Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, has announced a $7.5 million grant from the Duke Endowment in support of a fellowship program that will provide increased and year-round support for Ph.D. candidates at its Graduate School.

Part of the university’s $3.25 billion Duke Forward campaign, the grant includes $5 million to establish the Duke Endowment Graduate Fellowship Endowment in support of doctoral students pursuing degrees in traditionally underfunded areas such as the humanities and social sciences, as well as those working in interdisciplinary programs. The remaining $2.5 million will support a challenge fund to encourage endowment contributions from other donors.

The Graduate School has approximately twenty-five hundred Ph.D. students and seven hundred research master's degree students enrolled across more than seventy departments and programs.

"Year-round funding enhances the quality of our graduate students' lives," said Graduate School dean and vice provost for graduate education Paula D. McClain. "In particular, the additional summer research funding opportunities made possible by this gift will allow more students to spend those crucial months focusing on their research instead of working to make ends meet."