A University of Helsinki researcher has triumphed in Science¡¯s annual Dance Your PhD competition for a Eurodance pop video explaining how individuals perceive the hotness of chilli sauce differently.

Set to an original high-tempo dance track reminiscent of 1990s dance music acts 2 Unlimited and Aqua, food scientist Sulo Roukka¡¯s entry saw him rap about his research on human tastebuds while sequinned lab mates danced around under flashing lights.

The Eurovision-style floorfiller was inspired by Roukka¡¯s PhD thesis, titled ¡°Insights into oral chemesthetic perception¡±, which explored how different chemical compounds activate humans¡¯ tastebuds, which, according to its pop video, had relevance for dance given how ¡°sensory experience and rhythm in dance¡± are also known to be linked.

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Roukka, who earned his PhD in January, said the dance video was a huge team effort involving music direction, choreography, dancers, editing and costume design which reflected the importance of different contributions within scientific research.

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¡°It¡¯s not just about science ¨C it¡¯s also about people,¡± said Roukka, who hopes his work can help design better food products, such as non-alcoholic drinks or plant-based foods, to meet individual needs.

For judge Alexa Meade, a visual artist, the dance hit all the right notes. ¡°I felt like it could appeal to the largest range of people ¨C that¡¯s just delightful,¡± she said.

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Roukka will take home $2,750 (?2,059) for his?dance, which also won the chemistry category.

Three other category winners won $750 (?560) each in this 17th edition of?Science¡¯s?dance?contest: Priya Reddy, from Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, for the biology category; Manisha Biswas, from Humboldt University in Berlin, for social sciences; and Arfor Houwman, from the University of Innsbruck in Austria, won the physics category.

Houwman¡¯s dance video ¨C visually inspired by the 1999 action film The Matrix and musically by lo-fi French rap ¨C also took home a special prize for dances related to artificial intelligence or quantum science, part of the contest¡¯s sponsorship by Sandbox AQ.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com