Apply for 2026-2027 Duke Graduate School Fellowships

The application period for most of the fellowships is in the fall, with a couple fellowships accepting applications in the spring. Here are the application dates for fellowships 

• Fall application period: October 1 to mid-November (exact dates updated annually)
• Spring application period: February-March each year
• Letter-of-recommendation deadline is one week after the student application deadline

Most of the fellowships require applicants to obtain approval from their director of graduate studies (DGS) before submitting an application. Some fellowships also place a limit on the number of applicants each program can nominate. The fellowship-specific requirements are indicated in the list below. Programs differ in how they choose their nominees. Interested students should check with their DGS.

Summer research fellowship for first- and second-year Ph.D. students: No letter of recommendation needed. The application period for this fellowship will open in spring each year.

All other fellowships/internships: As part of the fellowship application, students will be required to request two letters of recommendation, one from their director of graduate studies¹ and the other from their primary faculty adviser. Students will make this request from within the fellowship application system, and the request will be emailed to the recommenders.

The Summer Internship Fellowship (SIF) requires an additional letter of recommendation from the host of the proposed internship, for a total of 3 recommendations.

Each recommender will need to write only one letter for each student, regardless of how many fellowships/internships the student applies for. The request email will contain further instructions, such as what information the letter needs to include.

1 - For the Bass Instructional Fellowships, the DGS's letter will only need to verify that:

1. the applicant is making satisfactory research/dissertation progress;
2. the applicant has completed any teaching or TAing required by his/her department; and
3. the applicant's service as a Bass Instructor of Record, TA, or Digital Education Fellow would not interfere with his/her department's teaching or TA needs.