WHO CAN ENTER?

The challenge is open to all students currently enrolled in a degree-granting program at an accredited academic institution in Europe when the entry is submitted. You are encouraged to work in teams of up to 3 people, and also to approach a professor or mentor in your university to support your team in the challenge.

HOW TO ENTER?

BE ORIGINAL!

Students can submit one visualisation only and the work must be original. Please check out the official rules for the full terms and conditions. Please email us if you have any questions.

REGISTER YOUR INTEREST & SUBMIT YOUR VIZ

• Step 1: Sign up for the Student Dataviz challenge here to receive regular updates, data viz tips and news about the Student Data Viz Challenge. 
• Step 2: Produce data visualization (you can use any software)
• Step 3: Create a video in which your team explains the visualization. The video can be a simple screen recording with voice over, or something more sophisticated; Up to you!  
• Step 4: Submit your video (between 3 and 7 minutes) with the visualization  before the deadline using this form.
• Step 5: If your project is selected. Come to Paris to present your visualization In live, in front of the jury.

Learn more about Data Viz and improve your data viz skills!

• Tableau Viz of the day: https://public.tableau.com/app/discover/viz-of-the-day
• Tableau Community : https://www.tableau.com/community/welcome
• The Tableau Student Guide: https://www.thetableaustudentguide.com/spotlight/how-to-your-guide-to-the-guidebook
• Viz for good: https://www.vizforsocialgood.com/
• UNICEF data: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/dataportal/

View the webinars from last year’s challenge:

• Access the replay Winning the Dataviz Challenge 
• Access the replay Careers in Data 
• Access the replay Tableau Student Community and Tableau resources at your disposal. Access the presentation.
• Access the replay Tips to succeed given by Tableau students ambassadors
• Access the replay The importance of data visualization in Marketing & AI
• Access the replay Data sharing, transparency and business: why good data means good business
• Access the replay How to build a useful and convincing data visualization 
• Access the replay Maximising business insight with data visualisation
• Access the replay Data for public good

Check out previous entries for the data viz challenge here:

• Dataviz challenge 2023 finalists
• Dataviz challenge 2022 finalists
• Dataviz challenge 2021 finalists
• Dataviz challenge 2020 finalists

Data Viz Discussions: Why is data visualisation important for business and your career?

Being able to make informed, data-based decisions is a critical skill for any manager and the field of data visualisation has grown rapidly in the past few years to ensure that businesses can make informed, reliable choices and identify key trends.

But is data visualisation something only data analysts and specialists need? If you don’t want a career in data viz, statistics or analytics why would you want to learn about data visualisation or practice this skill?

In this Data Viz Discussion, we ask experts from Mazars, Tableau, and MBA alumnus and EDHEC MBA Director their views on why data visualisation is important for organisations and future managers and leaders.

What skills are in demand on the market? Is data visualisation valued by employers?

Among the top 10 job skills for 2025 identified by the World Economic Forum are analytical thinking, complex problem solving, critical thinking and analysis, creativity and originality, and technology use. So, what is really interesting is that data visualisation is a combination of all these skills, blending the hard data analytical skills with the ability to communicate ideas effectively.

Of course, other skills are also in demand on the market such as active learning, innovation, leadership, programming, resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility.

Yet, today, the rising demand for data literacy on the job market is undeniable across all sectors, industries and job roles. Indeed from tech, consulting, finance, retail, healthcare, logistics to politics, there is a real need for data communicators in order to harness the power of big data, gain valuable insights and make informed business decisions. And this no matter the size of the organisation.

In terms of job opportunities, this translates into a high demand for data scientists and analysts, but also business intelligence specialists, across all functions in organisations: marketing, finance, HR, L&D, operations, sales…

Nowadays, everything can be measured and monitored. Being able to make sense of this mountain of data, share with colleagues and clients efficiently, and make successful decisions over time makes data visualisation one of the most in demand skills on the market.

Jessica Wheaton, Learning & Culture Manager, Mazars Group

Is data visualisation important for companies?

It's difficult to think of a company that doesn't benefit from making data understandable. As we know, the age of 'Big Data' has transformed the way we capture, utilise, and interpret all of the data collected around us. Organizations realize the full value of their data when they’re truly data-driven: When everyone—across all levels and roles—is empowered to make better decisions using data, every day with a Data Culture.

As Jessica said, everything is now measured and monitored. Data visualisation helps us to tell stories by structuring data into a form that's easier to understand, highlighting trends and outliers. A good visualisation tells a story that's easier to understand.

Companies use data visualisation to drive insights that allow them to make better decisions and to better serve their customers and stakeholders. By seeing and understanding certain patterns in their data, companies are then able to identify red flags and/or opportunities, and thus drive business ahead.

Data literacy is increasingly vital to modern organizations. While 83 percent of CEOs expect their organizations to be more data-driven, people often lack essential data skills with only 33 percent of employees comfortable using data analytics to support their decisions. Tableau Academic Programs aims to empower the next generation of professionals with the data skills they need to succeed in the modern workforce. Since 2011, Tableau Academic has enabled more than 1.9 million students and with software and data skills education and more than 45k instructors with software and teaching resources.

Ashley Koen, Academic Program Marketing Manager (EMEA) at Tableau

Is data viz a skill all managers should know? Is it important for your career?

In the modern digital era, data is an essential component of decision-making at every organization. However, data is simply information and can only be useful when everyone can understand it. Simply put, your data needs to tell a story.

Data visualization enables organization to turn this raw information into a more understandable and aesthetically pleasing visual medium that is easily digestible. Essentially, data visualisation bridges the gap between having lots of data and the ability to understanding it to drive action and decisions.

We are living in an increasingly data-rich world with more and more sources of data being factored in decision-making. The interactive nature of data visualization tools allows users to identify trends across multiple individual sources at the click of a button making it an indispensable tool at the workplace."

Ketan Kundargi - Strategy consultant & Marketing Expert, MBA alumnus at EDHEC and finalist in the 2020 Student Data Viz Challenge

Why teach data visualisation in business schools and universities?

Data visualisation and powerful tools like Tableau are accompanying the data revolution and changing the way we teach data analysis, strategy, finance, technology and marketing. With technology propelling us towards an ever more visual and data-driven style of communication, businesses and organizations need a way to quickly aggregate, analyze and synthesize large amounts of data to help people make better, more informed, and more inspired decisions. The whole world has been using data visualisations to have quick, meaningful updates on the key indicators of the global pandemic, it is a powerful example of how data visualization can impact not only business, but healthcare and public policy. As educators, we need to ensure that students are well prepared for the skills they'll need in the workplace and in the world moving forward. According to McKinsey, higher cognitive skills such as creativity, critical thinking and decision making are among the top skills for 2030, all of these skills are at play when creating data visualizations. Just like Excel revolutionised learning in finance, accounting and statistics in its day, data visualisation tools are changing the way we teach and learn about data.

Sandra Richez, Global MBA Programme Director, EDHEC Business School