history phd duke

G-HIST-PHD - History - PhD

Degree designation.

Candidates for the degree of doctor of philosophy prepare themselves for examinations in three or four fields, at least three of which shall be in history. The choice of fields is determined in consultation with the student’s supervisor and the director of graduate studies. The department offers graduate instruction in the broad historical areas of North America; Latin America; Europe; Great Britain and the Commonwealth; Russia; Japan; China; South Asia; Middle East; and Africa; and in the thematic fields of women’s history; military history; history of science, technology, and medicine; environmental history; labor history; and slave societies.

For more information, visit history.duke.edu .

• Ph.D. Requirements

Our doctoral program offers considerable flexiblity; individual programs of study are developed for each student. Students may also take advantage of cooperative program to work in the Philosophy Department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Our program offers research opportunities across the areas of the history of philosophy; epistemology; metaphysics; philosophy of mind; cognitive science; moral psychology; ethics; political philosophy; Chinese philosophy; philosophy of science; philosophy of biology; philosophy of social science; philosophy of law; philosophy of mathematics; and philosophical logic.

Requirements

• 3 History of Philosophy courses , including 1 in Ancient and 1 in Modern Philosophy
• 1 Philosophy of Science (philosophy of science, biology, psychology) course
• 2 courses, selected from Metaphysics, Epistemology and Philosophy of Mind , one of which must be the M&E pro-seminar
• 2 courses, selected from Value Theory (ethics, aesthetics, political or social philosophy, and philosophy of Law), one of which must be the ethics pro-seminar
• 1 Logic course, satisfied by passing a logic examination or taking PHIL 250 Symbolic Logic
• Language Requirement - if needed for dissertation work
• Future Research Statement and Oral Examination
• Preliminary Examination
• Dissertation
• Dissertation Defense
• Learning Objectives
• Departmental Newsletter
• Research Highlight
• Why Philosophy?
• Philosophy Major/Minor
• Certificate: Philosophy, Politics & Economics
• Graduation with Distinction
• Global Education
• New to Philosophy?
• J.D./M.A. or J.D./Ph.D. Requirements
• Related Certificates
• Language Requirements
• Future Research Statement & Oral Examination
• Professional Development
• Placement Guide
• Financial Support
• How to Apply
• Center for Comparative Philosophy
• Duke Causation Group
• Du Châtelet Prize
• Graduate Certificate Program
• Imagination and Modal Cognition Lab
• Project Vox
• Summer Seminars in Neuroscience and Philosophy
• Affiliated Programs & Centers
• Selected Faculty Books
• Journal Articles and Papers
• Primary Faculty
• Secondary Faculty
• Affiliated Faculty
• Postdoctoral Researchers
• Emeritus Faculty
• Graduate Students
• Visiting Scholars
• For Our Students
• Assisting Duke Students

Ph.D. in Political Science

We are ranked as a top-ten research department and our graduate program has an excellent job placement record. Over the past decade, the vast majority of our PhD graduates have gone on to attain tenure-track positions, and many other students have become leaders in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. 

In addition to a demanding sequence of courses during the first two years, our graduates begin working with faculty from the very first day, to gain an appreciation of the challenges involved in producing innovative research.

This paves the way to their own intellectual development, the first major milestone of which is a solo-authored research paper to be presented to the department during their second year in the program. From that point on, until the completion of the dissertation in year five, the focus is primarily on independent and collaborative research.

Our graduate program is organized around subfields that address major theoretical questions about political life, encourage collaboration across intellectual boundaries, and place us at the frontiers of the discipline. As a graduate student here, you will become certified in two major fields and gain exposure to other fields through our graduate workshop series.

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• Political Economy
• Certificate: Philosophy, Politics & Economics
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• 12 March 2024

Bring PhD assessment into the twenty-first century

You have full access to this article via your institution.

