Final Results
Nearly 600 students across 200+ teams participated in the 2026 Illinois Statistics Datathon! Students from statistics to computer science, information management, psychology, biology, aerospace engineering, and everything in between competed in the weekend long data challenge - but in the end, three teams claimed victory. These teams stood out for their creativity, technical skill, and ability to tackle a real-world forecasting challenge.
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First Place Winning Presentation
Team225
- Eshan Velidandla (sophomore, Information Science+DS)
- Rishab Shah (MS, Computer Science)
- Charlotte Sampson (senior, Statistics)
- Raphael Chen (sophomore, Information Science+DS)
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Second Place Winning Presentation
Team015
- Trustan Price (MS, Computer Science)
- Daryl Okeke (junior, Molecular & Cellular Biology + DS)
- Christopher Williams (junior, Statistics)
- Chidera Ibe (junior, Computer Science)
Team015 has provided an updated presentation that corrected some minor errors presented in the original submission. Selection was based on the original video. Click here to see the updated presentation.
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Third Place Winning Presentation
Team030
- Noemia Mahmud (junior, Brain & Cognitive Science)
- Anirudh Konidala (junior, CS+Education)
- Victoria Nguyen (senior, Information Sciences)
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Event Details
Get ready for an exciting and challenging experience at the 8th annual Illinois Statistics Datathon! Hosted by the Department of Statistics in partnership with Synchrony Financial, this 36-hour data event will kick off on March 27, 2026 at the Campus Instructional Facility Illinois students of all levels and degrees can register as a team or as an individual to participate. With workshops, networking opportunities and prizes up for grabs, the 2026 Illinois Statistics Datathon is not one to be missed!
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Registration Details
Registration Deadline is March 13, 2026, but register before March 6 to secure your exclusive 2026 Illinois Statistics Datathon T-Shirt! Join the competition and showcase your skills at the weekend-long datathon. Participants are permitted to register as individuals and will be assigned to a team after registration is completed. Teams need a minimum of two (2) to register as a team.
Team captains are responsible for registering their entire team for the competition. Captains will register the team name, and provide the names, emails, and degrees of the other team members.
Other Details
Leading up to the 2026 Illini Datathon, the Department of Statistics will host a skill check workshops for participants to gain insight and details on the best way to solve related problem sets.
The official problem and dataset will be provided at the kick-off event on Friday, March 27 at the Campus Instructional Facility. Mentors from Synchrony and the Department of Statistics will be in-person and on Discord throughout the weekend to help work through the problem to keep you on track. Teams will turn in their solutions and visualizations to the judges on March 30 (time pending). Winners to be announced at the closing ceremonies on April 1!