Two items that crossed the TFW screen last month came to mind while the federal independent MHR representing the electorate of Lyne was pressing the major parties to agree to more relevant and civilised behavior during parliamentary sessions -- particularly question time.

 

First this item, reprinted from this September's edition of  University of Queensland News appears instructive as regards making your points cogently and succinctly.

 

 

 

Secondly, the journal Science is in the throes of judging the finalists in their contest of "Dance Your Ph.D."

 

The dreaded question. "So, what's your Ph.D. research about?" You could bore them with an explanation. Or you could dance.

 

That's the idea behind "Dance Your Ph.D." Over the past 3 years, scientists from around the world have teamed up to create dance videos based on their graduate research. This year's contest, launched in June by Science, received 45 brave submissions.

 

This past September 17 judges—including scientists, choreographers, and past winners—announced the finalists in four categories: physics, chemistry, biology, and social sciences. Each receives $500.

 

The judges will announce the winner the October at the Imagine Science Film Festival in New York City. Science reveal the victor on 19 October.

 

 

Maureen McKeague's Ph.D. dance, based on her research at

Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, is about a technique called

Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment (SELEX)

 

Our parliamentarians might consider submitting their Q & As  in the art of Terpsichore.

 

Note added October 20, 2010 -- Science has announced: "What kind of science makes the best dance? Last night at the Imagine Science Film Festival in New York City, a packed audience waited to find out. "And the winner is ... Chemistry!" As the crowd cheered, Maureen McKeague, a chemistry Ph.D. student at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, mounted the stage to take a bow and accept her award as champ of the '2010 Dance Your Ph.D.' contest. Click the photo above to watch the winning entry.