Graduate students are guaranteed funding for five academic years. Summer funding is not guaranteed by the department although it is provided in most cases. The graduate student in conjunction with their mentor is responsible for obtaining all funding (including stipend, tuition remission, and fees) after the 5th year. In instances of hardship or other compelling circumstances, the mentor can request variances to the funding rules by writing to the Chair who will act on the request after consultation with the Advisory Committee.
Summer funding is not guaranteed or required by the P&N Department. However, graduate students can obtain summer support from P&N by participating in the Vertical Integration Program (VIP) which also pays the tuition remission cost or by offering summer classes (awarded on a competitive basis) which does not pay tuition remission costs. Otherwise, faculty wishing to offer summer funding for students must use their grant and/or your discretionary code.
For the vast majority of students the VIP contributes to a portion of the summer funding ($1800 + summer registration/tuition remission). In rare instances, the VIP funds can be in addition to funds a student receives from other sources (e.g., research assistantships, summer teaching).
Yes. the Graduate School Health Insurance Policy covers students for years 1 through 6, including summers:
(http://gradschool.duke.edu/documents/financial_support/health
_insurance_policy.pdf).
The fees for health insurance are paid in the fall and are in effect for the 12 month calendar. However, students who are not registered and thus do not pay the "health fee" cannot use the student infirmary.
There are several competitive mechanisms for obtaining summer funding or support of dissertation projects:
1. Summer research fellowships are available on a competitive basis to students in the Humanities and Social Sciences in the summer following years 3-6 if they have passed their preliminary exam. In addition to summer tuition and fees, the fellowship awards a summer stipend of $5,000.
2. The Aleane Webb Fellowship provides small grants for dissertation research projects. This fund was created to assist graduate students in funding miscellaneous projects associated with research but does not come with a stipend. Eligible projects include the purchase of microfilm, photographic development of slides, and graphic reproduction. Travel and typing costs will not be considered for this award. The Graduate School will award up to $500 per project.
3. There are other year-long competitive fellowships through Duke for students in their dissertation year. For a complete description of these see the Grad school website: http://gradschool.duke.edu/financial_support/phd%20support/continuing.php)
The department supports graduate student travel for pre-MAP students by providing $250 to help defray costs to attend conferences or meetings at which the student is (a) an author on a paper or poster being presented or (b) taking part in a professional workshop. Students can apply for these funds using the application on the website. Post-MAP students can apply for travel funds (up to $715) from the graduate school on an annual basis. The application can be found at:
http://gradschool.duke.edu/financial_support/phd%20support/other%20support/index.php
Clinical students are required to be a TA in 3 semesters during their 5 years in residence. Students who enter the P&N Department through the Cognitive Neuroscience admitting program must also complete 3 TAships. All other program students are required to do 4 TA's.
When students teach a course independently in the summer, they can petition to allow this course to count toward one or more TA requirements.
Yes, but TAships will be assigned by the DGS so that effort will be roughly equal for students responsible for the same number of assignments
Courses currently covered by funded TA’s (note this may change pending changes to the undergraduate curriculum):
"For Credit" TAs (non-funded):
Students can earn course credit (3 hours) for the TA work. Students can get course credit when they are otherwise funded externally (grant, Fellowship, etc.).
