The 2025 “Dance Your PhD” contest has crowned its new king of the dance floor: Sulo Roukka, food scientist at the University of Helsinki. In his hilariously inventive video, Dr. Roukka ditches the lab coat for a dazzling red suit and leads a troupe of sequined dancers through a sensory journey—exploring the science behind the burning heat of chili (thanks, capsaicin: “Hot! Hot! Hot!”) and the icy cool of mint (menthol: “Cool! Cool! Cool!”).
His research dives into oral chemesthetic perception—how chemicals in food trigger sensations of heat, coolness, or astringency, and how these affect our food choices and experiences. The best part? Sulo’s disco moves show that science communication can be as spicy (or as chill) as the compounds he studies.
If you need a break from serious science, this video is guaranteed to brighten your feed (and maybe inspire your next snack).
Watch the winning performance here!:
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0