For those that have completed their first degrees and gone further to graduate school, writing a dissertation and its subsequent defence is par for the course. Whether you were in the sciences, arts or business it is a compulsory process in higher learning.
During the course of reading, attending lectures, taking tests and exams some people discover what topic they want to tackle towards fulfilling this aspect of the academic requirements. For those that have been through the process it is challenging to say the least, no matter the discipline.
A first degree or masters is a big deal. For those that really love knowledge, a PhD is the ‘logical’ next step in their dream to success. This means research, a whole lot of reading and facing a panel at the end. During the defence, the panel grills you and for all your trouble you finally get a certificate. Pretty straight forward, since each discipline has guidelines.
However, this is the 21st century and a new formula to make this process more interesting has been introduced. A competition (Dance your PhD) that fuses dance and science is in its seventh edition. Entrants from chemistry, physics, biology, computers etc shoot a video of their entire dissertation in dance! Various dance forms are used in the interpretation of complex concepts, problems, challenges and solutions.
The award to the overall winner follows the traditional panel pattern in the selection process. An expert panel of scientists and artists judge the overall winner, who also gets a cash prize. More interesting is the fact that some of the competing scientists perform, choreograph and even write some of the songs for their dances. So these scientists are also artists in their own right. This has certainly made for a rather unique approach to science I’ll say.