Innovation in PhD education has not reached how doctoral degrees are assessed. Credit: Dan Dunkley/Science Photo Library

Research and teaching in today’s universities are unrecognizable compared with what they were in the early nineteenth century, when Germany and later France gave the world the modern research doctorate. And yet significant aspects of the process of acquiring and assessing a doctorate have remained remarkably constant. A minimum of three years of independent study mentored by a single individual culminates in the production of the doctoral thesis — often a magisterial, book-length piece of work that is assessed in an oral examination by a few senior academic researchers. In an age in which there is much research-informed innovation in teaching and learning, the assessment of the doctoral thesis represents a curious throwback that is seemingly impervious to meaningful reform.

But reform is needed. Some doctoral candidates perceive the current assessment system to lack transparency, and examiners report concerns of falling standards ( G. Houston A Study of the PhD Examination: Process, Attributes and Outcomes . PhD thesis, Oxford Univ.; 2018 ). Making the qualification more structured would help — and, equally importantly, would bring the assessment of PhD education in line with education across the board. PhD candidates with experience of modern assessment methods will become better researchers, wherever they work. Indeed, most will not be working in universities: the majority of PhD holders find employment outside academia.

Collection: Career resources for PhD students

It’s not that PhD training is completely stuck in the nineteenth century. Today’s doctoral candidates can choose from a range of pathways. Professional doctorates, often used in engineering, are jointly supervised by an employer and an academic, and are aimed at solving industry-based problems. Another innovation is PhD by publication, in which, instead of a final thesis on one or more research questions, the criterion for an award is a minimum number of papers published or accepted for publication. In some countries, doctoral students are increasingly being trained in cohorts, with the aim of providing a less isolating experience than that offered by the conventional supervisor–student relationship. PhD candidates are also encouraged to acquire transferable skills — for example, in data analysis, public engagement, project management or business, economics and finance. The value of such training would be even greater if these skills were to be formally assessed alongside a dissertation rather than seen as optional.

And yet, most PhDs are still assessed after the production of a final dissertation, according to a format that, at its core, has not changed for at least half a century, as speakers and delegates noted at an event in London last month on PhD assessment, organized by the Society for Research in Higher Educatio n. Innovations in assessment that are common at other levels of education are struggling to find their way into the conventional doctoral programme.

Take the concept of learning objectives. Intended to aid consistency, fairness and transparency, learning objectives are a summary of what a student is expected to know and how they will be assessed, and are given at the start of a course of study. Part of the ambition is also to help tutors to keep track of their students’ learning and take remedial action before it is too late.

PhD training is no longer fit for purpose — it needs reform now

Formative assessment is another practice that has yet to find its way into PhD assessment consistently. Here, a tutor evaluates a student’s progress at the mid-point of a course and gives feedback or guidance on what students need to do to improve ahead of their final, or summative, assessment. It is not that these methods are absent from modern PhDs; a conscientious supervisor will not leave candidates to sink or swim until the last day. But at many institutions, such approaches are not required of PhD supervisors.

Part of the difficulty is that PhD training is carried out in research departments by people who do not need to have teaching qualifications or awareness of innovations based on education research. Supervisors shouldn’t just be experts in their field, they should also know how best to convey that subject knowledge — along with knowledge of research methods — to their students.

It is probably not possible for universities to require all doctoral supervisors to have teaching qualifications. But there are smaller changes that can be made. At a minimum, doctoral supervisors should take the time to engage with the research that exists in the field of PhD education, and how it can apply to their interactions with students.

There can be no one-size-fits-all solution to improving how a PhD is assessed, because different subjects often have bespoke needs and practices ( P. Denicolo Qual. Assur. Educ. 11 , 84–91; 2003 ). But supervisors and representatives of individual subject communities must continue to discuss what is most appropriate for their disciplines.

All things considered, there is benefit to adopting a more structured approach to PhD assessment. It is high time that PhD education caught up with changes that are now mainstream at most other levels of education. That must start with a closer partnership between education researchers, PhD supervisors and organizers of doctoral-training programmes in universities. This partnership will benefit everyone — PhD supervisors and doctoral students coming into the research workforce, whether in universities or elsewhere.

Education and training in research has entered many secondary schools, along with undergraduate teaching, which is a good thing. In the spirit of mutual learning, research doctoral supervisors, too, will benefit by going back to school.

