Data Nexus Student Grants

Data Nexus grants support small-scale data-initiatives designed to enhance student engagement and learning or professional development opportunities. Some examples of what grants can be used for include (but are not restricted to):

  • individuals or groups who wishes to attend a data-intensive workshop or conference.
  • individuals or groups who wishes to host a data-intensive event on campus.
  • individuals or groups event who wishes to attend or host a data challenge.

Small grants of up to $500 support start-up and one-time expenses (registration fees, materials, and so on), that are not funded through other sources. There is an expectation that a student receiving the grant will integrate some sort of sharing out to the larger Elon community (examples could be running an internal workshop, bringing in speakers, or working with Data Nexus on another type of event). If you are unsure of what to do for this please reach out to DataNexus@elon.edu for suggestions.

The Data Nexus Director is also willing to consult with you about other sources of possible funding for ongoing projects.

Examples of Data Nexus Student Funded Experiences

I used the Data Nexus Grant to travel to the Carnegie Mellon Sports Analytics Conference. The CMSAC conference featured multiple speakers from the sports analytics industry (speakers were employed by multiple professional teams as well as the NFL), as well as professors who presented their research. The undergraduate and graduate finalists for the SMT data challenge, as well as the students from the Carnegie Mellon Sports Analytics camp (myself included) also presented at the conference. Beyond the presentations, there was also a great experience for networking. I talked to people from graduate programs as well as the sports analytics industry, including those who worked for the NFL, Milwaukee Brewers, and Pittsburgh Pirates. This conference will hopefully allow me to get my foot in the door of the sports analytics industry, where I hope to work one day. (Evan Wu ’24)
Following the grant, Evan held an information session for the Baseball Analytics Summer REU at Carnegie Mellon University and help organize an campus event around Baseball Analytics.

Through the Data Nexus Grant, I traveled to Tampa, FL and the University of South Florida to attend the 10th annual Sport Entertainment and Analytic Conference. The SEAC conference featured eight incredibly talented and experienced guest speakers who are specialists within the sport analytic and marketing fields. Not only was it insightful to listen to such educated professionals, but it was a great opportunity to network with these individuals and the Sport Entertainment Management graduate students from the University of South Florida, who also attended. Included in the experience were tours of Tropicana Field and Amalie Arena, the respective homes of the Tampa Bay Rays and Tampa Bay Lightning. During our tour at Tropicana Field we had the opportunity to meet the analytics department and ask questions about the future of sport analytics in baseball and important characteristics for aspiring sport data analysts. This experience at the SEAC conference was an incredible opportunity that I couldn’t have been able to do without the Data Nexus Grant, and has helped center my focus to seek employment in the sports analytics field once I graduate next spring. (Bennett Lynch ’25)

Apply for a Data Nexus Student Grant.