Professional Development: Have It Your Way

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We're surrounded by personalized products that can be customized for each consumer. Want to buy a dress made to your precise preferences? Options abound. Want to tailor your new car to your every need (well, within a graduate student budget)? The list of choices will exhaust you. You can even choose a speciality license plate for your vehicle. Why not customize your professional development, too?

The Graduate School offers an extensive product line of prêt-à-porter professional development choices, from one-time events to in-depth programs to resources you can access online 24/7. But what about specialized events designed just for your discipline? You can propose your own with the Professional Development Grant. Work with faculty and fellow students to craft a pitch by October 16 to take advantage of grants of up to $2,000 to fund activities during 2018.

“What’s in it for me?” you may ask. Just this: experience collaborating with a team of colleagues—both students and faculty—to craft a grant proposal. Budget and project management experience. Writing a final report to a funding agency. Even writing for a broad audience to share the event on the professional development blog. Not to mention the line in the Awards section of your résumé or CV. And that’s on top of the professional development experiences that the Grant funds.

Get funding. Build skills. Gain experience. Get started in personalizing your Duke professional development today.

Author

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Melissa Bostrom, Ph.D.

Assistant Dean, Graduate Student Professional Development

Melissa ensures that all Graduate School students can identify and develop transferable skills to prepare them for the full range of career opportunities open to master's- and Ph.D.-prepared professionals. She is Managing Editor of the blog.