Nature 627 , 244 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00718-0

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The Department of Biochemistry, Yesterday and Today

The Department of Biochemistry was established in 1930 concurrent with the founding of the Duke University School of Medicine. The initial mission of the Department was to teach biochemistry to first-year medical students and supervise the clinical chemistry laboratory of Duke Hospital.  Shortly thereafter, the Department was given the authority to award the PhD degree thereby setting in motion its research mission to understand the biochemical processes of life. Hence, Biochemistry at Duke University has had a long and storied history, with only five Chairs having led the department since its inception. The Founding Chair was William A. Perlzweig (1930-1950), followed by Philip Handler (1950-1969), Robert L. Hill (1969-1993), and Christian R.H. Raetz (1993-2007).  Peter Agre and then Kenneth Kreuzer served as Interim Chairs during a transition period from 2007-2010, after which Richard G. Brennan was chosen to serve as Chair in early 2011.

During its first twenty years, the Department was housed in the Davison Building. In the 1940s, there were only eight faculty members: William A. Perlzweig, Hans Neurath, Jerome Harris, Frank W. Putnam, George W. Schwert, W.F.H.M. Mommaerts, Mary L.C. Benheim, Philip Handler, and Haywood Taylor. Putnam and Schwert later moved to other universities to head their biochemistry departments and in 1950 Hans Neurath left Duke to become the founding chair of the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Washington. In recognition of their contributions to biochemistry, much of which was carried out at Duke, Putnam, and Neurath were elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

In 1950, Philip Handler became the Chair of the Department and during the next 15 years, he expanded the number of faculty members to 21, graduate students to 60, and initiated the of training postdoctoral research associates. Handler stepped down in 1969 to become the 18th President of the National Academy of Sciences, a post he held for two consecutive six-year terms. 

After Handler took his post at the NAS, the Department continued to develop under Hill and moved to its current home in the Nanaline H. Duke Building. Hill brought in macromolecular crystallographers and other faculty with expertise in DNA and RNA biochemistry and further strengthened its research efforts in molecular biology and protein and enzyme chemistry. In 1993, Raetz succeeded Hill as Chair and recruited current members Meta Kuehn and Pei Zhou. When Raetz stepped down in 2007, Kenneth Kreuzer became “Interim” Chair and together with the Ion Channel Research Unit carried out the successful recruitment of Seok-Yong Lee, an outstanding membrane protein structural biologist. Brennan was recruited to lead the Department in 2011 and has since brought in additional outstanding scientists including, Maria A. Schumacher, Kenichi Yokoyama, Michael S. Boyce, G. Vann Bennett, Hashim M. Al-Hashimi, Huanghe Yang, Kate D. Meyer, and Alberto Bartesaghi, who is also a member of the Department of Computer Science. These new faculty members have added to the considerable strength of the Department in the fields of protein and nucleic acid biochemistry and its growing expertise in signal transduction, membrane-related phenomena, molecular neurobiology, and computational and structural biology. Several of these newer faculty members have brought innovative and exciting programs in the broader areas of cellular biochemistry, molecular microbiology, molecular science, and cryo-electron microscopy, thereby significantly expanding its scientific depth, reach, and interests.

The Department has a broad educational mission including the training and teaching of undergraduates, graduate students, and medical students, and engaging in cutting-edge research that elucidates the molecular and structural nature of biological processes with fundamental discoveries that will transform our understanding of essential life processes and enhance human health. As of 2021, there are 21 primary and 13 secondary faculty members, seven emeritus members, two adjunct professors, nearly 60 graduate students, and 41 postdoctoral fellows and research associates. The Department occupies approximately 35,000 sq. ft. in the Nanaline Duke Building and 5,500 sq. ft. in the adjacent Sands Building.

The Department sits adjacent to six other basic science departments within the Duke University School of Medicine thereby promoting frequent interdepartmental interactions and productive collaborations. Our research and teaching missions also benefit from our physical proximity to the main campus and the Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans Center for Health Education. The main quad (the Abele Quad) of Duke University, the gothic Duke Chapel and pristine Duke Gardens, the School of Engineering, the Departments of Chemistry, Biology, Physics, and Computer Science, and even the legendary Cameron Indoor Stadium, are all within walking distance of the Nanaline Duke Building.

