Dance your PhD

Dance Your PhD is an international competition for doctoral researchers and postdocs that asks them to present their doctoral thesis in a video using creative dance moves. Dance your PhD is highly regarded worldwide – it is organised by one of the most important scientific journals (Science). The prize money for the best video is 2,000 dollars, four other videos can win 750 dollars each. Here is the website of last year's competitionExternal link. You can find sample videos from previous years at the bottom of the page. 

The competition is open to doctoral researchers and postdocs from all disciplines who would like to present their own dissertation in a dance video. You don't have to have any previous experience in dancing – but it would be nice if you don't run away at the first sight of a camera. The support of your work group or your colleagues as possible dancers could be helpful and would certainly increase the fun factor, but is not a must. Other important questions are answered on the competition in the FAQExternal link (including the question: "Are you serious?").

To apply, we need a short letter of motivation in which you explain why you would like to dance your PhD with us. We also need information about your research field and your PhD topic. Please send both documents to Norbert Krause (norbert.krause@uni-jena.de). Applications can be submitted in German or English. Application deadline is 8 August 2024.

We at the Graduate Academy invite you to a talk. Don't worry, nobody has to dance. We just want to get to know you and your ideas. For the selection, we will form a committee to decide which dissertation project will be filmed. The crucial factor is that we can recognise a certain creative potential in the applicant. For example, we will ask you for ideas on how you would like to dance your dissertation topic.

Together with the selected person, we will develop a script and a screenplay. The language of the video will be English. Filming of the video will then take place in autumn 2024 with the support of the university's Multimedia Centre. We have extensive technical equipment at our disposal: Drones, high-speed camera (for slow-motion recording), green screen, Learning Glass (writing on screen) and much more.

The Jena competition video will be uploaded to YouTube via the university and submitted to the Dance Your PhD competition. It is then assigned to one of the following scientific fields: Physics, Chemistry, Biology or Social Sciences. A jury from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (publisher of the journal Science) will judge the submitted entries according to the following criteria: Scientific quality, artistic quality and the creativity of the combination of the two. One winning video will be selected for each of these categories and will receive a $750 prize. The winning video with the highest total score awarded by the judges will win the grand prize, which includes an additional $2,000.

We know that's unfair! Every doctoral researcher or postdoc should be able to make a video like this. Unfortunately, however, making such a video is very time-consuming and our personnel and financial capacities for filming are limited.