Applying Data Science to Real-World Problems
Organized by the Departmental Statistics Association, Department of Statistics · Faculty of Science, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda · Est. 1949
DataVerse-2026 is a data analytics competition designed to bridge the gap between raw data and real-world impact. Participants are challenged to apply data science, visualization, and analytical storytelling to solve authentic, scenario-based problems across multiple domains.
This competition spans three days across two rounds — a qualifying visualization sprint and a 9-hour grand finale datathon — culminating in live presentations before a panel of judges.
"Transforming Data into Insight · Insight into Impact"
DataVerse-2026/
│
├── ROUND - 1/ # Qualifying Round submissions
│ └── (Team notebooks & dashboards)
│
├── ROUND - 2/ # Finals submissions
│ └── (Team solutions, models & presentations)
│
├── index.html # Website homepage
├── rounds.html # Competition rounds page
├── winners.html # Winners showcase
└── about.html # About & rules
| Place | Team | Problem Statement | Repository |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🥇 1st | Alpha Analyst | The Urban Heat Mystery | View → |
| 🥇 1st | Peaky Blinders | The Safe Lending | View → |
| 🥇 1st | Entropy | The Promotional Paradox | View → |
All participants received a Certificate of Participation in recognition of their contribution.
Date: 26th February, 2026 · Duration: 3 Hours
Participants were provided with real-world datasets and challenged to demonstrate their data storytelling and visualization skills. Each team selected one domain, received a data dictionary and guiding questions, and submitted a visualization dashboard or notebook along with a short insight summary.
Evaluation Criteria:
- Clarity and relevance of visualizations
- Quality of insights and storytelling
- Accuracy and appropriate use of data
- Creativity and effective design choices
- Overall coherence and interpretability
Qualification: Top 3 teams per domain advanced to the Finals.
Date: 27th February, 2026 · Duration: 9 Hours · Presentations: 28th February, 2026
Finalist teams selected one of three scenario-based problem statements and worked through a 9-hour continuous datathon with mentor support. Solutions were presented live before a judge panel on the final day.
Problem Statements:
| # | Title | Domain |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Urban Heat Mystery | Climate & Environment (Navapur) |
| 2 | The Safe Lending | Finance & Risk (Lending Club) |
| 3 | The Promotional Paradox | Retail & Marketing (Mercato) |
Evaluation Criteria:
- Problem understanding
- Technical correctness
- Innovation
- Impact and feasibility
- Quality of presentation
Participants were free to use any tools or languages. Common choices included:
Click to expand
- Eligibility — Open to all students enrolled in any course under the Faculty of Science, MSU Baroda.
- Team Composition — Individual or teams of 2–4 members. Composition must remain the same across all rounds.
- AI Tools — Use of AI tools is permitted and encouraged, provided participants maintain academic integrity and transparency.
- Originality — All submissions must be original. Plagiarism or use of pre-existing solutions without attribution leads to disqualification.
- Submission Deadlines — All submissions must be within prescribed time limits and in the specified format. Late submissions are not accepted.
- Code of Conduct — Maintain discipline and professionalism. Misconduct may result in immediate disqualification.
- Judging & Decisions — Decisions by the panel of judges and organising committee are final and binding.
- Team Formation Support — Solo participants wishing to join a team could indicate so during registration; the committee facilitated team formation where possible.
The official event website is live at:
https://threed2y.github.io/DataVerse-2026/
Built with pure HTML, CSS, and JavaScript — fully static, no dependencies, deployable on GitHub Pages with zero configuration.
| Page | Description |
|---|---|
index.html |
Homepage with event overview and key details |
rounds.html |
Full breakdown of Round 1 and Round 2 |
winners.html |
Winners showcase with project links |
about.html |
About the event, rules, and contact |
The official competition dataset is hosted on Hugging Face, containing global development indicators spanning economic, environmental, health, digital, and governance dimensions across world regions from 2000–2020.
🤗 huggingface.co/datasets/sleepysaurus/DataVerse
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Observations | ~1,000+ region-year rows |
| Columns | 47 features across economic, environmental, health, digital & governance domains |
| License | MIT |
| Format | Parquet / CSV (HuggingFace datasets compatible) |
from datasets import load_dataset
ds = load_dataset("sleepysaurus/DataVerse")| dataversestats@gmail.com | |
| 📞 Dharmik | +91 63540 93708 |
| 📞 Alok | +91 63539 08759 |
| 🏛️ Department | Dept. of Statistics, Faculty of Science, MSU Baroda |
Departmental Statistics Association · Department of Statistics · Faculty of Science The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda · Est. 1949
DataVerse-2026