Sulo Roukka of the University of Helsinki won both the overall prize and the chemistry category in the 2025 Dance Your PhD contest. The other category winners were Priya Reddy in biology, Arfor Houwman in physics, and Manisha Biswas in social sciences. Houwman also received the contest’s special AI/quantum award.
What is Dance Your PhD?
Organized by Science and AAAS, Dance Your PhD invites doctoral candidates and postdoctoral researchers to turn their own thesis research into a music-and-dance video for a nonspecialist audience. The goal is to make research understandable through performance as well as explanation. The 2025 contest also featured a special AI/quantum award; it was separate from the four subject categories, though Houwman won both physics and that special prize. Science’s contest overview and AAAS’s 2025 announcement describe the competition and its winners.
2025 winners at a glance
| Winner | Award | Thesis subject | Performance approach |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sulo Roukka | Overall winner; chemistry | Oral chemesthetic perception and food-related behavior | Hot-and-cold imagery conveys chemical sensations such as chili burn and mint coolness. |
| Priya Reddy | Biology | Plant mechanisms involved in plant–microbe interactions | Dancers and original choreography visualize plant immune response. |
| Arfor Houwman | Physics; special AI/quantum prize | Collective phenomena in ultracold dipolar quantum gases | A self-composed music video presents laser cooling and ultracold atoms. |
| Manisha Biswas | Social sciences | The powerful outcomes of collective synchrony | Movement and group dynamics connect with research using virtual reality to study social cognition. |
Chemistry and overall: Sulo Roukka
Roukka, of the University of Helsinki, won for “Insights into oral chemesthetic perception: A focus on food-related behavior.” Oral chemesthesis is the chemically triggered tactile sensation people experience in the mouth and related responses to chemical stimuli. Familiar examples include capsaicin’s burning sensation from chili, menthol’s cooling effect, carbonation’s tingle, and tearing when exposed to onion.
Roukka’s video uses a hot-and-cold motif to make those sensations tangible through movement. The entry makes an everyday experience—the way food and other substances feel—an accessible route into the thesis subject. The American Ceramic Society’s 2025 winner overview identifies Roukka as both the chemistry and overall winner.
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Biology: Priya Reddy
Reddy, a doctoral candidate at Friedrich Schiller University Jena, won biology for “Unravelling the plant mechanisms involved in plant–microbe interactions.” Jena identifies her video as “Plant Vaccination.” Its dancers and original choreography represent the plant immune response, turning interactions that are difficult to see directly into a staged visual explanation.
Reddy framed the purpose of the project simply: “Research is not just for researchers, but for everyone who is curious.” Her university’s contest report describes the video and her research. It also quotes Norbert Krause of Jena’s Graduate Academy, who said entries from German universities had rarely been submitted and that making the video without extra resources, alongside ordinary work, was a significant challenge.
Rank #2
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Physics and AI/quantum: Arfor Houwman
Houwman, of the University of Innsbruck, won physics and the distinct special AI/quantum award for “Collective phenomena in ultracold dipolar quantum gases.” The Austrian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information says the music video presents research on laser cooling and ultracold atoms. Houwman wrote the lyrics and composed the music.
He explains the counterintuitive premise behind the work: “It may sound counter-intuitive, but to generate the coldest states there are, we need lasers.” For the song’s sound, he aimed for synthwave associated with noir films of the 1980s and 1990s, naming Blade Runner and The Terminator as examples. Read the institute’s account of Houwman’s win.
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Rank #3
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Social sciences: Manisha Biswas
Biswas, of Humboldt University of Berlin, won social sciences for “The powerful outcomes of collective synchrony.” Her work uses virtual reality to study how synchronized movement and group dynamics relate to social cognition. The research asks how moving in time together may shape the way people perceive or respond to others; the contest entry communicates that group-level question through dance and coordinated movement.
The American Ceramic Society’s winner list identifies Biswas and her thesis title.
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How the prize amounts were reported
Published 2025 accounts disagree about the overall award, so neither amount can be treated as confirmed here. Ars Technica reports $750 for each category winner and an additional $2,750 for the overall winner. Friedrich Schiller University Jena reports a $2,000 overall prize and $750 for category winners. These are conflicting reports, not a verified final figure; see Ars Technica’s coverage and Jena’s report.
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