Completing a PhD program in engineering is hard. Really hard. But after years of frustrations and celebrations, a Duke doctorate stands out from the crowd. Between field-defining faculty and a web of industrial, entrepreneurial and public-policy connections, our graduates can go anywhere and do anything their hearts desire.
And you won’t be alone on your journey.
Support Throughout Your Journey
At Duke, we support our doctoral students with generous financial stipends and health insurance plans. We also help you plan for what’s next through continuous peeks through all the doors your degree will open.
As a PhD student, you have the time and space to dive deep. You’ve got five years. And Duke is like a playground for knowledge.
Judith DominguezStudying the biological effects of carbon nanotubes in Christine Payne’s lab.
Prepare for a High-Impact Career
Completing a PhD at Duke is just as much about the journey as it is the destination. That’s why we’ll help you explore career options, from the university campus to the national lab to the start-up incubator. Wherever your path leads, you can be sure that you’ll arrive prepared and ready to make a difference.
An optimist sees the glass as half full. A pessimist? Half empty. An engineer sees a glass that’s twice as big as it needs to be. Point is, engineers see things differently. Duke engineers see things very differently. Why use glass at all? Can we create a more efficient material? Ooh, should we include a water quality sensor? Here, we value different backgrounds and ways of thinking—because new approaches generate new solutions.
Of our PhD students received an NSF or other prestigious fellowship
$100M
In new research awards won in FY22
#5
Best Graduate Biomedical Engineering Program
U.S. News & World Report
↓48%
Lower cost of living in Durham vs. Boston
Facilities: Welcome to Wilkinson
Duke Engineering occupies space in 18 buildings on and near the Duke campus, the newest of which is the Wilkinson Building. Wilkinson is a transformational 81,000-square-foot space built around three research neighborhoods focused on advances in health, computing and the environment. It is also home to centers for engineering entrepreneurship and innovation; and state-of-the-art design labs and flexible classrooms.
Situated at the north vertex of North Carolina’s famed Research Triangle, Durham is essential to the Duke Engineering experience. Among our neighbors are hundreds of startups and standard bearers both private and public, a growing collection of James Beard Award-winning chefs, and a quickly growing community and skyline. River rafting, trail hiking, mountain climbing and sunbathing on sandy beaches are all just a couple hours’ drive away.
It doesn’t take an advanced degree to see why Durham is the #3 best place to live in America according to U.S. News and World Report, but come get one here anyway.
The renovated Chesterfield Building welcomes residents and visitors alike to Durham with a retro sign.UHill Walls at sunset. UHill Walls is a dense, walkable art experience with over 40,000 square feet of murals on 15 contiguous acres in Durham, North Carolina.
40 murals from local, national and international artists comprise one of the largest consolidated collections of murals in the Southeastern US.
The public art experience is a keystone of University Hill, a mixed-use redevelopment of an abandoned strip center with award winning food, drink, wellness and residential living.DPAC’s 2018-19 season included Broadway hits such as Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, and Cats.Community members came together during a 16-week period to create this mural as part of the Durham Civil Rights History project.UHill Walls at sunset. UHill Walls is a dense, walkable art experience with over 40,000 square feet of murals on 15 contiguous acres in Durham, North Carolina.
40 murals from local, national and international artists comprise one of the largest consolidated collections of murals in the Southeastern US.
The public art experience is a keystone of University Hill, a mixed-use redevelopment of an abandoned strip center with award winning food, drink, wellness and residential living.The dinosaur statue outside of the Museum of Life + Sciences on the Ellerbee Creek Trail makes a lasting impression on visitors.Durham Station Transportation Center is the transportation hub at the heart of the City of Durham that provides multiple alternatives to automobile traffic, an essential component needed to support more densely populated urban areas. The project, made possible by a combination of city, state, and federal funding, ensures more efficient transportation via GoDurham bus service throughout the Triangle.Holi Festival is the festival of colors celebrated in India to usher in the spring and celebrate the end of winter. Viceroy Durham hosted its third annual Holi celebration on the lawn at Durham Central Park right in the heart of in downtown DurhamA crowd gathers to enjoy an evening of live music during the Playlist outdoor summer concert series at Durham Central ParkChirba Chirba Dumpling Truck: Food truck serving chinese style dumplings and pan Asian fare. Photographed at the Labor Day food truck rodeo at Durham Central Park.M Sushi: industrial-chic space turning out traditional Japanese seafood, plus sushi options, based on OmakaseDame’s “Almost” World Famous Chicken & Waffles offers combos of waffles & buttermilk fried chicken in a casual setting with a jazz theme.The Lucky Strike smokestack and water tower rise impressively over the American Tobacco Campus (ATC). More of the downtown skyline is visible on the horizon.The downtown Durham skyline during an heavily clouded sunset. Durham Centre, the NC Mutual Life building, and the Durham Marriott are visible on the horizon.A traditional German breakfast of schnitzel at Guglhupf. Guglhupf is an innovative bakery, cafe and biergarten serving contemporary cuisine with southern German roots, emphasizing local and seasonal ingredients.Durham Bulls Athletic Park (DBAP) is a 10,000-seat ballpark in Durham, North Carolina that is home to the Durham Bulls, the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball. It is also home to the Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Central Eagles college baseball teams.Long a symbol of Durham, a bronze statue of a Bull, named Major, stands in CCB plaza in the heart of downtown, and serves as a great photo op.The Durham Sign at American Tobacco Campus was created by Liberty Arts and Cricket Forge and erected in April of 2019 as a tribute to the strength and resilience of the Durham community.
