PhD Admissions

Earn Your Doctorate at Duke

Completing a PhD program in engineering is hard. Really hard. But after years of preparation, frustration and celebration, a Duke doctorate stands out from the crowd.

Between field-defining faculty and a web of industrial, entrepreneurial and public-policy connections, with a Duke Engineering PhD, you can just about go anywhere and do just about anything your heart desires.

And with Duke’s comprehensive financial and professional support, you won’t take that journey alone.

Duke: The Path to a High-Impact Career

Wherever your path leads you, a Duke PhD will ensure you’ll arrive prepared to make a difference.

Guaranteed Funding

Duke provides significant financial support. And that’s just the beginning. There’s mentorship and career exploration support, too.

Generous Stipend

Guaranteed pay, 12 months a year, for the first five years

Paid Tuition

Covered by Duke during the first five years of study

No Fees

For the first five years, Duke pays all mandatory fees

Insurance Coverage

For six years, Duke pays your health and dental premiums

Applying to Duke

Join Our Mailing List

Receive updates, insights and invitations from our Admissions Team

Review Financial Support Package

5 years of stipend—plus six years of health and dental coverage

Find Your Deadline

See the application calendar for all Duke PhD programs

Start Your Application

Using Duke’s secure online platform

Diversity Makes Better Engineers

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.

Our commitment

The Data

603

PhD students

4.6

PhD students per tenure-track faculty member

16%

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

The newest of our buildings is 81,000 square feet of transformational design. Inside Wilkinson are research neighborhoods focused on advances in health, computing and the environment.

Dedicated workspaces for doctoral students feature natural light and campus views.

Durham and Beyond

Location. Location. Location.

At the north vertex of North Carolina’s famed Research Triangle, the city of 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 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.

Interested in joining our community?

Start a conversation with Duke.