DataFest Germany 2024

We are glad to announce our call for applications to join the 7th edition of DataFest Germany, which will take place at  the University of Mannheim (April 5–7, 2024), jointly organized by the School of Social Sciences and the Mannheim Center for Data Science. This year marks the 7th edition of our DataFest in Germany, which has been organized since 2015 in collaboration with the Chair for Statistics and Data Science in Social Sciences and the Humanities at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich.

The event is a data-based competition, also known as a “hackathon” which takes place annually, alternating between Mannheim and Munich, and hosted in cooperation with partners from industry and research institutions. 

Bachelor and Masters-level students of all subjects participate in teams of 3–5 persons, having 48 hours to gain the best insights and derive relevant analysis from an extensive data set, which is not revealed until the start of the event. Data is visualized, analysed, modelled and much more. At the end of the event, the students present their results to a jury of renowned data experts from business, science and DataFest alumni. Prizes will be awarded for the categories “Best Insight”, “Best Visualization” and “Best Use of Outside Data”.

During the competition, students are supported by a team of statistics and computer science experts from University of Mannheim as well as professional consultants from external partner institutions. In addition, participants have the opportunity to make contact with potential employers at the event's internal CareerFair.

Our Datafest Germany, is a celebration that follows upon the model initiated in the USA. DataFest™ has been a permanent feature of the American Statistical Association for several years now. The world's first DataFest took place at the University of California in 2011; since then, many other universities have taken up the format and offer DataFests. Today there are DataFest events worldwide. 

This year, we are glad to announce our partnership with the Competence Center for Data Quality in the Social Sciences (KODAQS), which will strengthen our mission to contribute to the professional development of future data scientists and growth of the data science community network in Germany. A team of Doctoral and Postdoctoral researchers will participate parallelly (and separately) to the main Datafest contest, with the mission to develop analytical proposals, methodologies and tools for data quality measurement. KODAQS is a collaboration between LMU, University of Mannheim and GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences. The project aims to foster a new culture for teaching data quality skills in the social sciences. For more information about KODAQS, please contact Dr. Luis Mejia Lopez (datafestmail-uni-mannheim.de)

• Please note: DataFest 2024 is fully booked. 
• Bachelor and Masters-level students of all subjects are welcome to apply in teams of 2–5 people. 
• Because of the assignment's complexity, we strongly recommend that your team consist of at least three people. 
• Unfortunately, we will not accept teams with doctoral students or post-docs. If you would still like to participate, contact us to be considered as a DataFest Germany advisor.

• To ensure a fair and consistent experience for all participants, we kindly request that teams exclusively work on the dataset while at the DataFest site. 
• At least two members from each team must be present at the beginning of the event.
• The details of DataFest assignments remain confidential until the event kicks off.

This year marks the 7th edition of our DataFest in Germany, which has been organized since 2015 in collaboration with the Chair for Statistics and Data Science in Social Sciences and the Humanities at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. Below you can find relevant information and video testimonials about our past editions:

• DataFest 2023 in Munich
• DataFest 2019 in Mannheim
• DataFest 2017 in Mannheim
• DataFest 2016 in Munich (German only)
• DataFest 2015 in Mannheim (German only)
• DataFest at Duke University in the USA

DataFest gives the enriching opportunity to students to gain experience analyzing real data and meeting employers. Employers are invited to participate in our Career Fair, as well as to provide advice to the competing teams. By providing financial support to DataFest Germany, not only do you allow us to host the students, but you will support the DataFest mission and help expose students to challenging questions with immediate real-world significance that can be addressed through data analysis.

If you want to support DataFest Germany, please reach out to Luis Mejia Lopez at datafestmail-uni-mannheim.de.