Start Your Professional Development Today
No matter what your career plans are, your graduate school experience must encompass more than just coursework, research, presentations, and publications. The Graduate School provides programs, resources, and events to help you with every step along the way—from identifying potential career paths, to developing skills to compete for them, to managing your career. These opportunities will help prepare you for success in academia, business, entrepreneurship, government, and nonprofits. Professional development is not one workshop or one course; it is something you do throughout your time at Duke. So get started now.
See why professional development is crucial for graduate students, and what professional development opportunities are available at The Graduate School.
Professional Development at The Graduate School ...
Comes in
Many Forms
One-time events, workshop series, semester-long deep dives, peer-to-peer mentoring, formal coursework, or certificate programs — pick the opportunities and resources that suit your schedule and needs.
Builds Core
Competencies
We help you develop in six key areas: teaching and mentoring, communication, leadership, self-awareness, professional adaptability, and professionalism and scholarly integrity.
Starts Early,
Doesn't Stop
Like research, professional development should occur throughout your time at Duke, so we plan our opportunities in two-year cycles to address your needs throughout graduate school.
Professional Development Offerings
For: Ph.D. students
The Bass Instructional Fellowship program supports high-quality teaching experiences for Ph.D. students where normal means of funding are unavailable. It also helps students become more knowledgeable in digital teaching and learning. | More Info
For: Ph.D. students
The Certificate in College Teaching program prepares you to teach in college and formally documents this professional development to make you more competitive when applying for positions. | More Info
For: Master's and Ph.D. students, postdocs
This intensive eight-week program for Graduate School students and postdocs is designed to prepare you to be a competent, confident, and effective leader at Duke and beyond. | More Info
For: Master's students
Each semester, The Graduate School offers several workshops specifically designed for students in the school’s research master’s programs as part of the Professional Development Series. | More Info
For: All Graduate School students, faculty, and staff
Mentoring is vital to graduate students’ success, and The Graduate School is committed to cultivating a culture of mentoring in graduate education at Duke. Check out our collection of mentoring advice, resources, and toolkit. | More Info
For: Ph.D. students and postdocs
This yearlong experience for Ph.D. students and postdocs prepares you for the multiple roles you may be asked to assume as future faculty members in a variety of academic institutions. | More Info
For: Master's and Ph.D. students
Events in this series are designed to broaden Ph.D. and master's students’ career perspectives and develop competencies in communication, self-awareness, professional adaptability, leadership, and professionalism. | More Info
For: Master's and Ph.D. students
Responsible Conduct of Research training is a formal requirement for every master’s and Ph.D. student enrolled in The Graduate School. It ensures that every graduate student is aware of academic standards and well-qualified to address ethical challenges in teaching or scholarly research. | More Info
For: All Duke community members
This series of 30-minute virtual conversations features alumni reflecting on the role that their Duke education played in their careers, facilitated by faculty and current students. | More Info
For: Master's and Ph.D. students
The Graduate School collaborates closely with Duke Learning Innovation and other units across campus to offer workshops, consulting, and support for TA training across the university to complement the training that graduate student TAs receive from their departments and programs. | More Info
For: Master's and Ph.D. students, postdocs, faculty, staff
Instructional Development for Excellence And Success is an annual workshop series for Duke graduate students, postdocs, faculty, and staff. Invited speakers will discuss topics relevant to classroom teaching, dealing with students, or faculty life and career paths. | More Info
For: Master's and Ph.D. students
The Graduate School offers writing support for students in partnership with the Thompson Writing Program and English for International Students. Resources include academic courses, a dedicated writing space, individual writing consultations, and additional support for international students. There are also online resources. | More Info
Explore Career Paths
Stay Up to Date
See the professional development calendar.
Subscribing to the professional development listserv (gradprofdev).