Graduate Students Build Community Through Loss
After the tragic death of Abhijit Mahato, a flourishing Duke engineering graduate student, a group of Pratt School of Engineering students and faculty began working to create a life-affirming event to celebrate his life and honor his memory. Their efforts have culminated in a unique memorial event, called “Envisioning the Invisible,” an image and photo contest with two submission categories: Making the ordinary extraordinary (presenting everyday objects in a manner that makes them unrecognizable) and Sharing the science and knowledge of objects through vision and imaging (using an image or photo to teach us something about our world that we otherwise could not have learned). more
Summer Research Fellowships Bridge Funding Gap
This year the Graduate School was fortunate to be able to fund 101 summer research fellowships for Ph.D. students in the humanities and social sciences. The fellowships, which are funded through endowments and private donations to the Duke Annual Fund, help relieve the financial burden for students who are guaranteed only nine months of support during the academic year. This prevents interruptions in their graduate careers due to financial need, and allows a more seamless progress toward degree completion. Students frequently find that taking summer jobs results in having to put aside academic work, then having to recalibrate themselves to get back into an academic mindset in the fall. more
Career Center Expands Services to Graduate Students
This year brings opportunities for graduate students to explore new avenues in career and professional development. With the support of the Provost’s office, the Graduate School and the Office of Student Affairs, two new counselors have been added to the Career Center staff. This new counseling and programming team will function in partnership with the Graduate School, directors of graduate study, faculty advisors, the offices of Student Affairs, graduate student groups, alumni, and employers to assist graduate students in expanding their professional skills and exploring career options. Patricia Callaway and Annie Maxfield join Director of Graduate Student Career Services Virginia Steinmetz to support the professional development and transition to the workplace of Graduate School master’s and doctoral students. more
