Registration open for American Statistical Association DataFest 2025

Registration is now open for the American Statistical Association DataFest 2025 at Penn State, to be held April 11-13.

The ASA DataFest brings together student teams to analyze a large, complex dataset in a collaborative environment and is an opportunity for students to apply their data-analysis skills while working with peers and industry experts.

A team of judges will assess each team's final project and give out three awards:

• Best Insights
• Best Visualization
• Best Use of External Data

The judges will also nominate a set of teams for the Best in Show prize, which will be determined by a vote of attendees. 

Students will be able to network with their peers and mentors, getting career advice. Further, they will learn how someone in industry would approach the same challenge through a talk and Q&A session with Alex Krebs, a data scientist at Meta. 

ASA DataFest at Penn State is open to undergraduate and master’s degree students at Penn State and surrounding universities. When students sign up, they can identify a team or request to be added to a team at check-in on Friday. 

Doctoral students, faculty, and alumni may not compete in the event but may sign up as mentors. 

"DataFest provides a great opportunity for Penn State undergraduates and master's students to get hands-on practice working with data and developing their understanding of a real-world problem or challenge," said Neil Hatfield, one of DataFest's organizers. "This type of learning experience can be challenging to replicate in the classroom and gives students something that they can add to their professional portfolios and resumes."

There is no fee to participate, but registration is limited to the first 300 people — so those interested in participating are encouraged to register early at datafest.psu.edu. Registration will continue through kickoff on Friday but close at the end of the day.