In the 2022-2023 academic year, Duke initiated a 12-month funding policy for all PhD students in their first five years of study. This policy expands the previous support package to guarantee that all students will receive full funding at the standard stipend rate during Summer term. Summer funding, however, is not automatic; students are expected to seek out and apply for funding from various competitive opportunities provided by the university. Details of this policy as it applies to our program and summer field research are as follows.
In summers following the first and second year, students will conduct preliminary field research with funding provided by the Summer Research Fellowship for First- and Second-Year Ph.D. Students. This fellowship is guaranteed, but students still must apply in Spring semester in order to receive it.
Students in their third and forth years conducting dissertation fieldwork are expected to apply for the Summer Research Fellowship for Third-Year Ph.D. Students and Beyond, and all other internal awards that satisfy summer funding requirements and are appropriate to their research. Currently these include the Summer Research Fellowship for Research on Racism and Systemic Inequalities and the Summer Research Fellowship for Research on Women or Girls of Color. Students in their third and forth years who do not receive qualifying summer research fellowships will be given “backup funding” by the department at the standard, guaranteed stipend rate.
Post-field students in their fourth and fifth years are expected to seek funding from all available opportunities. This includes applying for the Summer Research Fellowship for Third-Year Ph.D. Students and Beyond, and all other internal awards that satisfy summer funding requirements and are appropriate to their research; Applying for two Provost Internships (also see here); Teaching a summer course chosen in consultation with the DGS. If a post-field student is unable to secure funding from any of these sources, they will be given “backup funding” by the department at the standard, guaranteed stipend rate.
Students who do not make a good-faith effort to seek summer funding from the sources described above will not receive backup funding summer funding from the department. You may find more information on Duke's 12-month funding policy here.
Note that various, smaller summer fellowships offered by the graduate school and other campus funding sources are considered supplementary to the sources listed above.