Our world-class research programs have been recognized by highly cited publications and our findings have been included in textbooks. Many of our faculty have taken on major journal editorships, provide worldwide research resources, such as MolProbity, and have been recognized by numerous awards including two Nobel Prizes in Chemistry given to Professors Robert J. Lefkowitz in 2012 and Paul L. Modrich in 2015. Furthermore, our faculty research has been recognized by memberships in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the election of multiple members to the National Academy of Sciences and to other honor societies including the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Microbiology and the American Academy for the Advancement of Science. Currently, eight primary faculty members hold endowed professorships and our newest faculty members have garnered multiple scholarships and young investigator awards from agencies such as the Rita Allen, Kimmel, Searle, and Klingenstein-Simons Foundations as well as NIH Director’s New Innovator Awards and NIH Avenir Award, all presaging continued research excellence in the Department.

The Department is deeply dedicated to justice, equity, diversity, and equity (JEDI) not only within its own borders, but within Durham, the state of North Carolina, and beyond and has developed initiatives, developed organically in the Department by its JEDI Committee, to reach our goal of social and educational equality and justice for all. This is a key mission of the Department.

Women's History Month Profile: Saskia Hemmers

Saskia Hemmers, PhD , is an Assistant Professor in Integrative Immunobiology and a member of our EDI Committee .  She is also a member of the Duke Cancer Institute .

Briefly describe your upbringing, where you are from, where you went to school

I grew up in a small city in Germany the oldest of three sisters. I did not know anyone that had pursued a career in science but decided to pursue a degree in Biology at the University of Cologne based on my strong interest in chemistry and biology in high school. For my Master’s thesis, I joined a lab that developed novel mouse genetic tools to study fundamental aspects of T cell biology with a particular focus on thymic selection. This was my first exposure to Immunology and set me on my path that ultimately led to IIB.

What inspired you to pursue a career in science and academia?

I am a curiosity-driven person with an analytical mind that is a good a synthesizing complex information down to its essence. I have known that about myself since high school and once I got introduced to the field of immunology during my undergraduate research and Master’s thesis, I had found a place that could continuously feed my curiosity. When I moved to the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA to pursue my PhD, I found my voice as a scientist and reaffirmed my continued interest in Immunology. I met amazing mentors along the way that encouraged me to make my love for research into a career in academia. As a postdoc at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center , I found an incredibly stimulating scientific environment that helped me to ask bolder questions and offered training in leadership and mentoring. My passion for science is fueled by seeing the progress that is made in my own lab, in the labs that surround us as well as reading and hearing about novel findings in the broader scientific community. I chose a career in academia as I truly value the privilege to pursue novel ideas while also training the next generation of scientists.  

Describe your research interests and the focus of your work?

Since joining the Integrative Immunobiology department, our lab has set out to gain a deeper understanding of how tissue cues affect immune and glial cell behavior. We are a cellular immunology lab that leverages mouse genetic tools in conjunction with high parameter flow cytometry, transcriptomics, imaging, and relevant disease models to achieve our goals. Current projects in the lab are focused on how tissue damage and inflammation shape T cell and glial cell function in the context of neuroinflammation. An additional line of research probes how the cellular ontogeny of T cells contributes to the layered immune system in adulthood.

How do you balance your work and home life?

I try to dedicate some time to non-science related activities that have included political organizing throughout the pandemic, volunteering with organizations that address food insecurity and community clean-up. On a daily basis, I make a concerted effort to dedicate at least 20-30 minutes each day to reading (fiction or non-fiction while having breakfast).

How do you stay updated with developments in your field?

The pace of scientific discovery and technology development is ever increasing, and the data being generated is incredibly complex. Staying on top of relevant discoveries while also surveying larger trends in scientific community is a full-time job. I try to browse major journals on a regular basis utilizing an RSS feed organizer. In addition, attending seminars, meeting with invited speakers, and attending conferences are all great ways to learn about the newest developments in the field as well as great opportunities to build a network of potential collaborators.

How do you foster an inclusive and supportive environment for your lab members or students?

