27 April 2023
The 6th DataFest Germany saw 80 undergraduate and master students from six German universities compete in analyzing a secret dataset, showcasing their skills in data visualization, analysis, and modeling, with the support of the Chair of Statistics and Data Science in Social Sciences and the Humanities and partner institutions.
From April 14th to 16th, LMU hosted the 6th DataFest Germany, a prestigious event that brought together 80 undergraduate and master students from six German universities. Participants were challenged to analyze a secret dataset over the course of a weekend, showcasing their skills in data visualization, analysis, modeling, and more.
Organized by the Chair of Statistics and Data Science in Social Sciences and the Humanities and supported by the Munich Center for Machine Learning (MCML), BERD@NFDI, Umlaut (part of Accenture), the University of Mannheim, infas360, the American Statistical Association (ASA), Siemens, the Anstalt für Kommunale Datenverarbeitung in Bayern (AKDB), Munich RE, and the Konrad Zuse School of Excellence in Reliable AI.
The 19 interdisciplinary teams of students, comprising not only data scientists and statisticians, but also sociologists, political scientists, computer scientists etc, delved into the challenge of analyzing a complex dataset from the German commercial register provided by Infas360. Throughout the competition, experts from LMU and professional consultants from partner institutions provided guidance and support to the participants. In addition to the four tutorial sessions available on accessing German registry information, machine learning in R, spatial data visualizations, and network analysis, the event featured an internal Career Fair, offering students a valuable opportunity to connect with potential employers.
The enthusiasm and hard work of the students led to outstanding results. The three winning teams of DataFest Germany 2023:
🏅Best Insight - 1337 Fellows (ESG Data Science master students from LMU)
🏅Best Visualization - MunichMetricMasters (statistics and computer science master students from LMU)
🏅 Best Use of Outside Data - Hertie School Beta (master students from the Hertie School of Governance)
Honorable Mention: Team Try & Error (master students in sociology from LMU)
DataFest Germany was an exemplary demonstration of cooperation, commitment, and innovation among students. The Chair of Statistics and Data Science in Social Sciences and the Humanities will be organizing more events similar to DataFest – the next one will be Women in Data Science (WiDS) Munich on the 19th of June 2023.