{"id":189448,"date":"2026-03-26T08:00:55","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T07:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/kunsten-kan-ruske-op-i-vanetaenkningen-og-bringe-forskningen-fremad\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T10:20:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T09:20:14","slug":"she-brings-the-circus-into-physics-and-questions-everything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/she-brings-the-circus-into-physics-and-questions-everything\/","title":{"rendered":"She brings the circus into physics \u2014 and questions everything"},"content":{"rendered":"

PhD researcher Clara Ferreira Cores is in a corner office at the Niels Bohr Institute (NBI) at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH).<\/p>\n

Many have done their PhDs in this office before her. But their dissertations usually deal with quantum technology or particle physics: She, however, sees herself as both a physicist and an artist<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Clara Ferreira Cores’ project explores how the natural sciences can benefit from art in terms of working methods and approaches.<\/p>\n

Her thesis is that the two worlds can exchange ideas and methods.<\/p>\n

\u00bbI have always been fascinated by how we generate knowledge across cultures and history. To me, the exchange of ideas and methods makes sense. Scientific practice has its own methodology that strives for objectivity. Artistic methodology does not always seek the same thing, but it can still shake up science\u2019s habitual ways of thinking,\u00ab says Clara Ferreira Cores.<\/p>\n

Clara Ferreira Cores was first employed at the Dark Cosmology Center in April 2025 to do research into statistical mechanics and gravitational systems that challenge our classical understanding of thermodynamics \u2014 because some physical systems behave in ways that differ from expectations.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO<\/strong>: Astrophysicists solved mystery of red dots<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Concept of time is a cultural thing<\/h4>\n

In her PhD, Clara Ferreira Cores builds on the idea that just as art cannot be understood solely as aesthetics, so science cannot only be understood as epistemology. Habitual thinking can be challenged in both directions.<\/p>\n

\n

New thinking across disciplines<\/p>\n

The title of Clara Ferreira Cores\u2019 PhD is Transdisciplinary Research \u2014 Time Through the Lens of Art & Science.<\/em><\/p>\n

She has helped set up a website Yonderartscience.com<\/a> with her supervisors, physicist Jens Hjorth and art historian Irene Campolmi, and the astrophysicists Jo Verwohlt and postdoc Judit Pratt. It outlines a future where artistic and scientific methodologies intersect.<\/p>\n

Her PhD is scheduled for completion in April 2028.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In her own research, she needs to learn to think in new and different ways if she is to solve the challenges of understanding the laws of thermodynamics both at the nanoscale and in cosmic structures, she explains.<\/p>\n

In her own field, it is specifically ‘time’ as a phenomenon that presents challenges. So she lets her thinking be challenged by the ways in which time can be broken up \u2014 both across different reference systems and across different cultures.<\/p>\n

A transdisciplinary concept that she is developing opens up the possibility of being attentive with all your senses. This lets researchers go beyond entrenched academic boundaries and produce truly innovative work, she says.<\/p>\n

Performing artist (and physicist)<\/h3>\n

Clara Ferreira Cores came to Copenhagen after first completing her bachelor\u2019s degree in astrophysics in Scotland in 2020. She completed her master\u2019s degree in quantum physics at NBI, graduating in 2022.<\/p>\n

While living in Copenhagen, she has been trained in circus arts at a Danish folk high school for the performing arts\u2014 specialising in flying trapeze and group acrobatics. Ever since her childhood, she has been as much into art and culture, as she has been into physics.<\/p>\n

Physics now takes up most of her time, but her interest for art and culture remains unabated:<\/p>\n

\u00bbEven as a teenager, I had an almost insatiable hunger for knowledge that made me ask lots of questions in physics classes, even though it drove my teachers to distraction. But my love for art was just as strong, and I would almost be pained by the fact that they are separated,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n

As a child, she began dancing, later joining a Galician folkloric ballet group, performing in both Spain and abroad.<\/p>\n

At the age of 16, she moved to the United States to graduate from an arts high school. Since then, she has practised almost every art form, including literature and philosophy \u2014 but physics ultimately became her chosen field of study.
\n
\nWhen the Niels Bohr Institute set up a PhD fellowship in 2024 that brought together artistic, scientific, and philosophical research, it was a perfect fit for her, and she began working on the PhD in the summer of 2025.<\/p>\n

