Digital art of human hearts formed by interconnected red dots with the words "Love Data Week February 9-13, 2026" superimposed over the top.

February 2, 2026

Mark your calendars for Love Data Week!

Love Data Week, held annually during Valentine's week, is an international celebration of data that invites institutions and individuals to explore how data shapes our world. Sponsored by DAPIR and the UW–Madison Libraries, there are multiple ways to celebrate.  

Starting on Monday, February 9, daily events (registration required) for students, faculty, and staff are available. A few highlights: 

Hallucination in the Wild: A Field Guide for LLM Users.
Explore why hallucinations occur, how to spot them, and reduction strategies. 02/09 @ 12:00 pm  

Current Landscape of Federal Data.
Representatives from the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) and the Data Rescue Project discuss the federal data landscape. 02/10 @ 12:00 pm

Love Digital Accessibility.
Find out how to ensure that data is communicated in ways that everyone can access and understand, including people with disabilities. 02/11 @ 2:00 pm

The Great Data Backup.
Hands-on event learning how to archive important public datasets. Together, we build a safety net that serves the public interest. 02/12 @ 4:00 pm


Other data resources covering FERPA, secure data management, and how students can understand, control, and update their personal data, along with quick tips, are also available.

Congratulations to Bucky’s Data Viz Challenge winners!

A round of applause for the winners of Bucky's Data Viz Challenge—Barnabas Valko (student) and Andrew Hahn (faculty/staff).

Barnabas and Andrew will represent UW—Madison and share their visualizations at the BTAA's Data Viz Championship Showcase, held in conjunction with Love Data Week. Register for the Showcase to hear about all the submissions and to support Barnabas and Andrew.

Visit the 2026 Bucky's Data Viz Challenge gallery to view all entries. Thank you to all the students, faculty, and staff who shared their creative entries.  
Dashboard displaying a series of interactive graphics.

Winning student entry by Barnabas Valko

The Geometry of College Fight Songs
 
Dashboard displaying a series of interactive graphics.
 

Winning faculty/staff entry by Andrew Hahn

A Crochet Land Cover Map of Wisconsin

Secure data management starts with you!

Many faculty and staff access and use data in their roles.

Discover five fundamental practices for properly using protected institutional data.

Read more.

Understanding UW–Madison through data: 4 resources you should know

UW-Madison's institutional data informs strategic, academic, and budgetary planning decisions.

There are four institutional data resources to get you started.

Get the details.

February’s Badger Data Network topic

At February's Badger Data Network, the Center for User Experience (CUE) joins us to provide digital accessibility guidance for data.

Meeting details
Date: Wednesday, Febrary 18
Time: 10:00 to 10:50 am
Zoom link: https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/97601199317 
Zoom passcode: WeLoveData
Add meeting to calendar
Did you miss our January meeting? Get all caught up by reading the meeting highlights.

Data, Academic Planning & Institutional Research (DAPIR)
 
 
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN–MADISON
Bascom Hall, 500 Lincoln Drive  |  Madison, WI 53706
dapir@provost.wisc.edu
Privacy Policy  |   Unsubscribe  |   Manage Your Subscriptions