WiDS Datathon 2024

The WiDS Datathon is an opportunity to discover and hone data science skills while solving an interesting and critical social impact challenge. Whether you are an aspiring data scientist or a data science enthusiast, or just looking to challenge yourself with a curiosity voyage, the WiDS Datathon is an opportunity to practice working on data intensive research in a real world context.

Poster promoting the Women in Data Science Worldwide annual datathon, inviting students to participate in the WiDS Datathon 2024: Equity in Healthcare. An unordered list names the student benefits of participation as: career building, preparation for real-world situations, potential entry-level job placement, projects on inspiring topics, and foster skill-building and learning. The text block beside the list states: "Work with real-world oncology datasets. Women in Data Science (WiDS) partners with Gilead Sciences to offer a datathon competition featuring a real-world oncology dataset. The dataset contains informaton about breast cancer patients' demographics, diagnosis, treatment options, and insurance." Below the textblock is a QR code, the dates for the Global Challenges (January-March 2024, and April-June 2024) and University Challenge (Sept 2023-June 2023), and the URL to learn more: https://www.widsworldwide.org/learn/datathon/. The Women in Data Science (WiDS) Annual Datathon is an extra curricular project that you can work on, alone or on a team, to build tangible, practical experience and skills working with structured data. It is managed through a public data sharing and analytics platform called Kaggle.

This year’s datathon theme is Equity in Healthcare, and WiDS is issuing three different challenges using a real-world oncology dataset about women receiving diagnoses and treatment for breast cancer. Each challenge asks you to solve a different problem.

Datathon #1, open January 9th to March 1st: Utilizing a unique oncology dataset, you will develop a model to predict if patients received metastatic cancer diagnosis within 90 days of screening. More information available on Kaggle.

Datathon #2, open April 9th to June 7th: Designed for data science enthusiasts who are discovering or building their data skills. Details will become available when the competition opens.

Datathon++, open September 18th 2023 to July 12th 2024: Datathon University Edition, designed for advanced-level students. Utilizing a unique oncology dataset, you will develop a model to predict time to treatment of women patients who are diagnosed with metastatic triple negative breast cancer. This challenge builds in additional data cleaning, completing, and wrangling skills, and is meant for more advanced students. If you would like to participate in this challenge, contact Janna Avon (avonj@lafayette.edu) for more information.

Support is available to you through the Data Associates Drop-in Hours and special programming from Digital Scholarship Services

Data Associates Drop-In Hours: Wednesdays 4pm-6pm, Sundays 2pm-4pm, Skillman 003. Starting January 31st, and running through May 1st.

Datathon drop-in with a Librarian: every Tuesday in February, 12:30pm-1pm, Skillman 004.

The WiDS Datathon compliments a semester packed full of programming hosted by the Hanson Center on Systemic Inequalities in Healthcare. Learn more about the Hanson Center’s Spring Events here.