Motion of a drop driven by substrate vibrations

We report an experimental study of liquid drops moving against gravity, when placed on a vertically vibrating inclined plate, which is partially wet by the drop. Frequency of vibrations ranges from 30 to 200 Hz, and above a threshold in vibration acceleration, drops experience an upward motion. We attribute this surprising motion to the deformations of the drop, as a consequence of an up/down symmetry-breaking induced by the presence of the substrate. We relate the direction of motion to contact angle measurements.