PhD Contest Wants You to Explain Your Thesis Through Interpretive Dance
Don't worry, they are offering you money to do so. Actually, that doesn't make it sound better, but still. Dancing!
Are you a student making your way though a harrowing PhD program? We know many people who suffer from that affliction, and they all have out deepest sympathies, for all the good that does. Which, of course, is not much, considering we’re usually delivering these sympathies while leaving for drinks with friends or seeing a movie or just getting a halfway decent night’s sleep. You know what might genuinely make grad students feel better, though? Dancing. And if you can explain your incredibly complicated PhD work in an interpretive dance, you could win $1,000 in the bargain. That’s because the 5th Annual Dance Your PhD Contest is officially on.
For five years, Dance Your PhD has encouraged researchers to take a minute off from their work while also thinking about how they communicate what they do to the public. Brought to you by the fine folks at Gonzolabs, Dance Your PhD invites graduate students in Biology, Physics, Chemistry, and the Social Sciences to explain their work through interpretive dance, either solo, in a duet, or as a group. Once you’ve choreographed what is certain to be an enthralling dance routine about molecular bonds or the mating habits of a small and timid variety of Indonesian frog, have someone film it, post it to Vimeo, and send your entry off to the folks at Gonzolabs. You can learn more about the contest at their website here.
Still feel uncomfortable putting yourself and your work out there? We get that. But plenty of other people have, and you can watch entries from last year’s competition right here, including this piece entitled “Ecological and Evolutionary Perspectives on Elephant – Woody Plant Interactions in African Landscapes.” Enjoy, and good luck!
(via Science Mag)
- U.S. Navy programs robot to dance
- Bill Nye rocks out to live version of his theme song
- Mortal Kombat characters troll NYC through the art of dance
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