She remains an active artist. This includes performing a piece at the Centre of Gravity at the institute.<\/p>\n

Both she and her supervisors see the PhD project as pioneering work, and it is too early to say what it will ultimately lead to. But the idea is that she will describe how we generate new knowledge in fields beyond physics.<\/p>\n

\u00bbNo matter how eccentric my PhD project may seem, there are loads of researchers across the globe searching for new ways of thinking and studying, because they feel trapped in silo thinking in the name of efficiency and productivity,\u00ab says Clara Ferreira Cores.<\/p>\n

This article was first written in Danish and published on 23 March 2026. It has been translated into English and post-edited by Mike Young.<\/em>
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Perhaps science needs to look in entirely new directions to crack the toughest unsolved problems. 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Ferreira Cores in her office at the Niels Bohr Institute. She grew up in Spain but has lived in Copenhagen since 2020, where alongside her physics she has trained in circus performing arts."},{"acf_fc_layout":"Standfirst","subject":"Stirring things up","text":"Er fysikere blevet s\u00e5 meget vaneforskere, at de har brug for hj\u00e6lp fra kunstens verden for bedre at finde l\u00f8sninger p\u00e5 deres vanskeligste problemer? Clara Ferreira Cores er i gang med en ph.d. om, hvordan kunstneriske og videnskabelige metodologier krydser hinandens veje.","use_post_excerpt":true},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":true,"contributors":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>PhD researcher Clara Ferreira Cores is in a corner office at the Niels Bohr Institute (NBI) at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH).<\/p>\n<p>Many have done their PhDs in this office before her. But their dissertations usually deal with quantum technology or particle physics: She, however, sees herself as both a physicist and an <em>artist<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Clara Ferreira Cores’ project explores how the natural sciences can benefit from art in terms of working methods and approaches.<\/p>\n<p>Her thesis is that the two worlds can exchange ideas and methods.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI have always been fascinated by how we generate knowledge across cultures and history. To me, the exchange of ideas and methods makes sense. Scientific practice has its own methodology that strives for objectivity. Artistic methodology does not always seek the same thing, but it can still shake up science\u2019s habitual ways of thinking,\u00ab says Clara Ferreira Cores.<\/p>\n<p>Clara Ferreira Cores was first employed at the Dark Cosmology Center in April 2025 to do research into statistical mechanics and gravitational systems that challenge our classical understanding of thermodynamics \u2014 because some physical systems behave in ways that differ from expectations.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO<\/strong>: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/astrophysicists-solved-mystery-of-red-dots\/\">Astrophysicists solved mystery of red dots<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h4>Concept of time is a cultural thing<\/h4>\n<p>In her PhD, Clara Ferreira Cores builds on the idea that just as art cannot be understood solely as aesthetics, so science cannot only be understood as epistemology. Habitual thinking can be challenged in both directions.<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\">\n<p class=\"factbox-header feature-color\">New thinking across disciplines<\/p>\n<p>The title of Clara Ferreira Cores\u2019 PhD is <em>Transdisciplinary Research \u2014 Time Through the Lens of Art & Science.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>She has helped set up a website <a href=\"https:\/\/yonderartscience.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Yonderartscience.com<\/a> with her supervisors, physicist Jens Hjorth and art historian Irene Campolmi, and the astrophysicists Jo Verwohlt and postdoc Judit Pratt. It outlines a future where artistic and scientific methodologies intersect.<\/p>\n<p>Her PhD is scheduled for completion in April 2028.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>In her own research, she needs to learn to think in new and different ways if she is to solve the challenges of understanding the laws of thermodynamics both at the nanoscale and in cosmic structures, she explains.<\/p>\n<p>In her own field, it is specifically ‘time’ as a phenomenon that presents challenges. So she lets her thinking be challenged by the ways in which time can be broken up \u2014 both across different reference systems and across different cultures.<\/p>\n<p>A transdisciplinary concept that she is developing opens up the possibility of being attentive with all your senses. This lets researchers go beyond entrenched academic boundaries and produce truly innovative work, she says.<\/p>\n<h3>Performing artist (and physicist)<\/h3>\n<p>Clara Ferreira Cores came to Copenhagen after first completing her bachelor\u2019s degree in astrophysics in Scotland in 2020. She completed her master\u2019s degree in quantum physics at NBI, graduating in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>While living in Copenhagen, she has been trained in circus arts at a Danish folk high school for the performing arts\u2014 specialising in flying trapeze and group acrobatics. Ever since her childhood, she has been as much into art and culture, as she has been into physics.