03 / UNIVERSITIES
SECTOR · COHORTS
5 MIN TO MULTI
2026
02
Audience
Universities
Research communication through dance, movement and scientific storytelling, for PhD and research-masters students (HDR), early-career researchers (ECRs) and interdisciplinary researchers.
Two signature programs run here: How To Lead a Diverse Team Into Belonging (staff and inclusion) and How To Turn Your Knowledge Into Art That Connects (researchers, HDR and ECRs), on Dr WELI's Membrane Thinking method.
Evolutionary ecologist (PhD, ANU) · AAAS Dance Your PhD Overall Winner 2024 · Falling Walls Engage 2025 Top 30 · 
WildWooHoo studio
Based in Sydney, works regularly in Canberra and the ACT, Australia-wide.
Bring this to your cohortWho it's for
- HDR programs & graduate schools
- Early-career researcher cohorts
- Faculties, research centres, labs for interdisciplinary researchers
- Student experience & engagement teams
What researchers take away
- An artistic form for their research
- Confidence to translate complex work
- A real conversation about career direction
Formats
- 5–20 min activations
- 60–120 min workshops & labs
- Multi-session cohort programs
Quick request
Share cohort type, research areas, and what you want them to leave with. I'll come back with a tailored pathway.
Service
Formats
F.01
Activation
- Short energisers for orientation / events
- Creates safe social momentum quickly
- Strong for transitions and large cohorts
F.02
Workshop
- Communication and belonging focus
- Identity, purpose, participation
- Ideal for mixed / interdisciplinary groups
F.03
Program
- Multi-session cohort development
- PhD and research-masters students (HDR), transition, capability pathways
- Co-designed to campus priorities
Main
offer
T.01 / Featured
Turn your thesis into a performance, song or short film: a workshop for HDR researchers.
The signature workshop. We work with the researcher to find the strongest theme inside their thesis, the one image, question, or feeling that holds the whole thing, then match it to a form that carries it: dance, songwriting, spoken word, short film, comic, or performance lecture. The research decides the form.
What participants do
Surface the strongest theme in their work · explore three artistic forms that could carry it · prototype one · perform / show / share. Designed as a 2-hour workshop or a 3-session lab. Closes with each researcher leaving with a piece they could actually use.
How it
works
M.01 / Five steps
Start with a real idea: each researcher begins with their actual thesis, not a tidied abstract. Find the human angle: audiences remember what they feel, not what they are told. Translate it: the research carries into song, movement, image or story, often by connecting it to another discipline. Most people explain; we translate. Bring people in: each researcher makes the human version of their work rather than watching from the side. Leave one clear thing: they leave with a single takeaway and a form they can keep using.
Workshop
Themes
T.02
Transforming complex themes into compelling art
Translation as craft. How to take a piece of research the world finds hard and shape it into work that lands with a specific audience, funders, policy, broadcasters, the public, without losing what made it worth doing.
T.03
Connecting science and culture in the creative space
Interconnected narratives across disciplines. A workshop in seeing your research as part of a wider cultural conversation, and finding the threads that link it to art, music, politics, public feeling.
T.04
Lyric labs, cross-disciplinary stories in song
Hands-on practice exercises in writing lyrics that carry research across fields. A working format for researchers who want to try songwriting as a translation tool, no musical background required.
T.05
Cross-field labs, paths for researchers who work across more than one field
Open conversations about alternatives to the traditional academic track for researchers who don't fit a single discipline. Career options, creative-research hybrids, founder paths, studio practice, and the real costs and trade-offs of each.
T.06
Science communication, popular culture & humour, the Kangaroo Time case
The case study session. How a PhD on kangaroo behaviour became a music video that won the AAAS Dance Your PhD and travelled to 238+ outlets. What worked, what didn't, and the principles you can borrow.
T.07
Organising your brain, lessons from neurobiology & social evolution
Practical models for stress, focus, and sustainable motivation under the long-haul pressure of research, drawn from animal-behaviour research, neuroscience, and the evolutionary biology of social systems.
Outcome
focus
- Each researcher leaves with an artistic form that fits their work
- Confidence to translate complex research for audiences beyond their field
- Honest, useful conversations about career paths for researchers who work across more than one field
- Stronger peer connection across disciplines and faculties
- Inclusive, high-energy cohort experiences that researchers actually remember
Proof
in action
Transmissions, student experience
// ANU commencement, large audience guidance
// Program promo, campus activation & workshop use
Researcher
FAQ
What is the "Find your form" workshop?
Researchers find the strongest theme inside their thesis and the artistic form that carries it, dance, songwriting, spoken word, short film or performance lecture, and leave with a piece they could actually use.
Is it suitable for researchers with no arts background?
Yes. No musical or performance background is needed; the workshop meets each researcher where they are.
What session lengths are available?
5 to 20 minute activations, 60 to 120 minute workshops and labs, or multi-session cohort programs co-designed to your campus priorities.
Who is it for?
HDR programs and graduate schools, early-career-researcher cohorts, faculties, research centres and labs for interdisciplinary researchers.
What makes it credible?
It is built from the practice that turned a PhD thesis into Kangaroo Time, the AAAS Dance Your PhD Overall Winner 2024, and the teacher PD Transforming Science Into Compelling Art shortlisted for Falling Walls Engage 2025.
Do you run HDR professional development or research-communication training?
Yes. We run research-communication training and creative science-communication workshops for HDR students, graduate research schools and early-career researchers, from a single session to a multi-session program.
Can you present at a PhD orientation or postgraduate research showcase?
Yes. We open and energise PhD orientations and induction weeks, and can keynote or MC a postgraduate research showcase or research day.
Do you help students prepare for Three Minute Thesis (3MT) or explain research to non-experts?
Yes. The workshops build exactly that skill, distilling complex research into a clear, memorable form for a general audience, useful for 3MT, public talks and research impact.
Do you speak on alternative careers in science for researchers?
Yes. One theme is alternative and creative-research career paths for interdisciplinary researchers, drawn from Dr WELI's own path from PhD to science-art practice.
Plan the cohort
Ready to plan your next student-facing moment?
Tell us audience size, timing, and delivery format for a scoped proposal.