Dancing researcher explores changing routines
Yunchen's depiction of their everyday routines. Videography: Victor Lans
How can researchers communicate their findings in a more engaging way? Organisational researcher Yunchen Sun has taken a unique approach by transforming their dissertation on the change of organisational routines into choreographed movements.
In their dissertation, Yunchen Sun has followed a change process in a manufacturing firm over three years, focusing on how digital technology enables new ways of working in manufacturing and assembly. As an entry to the Dance Your PhD competition, Yunchen has created a dance video depicting such change process of routines.
In the dance video called The Way, a job interview is staged where Yunchen reflects on the contribution of their thesis through everyday routines, such as knowledge work, cooking and search for love. The changing aspects of organisational routines are illustrated when Yunchen’s future self rearranges the way people and things are connected.
– Dance is a form of routine and there is a natural connection to my research. I want to challenge both myself and the audience to express and receive research results in an artistic way, says Yunchen Sun.
Artistic research on routines
For Yunchen, this is more than just a creative interpretation of their thesis, but also a way to explore the interplay between science and art. Yunchen has long been interested in how academic knowledge can be communicated in alternative ways, and the competition is a fitting opportunity for this exploration.
– I found the Dance Your PhD competition by chance early in my PhD programme but lacked both resources and the right partners. Only when I met talented participants could the project become a reality. This is no ordinary dance project – everyone involved has to work in a transdisciplinary way, switching between scientific and artistic foundations, says Yunchen Sun.
Yunchen’s entry to Dance Your PhD also explores what happens when research objects become subjects, and how this inverted relationship affects the researcher.
– One tip from the organisers is to become the dance. The artistic research element in dance lies in the fluid boundaries between the researcher and the researched, where the audience interprets and takes away different messages depending on their own vantage point, says Yunchen Sun.
Global competition in its 17th edition
The Dance Your PhD competition is organised by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the prestigious journal Science. This year, the competition celebrates its 17th edition and attracts entries from around the world. Winners are selected in the categories of physics, chemistry, biology and social sciences, as well as in a special category for AI research and quantum science. The jury will judge the entries based on scientific merit, artistic merit, and creative combination of the science and art.
One of the category winners will be selected as the overall winner. Previous overall winners have showed a choreography on electrical stimulation of yeast in baking, a rap song about molecular clusters and a celebration of kangaroo biodiversity with drag show elements.
– It's fascinating to see the breadth of expression in the competition, and this year's entries are no exception. Compared to many others, my entry has a stronger narrative focus, with research at the center, while the choreographed movements work more conceptually, says Yunchen Sun.
This year's entries can be found on YouTube under the search 'Dance Your PhD 2025'. The organisers will announce category winners as well as the overall winner later this spring.
Johanna Norberg