Data and Business Intelligence Hub

The Power BI Dashboard Portal offers all staff access to a number of official University of Aberdeen dashboards that have been approved for release by the Data & BI Co-ordination Group.

Have an idea for a dashboard for sharing with others?

Then contact the Data & BI Hub at databihub@abdn.ac.uk and and we would be happy to discuss this further with you. We also have a Dashboard Request Form that you can complete and submit to the Data & BI Hub for consideration.

University of Aberdeen Power BI Template

This is the official University of Aberdeen Power BI Template for use in creating your own dashboard reports.  This is presented in an official University of Aberdeen Power BI theme with colours derived from the corporate palette. 

If you cannot access this page please contact the Data & BI Coordination Group to arrange access.

Power BI Training

The Data & BI Hub offers training to support the use of Microsoft Power BI at the University of Aberdeen.  

Our training includes the following:

• Introduction to the Data Environment.  This training must be completed before a user is permitted access build Power BI Dashboards in the data warehouse environment. This course provides an introduction to the Data Environment at the University of Aberdeen, including the Power BI system and associated data sources, and the Data & BI Hub.
• Using Power BI Dashboards. This training is takes you through an example dashboard which aims to familiarise users with the common features they will find in a Power BI report.  This training is in video format and can be accessed here.
• Dashboard In A Day.  This training is aimed at users who want to use Microsoft Power BI to transform data and create reports and dashboards from this data.  This training would normally be delivered in two half-day sessions.
• Power BI Hints & Tips. 10 helpful pointers to read before you use Power BI to ensure you only use personal data appropriately and also signposting on where to get further advice. You can view the tips here.

For information on how to book training, please contact the Data & BI Coordination Group.

Purpose

The Data & BI Co-ordination Group is a permanent virtual team overseeing the Data & BI Hub owned by the Directorate of Planning and Governance with membership from across the University.  The central purpose of the Data & BI Co-ordination Group at the University of Aberdeen is to create and foster a data culture by undertaking the following:

• Delivering the Data Platform as per the Roadmap agreed by the Data & Business Intelligence Project Board
• Supporting and maintaining the Data Platform
• Advocating for the Data Platform
• Implementing and maintaining Data Governance

Organisation

The Data & BI Co-ordination Group currently consists of membership from Planning, DDIS, Library Services, Student Records, HR, Research & Innovation and Finance. This membership will expand as future phases of the Data & Business Intelligence Project moves into new subject areas.

The Data & BI Hub is managed by the Data & BI Co-ordination Group.

Functions

• Data & Analytics Programme Management
• Data & Analytics Vendor Management
• Data & Analytics Standards
• Governance: Data, Process, Programme
• Subject Area Delivery in the Data & Business Intelligence Project
• Minor Enhancements
• Solution Support & Maintenance
• Data Analysis, Insights & Innovation
• Training & Tutoring

Deliverables

• Data Integration (ETL)
• Data Warehouse
• Reports & Dashboards

Contact

The Data & BI Co-ordination Group can be contacted via email at databihub@abdn.ac.uk.

To access various data sets and analyses relevant to the University, please click on the appropriate link below:

• LEO and Graduate Outcomes Data
• NSS Data

The University holds a wide range of management information internally, including data on students , research performance and staff. There are several existing reporting tools to enable staff to access this information. If you require access to internal data, please visit the Management Information Systems section of StaffNet in the first instance, and contact planning@abdn.ac.uk if you would like further assistance.

The University regularly submits data as part of statutory returns to the Scottish Funding Council and to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Subsets of HESA data are available to staff at the University through the online Heidi Plus portal, and this is especially helpful to enable benchmarking against other institutions within the UK. Requests for access to HESA data should be submitted in the first instance to planning@abdn.ac.uk.

For further information on university league tables and our performance please click here.

Below you can access various HE data reports prepared by external parties which may be of interest.

David Kernohan at Wonkhe publishes regular articles relating to technology and data in higher education which you can access here: David Kernohan | Wonkhe

Other recent analyses of note include:

• Graduate Outcomes Survey 2023, HESA release of 2020-21 cohort data in June 2023: HESA spring 2023: Graduate outcomes | Wonkhe
• The size and shape of TNE provision in the UK up to and including AY 2021-22, derived from HESA data: The size and shape of TNE provision | Wonkhe
• HE financial data for FY 2021-22, derived from HESA data: HESA spring 2023: financial data | Wonkhe
• UK students by domicile in AY 2021-22 (by provider and by region of provider), derived from HESA data: HESA Spring 2023: UK students by (standard) domicile | Wonkhe
• UK student recruitment by provider and subject area, UCAS data for the 2022 cycle: End of Cycle 2022: Provider and subject level data | Wonkhe
• UK student recruitment by provider and subject area, UCAS data for the 2023 cycle: End of Cycle 2023: Provider Data | Wonkhe

• HE Staff data 2022-23, derived from HESA data: HESA Spring 2024: Staff movement | Wonkhe