Competitive Fellowships for Incoming Students
These competitive fellowships are offered through the Graduate School. Incoming students are nominated by their department; no direct application is necessary.
James B. Duke Fellowship
The James B. Duke One-Hundredth Anniversary Fund provides fellowships for students who wish to pursue a program leading to the Ph.D. in the Graduate School at Duke University. Its objective is to aid in attracting and developing outstanding scholars at Duke. Selection of recipients is made by a faculty committee upon nomination by the appropriate department. These fellowships provide a $5,000 stipend supplement for four years to any other award the student receives from the department, the Graduate School, or national fellowships.
University Scholars Program Fellowship
The University Scholars Program was created in 1998 with a gift from Duke University Trustee Melinda French Gates and her husband Bill Gates, through the William H. Gates Foundation. The program is designed to stimulate an interdisciplinary, intergenerational, and diverse community of scholars. Each year the University Scholars Program provides tuition and a stipend for up to six incoming graduate students who participate in bimonthly University Scholars Program seminars, and act as informal intellectual leaders and mentors (not advisors) to the program's undergraduates. For more information, see the University Scholars Program website.
Dean's Graduate Award Fellowship
Dean's Graduate Fellowships are provided to students who—by reason of their background, culture, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, work, and life experiences—contribute to a fuller representation of perspectives within the academic life of the University. The Graduate School’s commitment to promoting and benefiting from diversity leads it to encourage nominations of students who are Black/African American, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and Hispanic/Latino Americans. All nominees must be U.S. citizens. The Dean's Graduate Fellowship is a four-year award, which provides payment of full tuition, health and recreation fees, health insurance and a 12-month stipend. The actual amount of the stipend will be the standard departmental award (paid over 9 or 12 months depending on the program) plus a $5,000 supplement, paid over the summer or the 12-month year, again, depending on the student’s program.
W.H. Gardner, Jr. Society of Engineering Fellowship
The W.H. Gardner, Jr. Society of Engineering endowment fund provides fellowships for students in the Pratt School of Engineering who wish to pursue a program leading to the Ph.D. in the Graduate School at Duke University. Its objective is to aid in attracting and developing outstanding scholars at Duke. Selection of recipients is made by a faculty committee upon nomination by the appropriate engineering department. These fellowships provide payment of full tuition, health and recreation fees, health insurance, and a 12-month stipend.