Overview
DataFirst at the University of Cape Town is accepting submissions for the 2026 Wilson Wittenberg Prize for Data-Driven Research, awarding two ZAR 10,000 prizes for innovative quantitative research using publicly available DataFirst data.
Complete competition details
Two prizes are offered: a dissertation prize for Master's/PhD research and an article prize for research published in a recognised peer-reviewed journal. An international panel evaluates submissions from the quantitative social sciences. Eligible work must make innovative use of data available through the DataFirst Open Data Portal.
Eligibility requirements
For the dissertation prize, the work must have been submitted for examination at a South African institution and the degree awarded in 2025 or 2026. For the article prize, the article must have been published in a recognised peer-reviewed journal in 2025 or 2026 and the author or authors must be affiliated with a recognised South African institution. DataFirst staff are not eligible.
Tips for this competition
Practical Job and Scholarship guidance. These tips do not replace official rules or create new eligibility requirements.
- Study the scoring criteria and previous winners before deciding what evidence, prototype, essay, research or portfolio will best support the entry.
- Confirm country, age, team, education and organization restrictions and whether one person may enter multiple submissions.
- Follow the required file format, word/time limits and naming rules exactly; technical non-compliance can disqualify a strong entry.
- Keep proof of submission and submit before the deadline rather than relying on the final hour.
Verification notes
Verified on DataFirst's official University of Cape Town page on 22 August 2026. The call offers two ZAR 10,000 prizes and requires submission via the online form linked from the official page by 13 September 2026 at midnight SAST. Because the cached official page did not expose a stable standalone form URL, the authoritative programme page is preserved as the application/view-original destination rather than inventing a form URL.
Job and Scholarship is the discovery and verification layer. Confirm eligibility, dates, salary/funding and application instructions on the original source before submitting anything.
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