Open To

Continuing Ph.D. students in all disciplines who have completed the preliminary exam by the end of the spring semester before the award period. See Eligibility section for details.

Through the generosity of the Aleane Webb Endowment, The Graduate School provides small grants for dissertation research projects. This award was created to help graduate students fund miscellaneous projects associated with their research. The Graduate School will award up to $500 per project.

      Eligibility

      • Applicants must be in good academic standing.
      • Applicants must have completed the preliminary exam by the end of the spring semester before the period covered by the award.
      • Eligible projects include the purchase of microfilm, photographic development of slides, and graphic reproduction. Travel and typing costs will not be considered for this award.

      To Apply

      You Need

      • Approval from your department (see step 1 below)
      • Your CV (PDF)
      • A copy of your current Duke transcript or DukeHub report (PDF)
      • Two letters of recommendation from your DGS and faculty advisor. If your DGS and faculty advisor are the same individual only one letter of recommendation is required.
      • Information about the amount you are requesting, proposed use of funds, and sources and amount of other funding for your project
      • A brief statement (in PDF format) that includes: the dissertation title, a description of the dissertation research project, the amount of funds requested, the specific way in which the funds will be used, and an explanation of the importance of the proposed project to the dissertation research. This should be no more than 3 pages, using 1-inch margins, 1.5 line spacing, and Arial 12-point font. OPTIONAL: You may also include an additional 1-page bibliography.

      Steps

      1. Get approval to apply from your department. Each department can only nominate up to three students each year for this award. Before you can submit your applications for this award to The Graduate School, you must first get approval from your director of graduate studies (DGS). Programs differ in how they choose their nominees. Check with your DGS.
      2. Once you have received approval from your DGS, go to The Graduate School’s fellowship application system to submit your application. | Application instructions (PDF)

      Application Period

      The application cycle opens in early October and closes in late November. Award recipients will be notified in spring semester. The Graduate School will announce exact dates closer to the start of the cycle, and they will be posted with the award listing on the school’s online application system.