposes.
9. For purposes of the contest, you can define visualization and the data used to create it however you wish.  For example, you can, but are not limited to, creating a map, infographic, dashboard, video, chart, table (you read that correctly, we will consider a table a visualization), a physical object etc…  Creativity is encouraged.
10. Entering the contest:
    1. Static: You will be required to submit an image file.
    2. Interactive: We may be able to host it on the contest webpage, but if not, you will be required to submit a link to where the visualization is hosted.
    3. Physical: You will be required to submit a picture of the object when you complete the entry form.  Shortly thereafter you should be contacted by email to arrange delivery of the object to complete your entry.

If your visualization meets the entry requirements then judges will use these questions to guide their selection process:

• Are the data accurate and from a reliable source?
• Is the story of the visualization clear and understandable, even to those without a technical understanding of the topic?
• Is this an interesting or novel way of displaying the data?
• Does the visualization effectively encode information (color, shape, position, size, etc..)?

Click here, or scan the QR-code.