Duke Biology offers diverse training opportunities for students seeking a Ph.D. degree in biological sciences. Our program is highly flexible, allowing students to design the path that best fits their professional needs. Our students spend the majority of their time engaged in innovative research, and have the opportunity to interact and collaborate with researchers from a wide range of fields.
The graduate students in the Biology Department (Biograds) are integral to the department and community. Contributions include: running weekly happy hours and prospective student recruitment weekends as well as organizing seminars, journal clubs, teaching-assistant training orientation, and diversity-themed workshops.
Requirements for the Ph.D. include course work, participation in seminars relevant to your field of research, successful completion of an oral qualifying examination, one year of teaching experience, completion and defense of a research dissertation under faculty guidance.
Duke Biology is involved in multiple University-wide graduate programs, which link researchers across different departments and schools at Duke – most notably the basic sciences departments in the Duke University Medical Center and the Nicholas School of Earth and Ocean Sciences.
Learn more about our degree, our university, and our community. We'll explain the application process, financial support, and more.
We've compiled resources to assist you while working toward your Ph.D. – from requirements and fellowships, to milestones, useful Duke links, and more.
Learn more about the application process, deadlines and other resources for our candidates.