Science Ph.D. students invited annually to enter ‘Dance Your Ph.D’

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“Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.”

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This phrase is often erroneously attributed to musician Elvis Costello and pulled out to belittle the endeavour of music criticism. 

But is it really futile to dance about architecture? What about the research for your science doctorate?

Not according to the folks at Science, a journal published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

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For 17 years, they been inviting scientist to submit entries to their “Dance Your Ph.D” contest. This year’s dance off is sponsored by artificial intelligence and quantum technology company SandboxAQ.

A Nov. 26 post on X invitingly asks: “Can you explain your doctoral research through interpretive dance?” The post contains sample videos of a few of the science-driven interpretive dances.

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Last year’s winning dance was choreographed and performed by kangaroo researcher Weliton Menário Costa. It reflects what he calls the combination of individuality and conformity in kangaroos, and celebrates the value of diversity, reports the journal’s news site. 

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He won $2,750 for his efforts and drew attention to his ecology research at the Australian National University, studying eastern gray kangaroos living at one of Australia’s national parks.

Individual kangaroos seemed to have distinct personalities, he concluded, while also finding that they modify their behaviour to conform with those around them, adjusting as they move between groups.

The idea for the contest came back in 2006, from John Bohannon, a scientist who studies microbiology and artificial intelligence who used to write for Science. He wanted to turn his New Year’s Eve gathering for scientists into a dance party, he told NPR. He decided to challenge them to a science dance contest.

“It’s very hard to get anyone to dance, particularly scientists. Their parties are not on the dancey side,” he said. “One thing you can count on with scientists is they’re competitive and they have a sense of humour about their work so I thought, let’s just put it all together.”

The annual Dance Your Ph.D. contest challenges science researchers to entice the public to science using artistic flair. Entrants “just need imagination and the ability to keep a beat.”

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Entrants submit their dances to one of four categories: biology, chemistry, physics, and social sciences. They are evaluated by a panel of judges that included artists, dancers and scientists. The four category winners receive $750 each, with the ultimate winner also claiming the grand prize of $2,000.

In 2023, more than two dozen entrants from around the world got their dance on. An entrant can be beginning their Ph.D. journey or have graduated years ago.

For the 2024 contest, an additional category has been added focusing on AI research and quantum science.

“Beyond that, it’s simple,” says News for Science. “Go dance some science, create a video of it, and upload it to YouTube. The deadline for submissions is March 28, 2025. 

Oh, a few last provisos. No PowerPoint slides or jargon. Get out your top hat and cane!

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