When I started my lab as a new PI, I was very aware of my lack of experience when it came to mentoring. I spend a lot of time reflecting on my experiences as a mentee and seized on opportunities including workshops and lectures on inclusive teaching and mentoring at Duke and beyond.

Part of establishing a safe and inclusive lab culture is through clear communication, active listening, feedback, and regular check-ins (formal and informal). We have developed a lab manual that covers lab relevant information that is provided to all new lab members and is continuously updated based on feedback. Lastly, our stated lab philosophy reflects our commitment to creating a safe and inclusive space that allows us to make exciting discoveries while also continuously growing as human beings.

• For Current Students

Our program places a premium on cultivating intellectual breadth, familiarity with global, comparative, and transnational history, and the ability to speak to a broad audience of historians and others interested in careful analysis of the past. We seek to build intellectual community across the boundaries of era, geography, and thematic approach.

The graduate program trains students to develop original scholarship of their own by providing them a strong disciplinary base and also encouraging creative approaches to the past.

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Trevor Lentz PT, PhD, MPH, Receives the 2023 G.F. Gebhart Journal of Pain Young Investigator Award

Trevor Lentz, PT, PhD, MPH,  assistant professor of Orthopaedic Surgery–Physical Therapy Division, was selected as the recipient of the  2023 G.F. Gebhart Journal of Pain Young Investigator Award  on behalf of the United States Association for the Study of Pain. 

He was selected based on the quality of the article,  “ Overcoming Barriers to the Implementation of Integrated Musculoskeletal Pain Management Programs: A Multi-Stakeholder Qualitative Study , ” he published in the Journal of Pain in 2023, as well as his overall show of promise to future contributions in the field.

Congratulations!

🏆 Women's Tournament

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(11) Middle Tenn. stuns (6) Louisville

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Official Bracket

Ncaa.com | march 23, 2024, latest bracket, schedule and scores for 2024 ncaa men's tournament.

Here is the 2024 NCAA tournament bracket for March Madness and the DI men's basketball championship. The first round continued Friday, March 21 with 16 more games. On Friday, No. 13 Yale upset No. 4 Auburn, 78-76, No. 12 Grand Canyon beat No. 5 Saint Mary's, 75-66, and No. 12 James Madison defeated No. 5 Wisconsin, 72-61.

Take a look at the complete, updated bracket below:

NCAA bracket 2024: Printable March Madness bracket

Click or tap here to open it as a .JPG   | Click or tap here for the interactive bracket  | PDF link

Here is the schedule for this year's tournament.

• Selection Sunday: Sunday, March 17
• First Four: March 19-20
• First round: March 21-22
• Second round: March 23-24 
• Sweet 16: March 28-29 
• Elite Eight: March 30-31 
• Final Four: Saturday, April 6
• NCAA championship game: Monday, April 8

Here is the game-by-game schedule:

2024 NCAA tournament schedule, scores, highlights

Saturday, March 23 (Round of 32)

• (2) Arizona vs. (7) Dayton | 12:45 p.m. | CBS
• (4) Kansas vs. (5) Gonzaga | 3:15 p.m. | CBS
• (1) North Carolina vs. (9) Michigan State | 5:30 p.m. | CBS
• (2) Iowa State vs. (7) Washington State  | 6:10 p.m. | TNT
• (11) NC State vs. (14) Oakland | 7:10 p.m. | TBS
• (2) Tennessee vs. (7) Texas | 8 p.m. | CBS
• (3) Illinois vs. (11) Duquesne | 8:40 p.m. | TNT
• (3) Creighton vs. (11) Oregon | 9:40 p.m. | TBS

Sunday, March 24 (Round of 32)

• (2) Marquette vs. (10) Colorado | 12:10 p.m. | CBS
• (1) Purdue vs. (8) Utah State | 2:40 p.m. | CBS
• (4) Duke vs. (12) James Madison | 5:15 p.m. | CBS
• (3) Baylor vs. (6) Clemson | 6:10 p.m. | TNT
• (4) Alabama vs. (12) Grand Canyon | 7:10 p.m. | TBS
• (1) UConn vs. (9) Northwestern | 7:45 p.m. | truTV
• (1) Houston vs. (9) Texas A&M | 8:40 p.m. | TNT
• (5) San Diego State vs. (13) Yale | 9:40 p.m. | TBS

Thursday, March 28 (Sweet 16)

• TBD vs. TBD

Friday, March 29 (Sweet 16)

Saturday, March 30 (Elite Eight)

Sunday, March 31 (Elite Eight)

Saturday, April 6 (Final Four)

Monday, April 8 (National championship game)

• TBD vs. TBD | 9:20 p.m.

