
MICHAEL H. FREILICH DATA VISUALIZATION COMPETITION PROGRAM FOR STUDENTS
Applications open: 10 July-7 September 2023
Overview
Who Should Apply?
The competition is open to individual and teams of undergraduate and graduate students who are legal U.S. residents and enrolled full-time in two- or four-year undergraduate or graduate institutions in the U.S.
Individual students should be enrolled in a degree program related to the Earth and space sciences or transdisciplinary programs. Teams of students should include students enrolled in at least two different disciplines, one of which should be outside the Earth and space science related disciplines, such as information technology, data science, computer science, or social and behavioral sciences.
What are the benefits of applying?
All applicants have virtual opportunities for:
- Workshops on storytelling using data and on data visualization
- Open office hours to assist with application process
- Career exploration/job search webinars
- Feedback on their presentation from science visualization professionals at NASA and elsewhere
Additionally, all applicants will have the opportunity to virtually present their research in early 2024.
What do winners receive?
The review committee will select a total of 16 winners: eight grand prize winners and eight runners-up.
Grand prize winners will receive:
- A $3000 grant to attend the American Geophysical Union 2023 meeting (#AGU23) in December 2023 online or in-person
- One complimentary registration to AGU 2023 Meeting in December 2023
- An opportunity to present on the NASA Hyperwall at #AGU23
- Up to $3000 to participate in one additional professional development or community outreach opportunity in 2024.
- Grand prize winners will be provided professional development opportunities for a duration of three years. If a team is selected as a winner, the team lead will designate how to divide the grant funds. Complimentary AGU Fall Meeting registration will only be awarded to the team lead.
Runner-up winners will receive:
- $1000 grant attend the American Geophysical Union 2023 meeting in December 2023 online or in-person
- One complimentary registration to the AGU 2023 Meeting in December 2023, including registration to the Student and Early Career Scientist Conference
Workshops and Events
Science Storytelling Workshop
Learn about the value of science storytelling and practice some techniques for identifying and telling the stories in your science.
7 June, 2 PM ET - Register
Science Storyboarding Workshop
In this workshop, we will provide context, tips and examples for how to storyboard your science into clear and memorable visuals.
26 July, 1 PM ET - Register
Data Visualization Workshops
These sessions are offered by Don't Use this Code and sponsored by NASA.
What is a Successful, Effective Data Visualization?
Learn different types of visualization and factors that make visualizations effective at communicating a complex, data-driven message.
22 June, 11 a.m.-Noon ET - Register
How do I even get started with Data Visualization?
Join us for hands-on instruction on getting started with animated and interactive data visualization using open-source tools such as R, Python, and Javascript.
12 July, 2-4 p.m. ET - Register
How do I make my visualizations ✰pop✰?
Limited to students who have applied to the Freilich competition, attendees will receive expert-level feedback for any ‘last-mile’ issues that may arise.
10 October, 11-11:45 a.m. ET - Register
Open Office Hours
Dates coming soon
The above opportunities are open to all students.
Eligibility and Application
Who is eligible to apply?
The competition is open to all who meet the following three criteria:
- Legal U.S. residents
- Students enrolled full-time in two- or four-year undergraduate or graduate institutions in the U.S.
- Individual submissions in the Earth and space sciences or team submissions in convergent science
Applicants are limited to one proposal per year but may resubmit in a future year. Previous grand prize winners of the Freilich Competition are not eligible to reapply.
What is required with your application?
- Both individual and team submissions will be accepted; interdisciplinary teams are encouraged.
- Individuals/teams must submit a one/two-paragraph statement of purpose describing the data used, including source and authorized use for each data, and what the scientific potential is.
- Proposed story and visualization for a presentation no longer than 10 minutes in a storyboard format including:
- examples of static images
- planned visualizations and description of how the visualization will work
- supporting narrative text
- Optional: Up to three MP4 files of a one- to three-minute building block/sample of visualization
- For team submissions: Describe the benefits of working beyond discipline-specific approaches to collaboratively address common goals.
