Duke’s approach to interdisciplinary inquiry lowers barriers to collaboration by connecting researchers with overlapping interests across schools, fostering exchanges of ideas, providing sequenced funding and facilitating partnerships among schools and interdisciplinary units.

By drawing on disciplinary depth, interdisciplinary strengths and commitment to engagement, Duke has the capacity to make crucial research contributions in vital areas and serve as an important node for convening stakeholders.

The Office of Interdisciplinary Studies supports the recruitment and retention of excellent interdisciplinary faculty and provides research support through a number of channels, including seed grants for a mix of collaborative teams and solo investigators. These early-stage investments give scholars the chance to explore promising research avenues and assess the potential for more sustained inquiry.

The Bass Connections program supports interdisciplinary research teams of faculty and students from all of Duke’s schools as they take on complex societal challenges.

The university institutes, initiatives and centers (UICs) function as catalysts for interdisciplinary research, supporting and amplifying the many types of innovative scholarly endeavors that occur within and across departments and schools. They serve as vital intellectual homes for large numbers of faculty and students who wish to pursue shared questions and issues with peers from other disciplines.

Below, we share selected opportunities for the Duke community from the Office of Interdisciplinary Studies and the UICs.

Selected Interdisciplinary Opportunities in Research