Forget minor celebrities ballroom dancing to improve their cool factors -- this week, our eyes are on the exuberant (and educational!) dance routines dreamed up by international scientists and doctoral candidates, who are busting out some moves for the 2011 Dance Your PhD contest.

Two Canadians have made the cut for the quirky and light-hearted event, which originated a few years ago as a way to liven up a New Year's party full of scientists. Basically, the premise is this: scientists perform in dance videos that explain their area of study -- whether it's social interaction as examined in courting pigeons or the effect of a Western style diet on epigenetic patterns.

"The goal of the contest is to be able to portray your research in a way that's fun to watch and that's easy to understand," Erin McConnell, a Carleton University biochemist, told The Canadian Press. The other Canadian finalist is Emma Ware of Queen's University.

McConnell's thesis dance (for DNA Aptamers as a Tool for Studying Mental Health Disease, seen above) is a fun mix of several styles -- including contemporary ballet and Highland dance -- and the average person can come away with a basic understanding of what she's working on.

"A lot of my friends sent me a message or called me and they said, 'I've heard you explain your research 100 times. And watching this video, this is the first time I've actually understood what you do,'" said McConnell, whose lab produced a winning video in 2010 that is now used as a teaching tool.

This year's winners will be announced Thursday. Each category (physics, chemistry, biology and social science) will have one winner who will receive $500 US. An overall "Best PhD dance of 2011" champion will receive an additional $500 as well as a trip to Brussels in November to be crowned at the Tedx conference.

In the meantime, enjoy the smooth moves of the 16 finalists!