Team Submission Requirements
Team submissions should be comprised of at least two people and no more than five contributors. All members of the team must be students and one team member should be formally enrolled in a degree program in one of the following fields: social, behavioral, or economic sciences education and human resources.
If submitting as a team, the team must identify a project lead, who is responsible for submitting the proposal and identifying how award funds will be distributed between team members.
Co-authors can be recognized in both individual and team submissions.
Potential Conflicts of Interest
Evaluation
How is the contest judged?
Applications are reviewed by professionals in science data visualization and science communication as well as past competition grand prize winners. Applicants receive useful, constructive feedback from the evaluators.
The competition is focused on innovation and creativity in presenting data in new ways, rather than the scientific problem or specific solution to the problem.
Submissions will be judged on the following criteria:
- The creativity of the presentation and the applicant’s ability to present data and complex problems.
- The perceived level of impact and engagement the planned presentation incites in audience.
- The organization and conceivability of the proposed presentation of data.
- For team submissions, contributing participants must demonstrate collaboration in data sharing.
Recipients
Name |
Academic institution |
Year |
Category |
Benjamin Yang | Columbia University | 2022 | Grand Prize |
Christina Last | MIT | 2022 | Grand Prize |
Jieun Kim | Northwestern University | 2022 | Grand Prize |
Lauren Gold | Arizona State University | 2022 | Grand Prize |
Otto Briner | University of Illinois - Chicago | 2022 | Grand Prize |
Austin Brenner | University of Michigan | 2022 | Grand Prize |
Jessica Besnier | University of Virginia | 2022 | Grand Prize |
Zhoobin Rahimi | Stevens Inst. of Technology | 2022 | Runner-up |
Jacob Gradwohl | Oregon State University | 2022 | Runner-up |
Jose Pedro Ferreira | Univ. of Southern California | 2022 | Runner-up |
Kristina Collins | Case Western Reserve Univ. | 2022 | Runner-up |
Mu-Hua Chien | New York University | 2022 | Runner-up |
Hsinju Chen | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | 2022 | Runner-up |
Marissa Castillo | Ohio State University | 2022 | Runner-up |
Vincent Ledvina | University of North Dakota | 2021 | Grand Prize |
Kyung Kim | University of Virginia | 2021 | Grand Prize |
Shuyu Chnag | Penn. State University | 2021 | Grand Prize |
Safiya Alpheus | Penn. State University | 2021 | Grand Prize |
John He | University of Arizona | 2021 | Grand Prize |
Brayden Noh | California Inst. of Technology | 2021 | Grand Prize |
Lucas Zurbuchen | Northwestern University | 2021 | Grand Prize |
Malika Khurana | Carnegie Mellon University | 2021 | Grand Prize |
Allison Kubo | University of Oregon | 2021 | Runner-up |
Lauren Gold | Arizona State University | 2021 | Runner-up |
Phillip Choi | University of Pennsylvania | 2021 | Runner-up |
Arka Mitra | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | 2021 | Runner-up |
Monika Ruwaimana | University of Oregon | 2021 | Runner-up |
Daniel Babin | Columbia University | 2021 | Runner-up |
Devika Elakara | University of Maryland | 2021 | Runner-up |
Solomon Vimal | UCLA | 2021 | Runner-up |
Jaime Callejon Hierro |
University of Maryland |
2020 |
Grand Prize |
Adam Chmurzynski |
University of Arizona |
2020 |
Grand Prize |
Brandi Downs |
Ohio State University |
2020 |
Grand Prize |
Daniel O'Hara |
University of Oregon |
2020 |
Grand Prize |
Michael Sautter |
Johns Hopkins University |
2020 |
Grand Prize |
Richard Thaxton |