<\/p>\n<p>Physics now takes up most of her time, but her interest for art and culture remains unabated:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbEven as a teenager, I had an almost insatiable hunger for knowledge that made me ask lots of questions in physics classes, even though it drove my teachers to distraction. But my love for art was just as strong, and I would almost be pained by the fact that they are separated,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n<p>As a child, she began dancing, later joining a Galician folkloric ballet group, performing in both Spain and abroad.<\/p>\n<p>At the age of 16, she moved to the United States to graduate from an arts high school. Since then, she has practised almost every art form, including literature and philosophy \u2014 but physics ultimately became her chosen field of study.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":188833,"id":188833,"title":"DSC_4362 Clara Ferreira Cores01 phd i kunst p\u00e5 NBI web","filename":"dsc_4362claraferreiracores01phdikunstpaanbiweb.jpg","filesize":287475,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dsc_4362claraferreiracores01phdikunstpaanbiweb.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/kunsten-kan-ruske-op-i-vanetaenkningen-og-bringe-forskningen-fremad\/dsc_4362-clara-ferreira-cores01-phd-i-kunst-paa-nbi-web\/","alt":"","author":"8","description":"","caption":"","name":"dsc_4362-clara-ferreira-cores01-phd-i-kunst-paa-nbi-web","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":188827,"date":"2026-03-10 08:37:03","modified":"2026-03-10 08:37:17","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":2400,"height":1797,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dsc_4362claraferreiracores01phdikunstpaanbiweb-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dsc_4362claraferreiracores01phdikunstpaanbiweb-480x359.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":359,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dsc_4362claraferreiracores01phdikunstpaanbiweb-768x575.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":575,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dsc_4362claraferreiracores01phdikunstpaanbiweb-1280x958.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":958,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dsc_4362claraferreiracores01phdikunstpaanbiweb-1536x1150.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1150,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dsc_4362claraferreiracores01phdikunstpaanbiweb-2048x1533.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1533,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dsc_4362claraferreiracores01phdikunstpaanbiweb-290x217.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":217,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dsc_4362claraferreiracores01phdikunstpaanbiweb-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dsc_4362claraferreiracores01phdikunstpaanbiweb-700x524.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":524,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dsc_4362claraferreiracores01phdikunstpaanbiweb-990x741.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":741}},"style":"extended","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"A wide range of titles on Clara Ferreira Cores\u2019 small personal library on the windowsill at NBI. "},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>When the Niels Bohr Institute set up a PhD fellowship in 2024 that brought together artistic, scientific, and philosophical research, it was a perfect fit for her, and she began working on the PhD in the summer of 2025.<\/p>\n<p>She remains an active artist. This includes performing a piece at the Centre of Gravity at the institute.<\/p>\n<p>Both she and her supervisors see the PhD project as pioneering work, and it is too early to say what it will ultimately lead to. But the idea is that she will describe how we generate new knowledge in fields beyond physics.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbNo matter how eccentric my PhD project may seem, there are loads of researchers across the globe searching for new ways of thinking and studying, because they feel trapped in silo thinking in the name of efficiency and productivity,\u00ab says Clara Ferreira Cores.<\/p>\n<p><em>This article was first written in Danish and published on 23 March 2026. It has been translated into English and post-edited by Mike Young.<\/em><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Newsletter","lang_select":"en","identifier":"Newsletter","headline":"Get an email with upcoming events and top University of Copenhagen stories","button_text":"Sign up here","class":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":46,"name":"Science","slug":"science","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":46,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":831,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":14,"name":"Portrait Article","slug":"portrait_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":14,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":796,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[{"term_id":5468,"name":"Optional","slug":"optional-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5468,"taxonomy":"translation_priority","description":"","parent":0,"count":672,"filter":"raw"}]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dsc_4378claraferreiracores05phdikunstpaanbifacebook-1280x711.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189448"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":189467,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189448\/revisions\/189467"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}