The wait is over in:
Iron Viz: Student Edition 2025 is almost here!
Iron Viz: Student Edition 2025 is coming soon. This year’s contest theme will be revealed along with the contest submission form in December. Follow the steps below to get prepared to viz and win a trip to San Diego to attend Tableau Conference 2025!
How It Works
1. Join Tableau for Students
You will need Tableau to complete your visualization. Don't worry—with Tableau for Students, students receive Tableau software licenses and elearning for free. Once you verify your student status, you will receive instructions on how to get started with your Tableau Desktop license.
2. Create a Tableau Public Profile
Only visualizations published on Tableau Public and submitted to our form will be considered valid entries for the contest. If you don't already have one, create a profile on Tableau Public.
3. Get the Data
The 2025 competition’s dataset and theme will be revealed soon. Check back in December to access the dataset and start exploring.
4. Submit your Viz
When you are done, publish your visualization to your Tableau Public profile (learn how to do this here) and use #GenData. You will also need to submit a link to your viz in the contest submission form.
Create a winning viz
Check out this best practices blog to gain some tips on how to get started on your analysis to create your winning viz.
Read More
Iron Viz: Student Edition 2024 winners
Jane Kamata first heard about Tableau from her high school robotics club. After winning the competition, Jane became an active member of our Community and she is now a Tableau Academic Ambassador.
Nkosi Mngomezulu had been learning from the Tableau #DataFam community for 3 years when he wanted to challenge himself by entering, and winning, Iron Viz: Student Edition 2024.
Xinran Peng had only been using Tableau for a few months when she entered and won Iron Viz: Student Edition 2024 at the recommendation of her Data Visualization professor.
In image from left to right: Jane Kamata, Nkosi Mngomezulu, and Xinran Peng
Hear from the 2023 Iron Viz: Student Edition competition winners, explore their vizzes, and get their advice to students entering the competition at the link below.
Watch NowIron Viz: Student Edition FAQ
Iron Viz: Student Edition is a competition open exclusively to students, though we encourage you to participate in both! Iron Viz: Student Edition is for students looking to develop their visualization skills, but feel hesitant about competing at the Iron Viz level. This competition is a great introduction into the world of visualization competitions. Iron Viz: Student Edition winners will also have the opportunity to connect with other members of the Tableau Community at Tableau Conference.
A panel of judges comprising of data viz experts, previous Iron Viz finalists, and skilled community members will evaluate the submissions based on the following judging criteria for a total of 100 points:
- Analytical Depth (25 points) - Was the data used in a way to explore?
- Beauty and Design (25 points) - Is the visualization beautiful, relevant, and effective?
- Storytelling (25 points) - Does the viz present insights in an interesting way?
- Visualization Best Practices (25 points) - Rate the visualization in overall best practices
In the event of a tie, the submission that received the higher score in the category of Analytical Depth will be selected as a winner.
2024's theme was movies in collaboration with the Data+Movies challenge, featuring a special IMDb dataset. The 2024 Iron Viz: Student Edition competition has concluded but stay tuned for 2025's competition.
You may submit multiple entries to the form but only the most recent entry will be considered. Only one entry per person will be judged. Edits to any entries are allowed up until the deadline.
- $250 gift card to the Tableau Store
- All-expenses paid trip and ticket to Tableau Conference 2024
- Stage time during the Iron Viz competition
Tableau Academic Programs provides free software licenses, learning and teaching resources to students and educators to empower everyone with data skills.