Physicist Sofia Papa has entranced audiences and judges with her award-winning display in this year’s “Dance Your PhD” competition, converting the abstract intricacies of the piezoelectric effect into a vibrant and expressive contemporary dance. This groundbreaking performance earned her both the grand prize and the award in the physics category, totaling $2750 (£2060) in prize money. As a graduate student at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Italy, Papa embraced physics for its blend with art, which she magnificently presented on stage.
Her choreography, enhanced by dancers dressed in red and blue to represent positive and negative charges, captured the core of the piezoelectric effect—where specific materials generate electricity under mechanical stress. The performance skillfully differentiated crystalline and semicrystalline materials through lively twists and movements.
Papa’s triumph is accompanied by plans to further bridge the realms of art and science. Motivated by her achievement, she intends to develop a series of dances that clarify various physics phenomena, promoting a creative perspective on scientific education.
The competition showcased a variety of entries from across the globe, highlighting the fusion of dance and scientific ideas. Dina Haddad, a PhD student from the University of Cambridge, won in the chemistry category. Her video incorporated music and dance styles ranging from ballet to hip-hop and pole dancing, detailing the function of magnetic nanoparticles in extracting cell-free DNA from urine samples. Haddad’s dynamic presentation marked her as the first UK representative to win since 2017.
In a newly introduced category acknowledging artificial intelligence’s influence on video creation, Maastricht University’s Kate Kondrateva was named the inaugural winner. Her inventive method employed ChatGPT to script a three-part dance centered on MRI technology and brain health, complemented by visual effects produced by Google’s AI, Veo.
The 2026 “Dance Your PhD” competition highlighted the profound influence of creatively merging dance and science, with participants like Papa, Haddad, and Kondrateva leading the way for future scientific narratives through art.