Information for OBGE Spring 2025 Awards

DARE Application

An important mission of the Office of Biomedical Graduate Education (OBGE) is to recognize the accomplishments of our PhD trainees, particularly those who have been especially successful in the research mission. To that end, we are writing to announce the 2024-2025 School of Medicine Dean’s Award for Research Excellence (DARE) Program.

The SoM Dean's Award for Research Excellence is targeted to senior (PhD candidate, post-prelim exam) students who will earn their degree from an SoM PhD program and have excelled in the basic research endeavor, evidenced by an exceptional publication record, a substantial impact on the trajectory of the research lab or state of the field, and outstanding scholarly contributions to the lab, PhD program, SoM, and/or Duke community. OBGE expects to give 4-6 awards this year, and each award will include a $1,500 cash prize. 

Nominations for the SoM Dean’s Award for Research Excellence should highlight specific scientific achievements and detail how the student’s research has contributed to the field, lab, and Duke community, and advanced an important area of study. Nomination letters (2 pages max, 11 point Arial) should be prepared by the student’s PhD advisor and sent with the nominee's CV as a single PDF to Amanda Shipp (amanda.shipp@duke.edu) by Wednesday, January 15th, at 5:00 PM. Nominations will be reviewed by a faculty committee, and selected candidates and their advisors notified by early February. Please see the attached rubric that is used for evaluation of all nominations.

An awards presentation will take place on March 17, 2025. The Dean and Vice Dean, as well as PhD program leaders, will be in attendance. Details of the ceremony will be forthcoming.

OBGE Professional Development Award

OBGE Professional Development Awards are designed to support professional development for biomedical PhD trainees who have shown an interest in engaging in OBGE’s mission to develop student’s full potential as independent scientists. The award provides reimbursement or travel advance for activities that directly enhance the recipient’s professional growth, including, but not limited to conference registration and travel and workshop attendance.  

Awards are open to full-time biomedical PhD students in any School of Medicine or Interdisciplinary PhD program. To be considered, applicants must have successfully completed the preliminary exam prior to submitting an application and have engaged in one of the optional OBGE BIOTRAIN courses or O2 series programs. Each recipient will receive an award of up to $1000.  

Next deadline for applications is February 1, 2025. Find more information here.