University of Arizona |
2020 |
Grand Prize |
David Clemens-Sewall |
Dartmouth College |
2020 |
Runner-up |
Monika Ruwaimana |
University of Oregon |
2020 |
Runner-up |
Solomon Vimal |
University of California Los Angeles |
2020 |
Runner-up |
Jacob Austin |
Columbia University |
2019 |
Grand Prize |
Anna Barth |
Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory |
2019 |
Grand Prize |
Julia Carr |
Pennsylvania State University |
2019 |
Grand Prize |
Eleanor Lutz |
University of Washington, Seattle |
2019 |
Grand Prize |
Gigi Pavur |
Georgia Institute of Technology |
2019 |
Grand Prize |
Amanda Price |
Washington University, St Louis |
2019 |
Grand Prize |
Veronica Southerland |
George Washington University |
2019 |
Grand Prize |
Wen-Ying Wu |
University of Texas at Austin |
2019 |
Grand Prize |
Atieh Alipour |
University of Alabama |
2019 |
Runner-up |
Riley Brady |
University of Colorado, Boulder |
2019 |
Runner-up |
Adam Chlus |
University of Wisconsin, Madison |
2019 |
Runner-up |
Julianne Davis |
Syracuse University |
2019 |
Runner-up |
Vincent Ledvina |
University of North Dakota |
2019 |
Runner-up |
Donal O'Leary |
University of Maryland, College Park |
2019 |
Runner-up |
Aodhan Sweeney |
University of Washington, Seattle |
2019 |
Runner-up |
Samantha Wallace |
NASA Goddard Space Flight |
2019 |
Runner-up |
Owen Evans |
Columbia University of New York |
2018 |
Grand Prize |
Meghan Jones |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
2018 |
Grand Prize |
Megan Link |
James Madison University |
2018 |
Grand Prize |
Akshay Mehra |
Princeton University |
2018 |
Grand Prize |
Jack Miller |
Iowa State University |
2018 |
Grand Prize |
Aleks Siemenn |
University at Albany - SUNY |
2018 |
Grand Prize |
Alison Thieme |
University of Maryland |
2018 |
Grand Prize |
Jacob Adler |
Arizona State University |
2018 |
Runner-up |
Behzad Ahmadi |
Portland State University |
2018 |
Runner-up |
Anastasia Alexandrova |
Wayne State University |
2018 |
Runner-up |
Kara Cassano |
Texas A&M University |
2018 |
Runner-up |
Corbin Kling |
North Carolina State University |
2018 |
Runner-up |
Rich Pauloo |
University of California Davis |
2018 |
Runner-up |
Amir Salaree |
Northwestern University |
2018 |
Runner-up |
Andrea Albright |
University of Houston |
2017 |
Grand Prize |
Parker Hinton |
University of Colorado at Boulder |
2017 |
Grand Prize |
Rebecca Lehman |
Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies |
2017 |
Grand Prize |
Yu Mo |
University of Maryland |
2017 |
Grand Prize |
Jason West |
University of Colorado at Boulder |
2017 |
Grand Prize |
Mahkameh Zarekarizi |
Portland State University |
2017 |
Grand Prize |
Bogumilia Backiel |
University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
2017 |
Runner-up |
Chelsea Johnson |
Georgia Institute of Technology |
2017 |
Runner-up |
Akshay Mehra |
Princeton University |
2017 |
Runner-up |
Yusuf Sermet |
University of Iowa |
2017 |
Runner-up |
Alison Thieme |
University of Maryland |
2017 |
Runner-up |
Anne Wilkinson |
University of Minnesota |
2017 |
Runner-up |
Allison Daniel |
University of Alabama, Huntsville |
2016 |
Grand Prize |
Kaytan Kelkar |
Texas A&M University |
2016 |
Grand Prize |
Matthew Ross |
Duke University |
2016 |
Grand Prize |
Mejs Hasan |
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill |
2016 |
Grand Prize |
Sara Lubkin |
Northern Virginia Community College |
2016 |
Grand Prize |
Akshay Mehra |
Princeton University |
2016 |
Runner-up |
John Granholm |
Appalachian State University |
2016 |
Runner-up |
Lana Narine |
Texas A&M University |
2016 |
Runner-up |
Meredith Goebel |
Stanford University |
2016 |
Runner-up |
Sophie Goliber |
University at Buffalo, SUNY |
2016 |
Runner-up |