Tuesday, March 19 (First Four in Dayton, Ohio)

• (16) Wagner 71 , (16) Howard 68
• (10) Colorado State 67 , (10) Virginia 42

Wednesday, March 20 (First Four in Dayton, Ohio)

• (16) Grambling 88 , (16) Montana State 81
• (10) Colorado 60 , (10) Boise State 53

Thursday, March 21 (Round of 64)

• (9) Michigan State 66 , (8) Mississippi State 51
• (11) Duquesne 71 , (6) BYU 67
• (3) Creighton 77 , (14) Akron 60
• (2) Arizona 85 , (15) Long Beach State 65
• (1) North Carolina 90 , (16) Wagner 61
• (3) Illinois 85 , (14) Morehead State 69
• (11) Oregon 87 , (6) South Carolina 73
• (7) Dayton 63 , (10) Nevada 60
• (7) Texas 56 , (10) Colorado State 44
• (14) Oakland 80 , (3) Kentucky 76
• (5) Gonzaga 86 , (12) McNeese 65
• (2) Iowa State 82 , (15) South Dakota State 65
• (2) Tennessee 83 ,   (15) Saint Peter's 49
• (7) Washington State 66 , (10) Drake 61
• ( 11) NC State 80 , (6) Texas Tech 67
• (4) Kansas 93 , (13) Samford 89

Friday, March 22 (Round of 64)

• (3) Baylor 92 ,   (14) Colgate 67
• (9) Northwestern 77 , (8) Florida Atlantic 65  (OT)
• (5) San Diego State 69 , (12) UAB 65
• (2) Marquette 87 ,   (15) Western Kentucky 69
• (1) UConn 91 , (16) Stetson 52
• (6) Clemson 77 , (11) New Mexico 56
• (10) Colorado 102 , (7) Florida 100   
• (13) Yale 78 , (4) Auburn 76 
• (9) Texas A&M 98 , (8) Nebraska 83
• (4) Duke 64 , (13) Vermont 47
• (1) Purdue 78 , (16) Grambling 50
• (4) Alabama 109 , (13) College of Charleston 96
• (1) Houston 86 , (16) Longwood 46
• (12) James Madison 72 , (5) Wisconsin 61
• (8) Utah State 88 , (9) TCU 72 
• (12) Grand Canyon 77 , (5) Saint Mary's 66

Here's the complete seed list:

These are the sites for the men's tournament in 2024:

March Madness

• 🗓️ 2024 March Madness schedule, dates
• 👀 Everything to know about March Madness
• ❓ How the field of 68 is picked
• 📓 College basketball dictionary: 51 terms defined

Greatest buzzer beaters in March Madness history

Relive Laettner's historic performance against Kentucky

The deepest game-winning buzzer beaters in March Madness history

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• CBS Sports and TNT Sports Announce Tip Times and Matchups for Second Round Games on Saturday, March 23
• A complete history of HBCU men's basketball in the NCAA tournament’s First Four and play-in games
• UConn, other three No. 1 seeds are top fan picks to make 2024 Final Four
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Dexterous Decision-Making for Real-World Robotic Manipulation

Thursday, march 28, 2024 – 9:00am to 10:00am.

Hudson Hall 208

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Rachel Holladay

Abstract: For a robot to prepare a meal or clean a room, it must make a large array of decisions, such as what objects to clean first, where to grasp each ingredient and tool, how to open a heavy, overstuffed cabinet, and so on. To enable robots to tackle these tasks, I decompose the problem into two interdependent layers: generating a series of subgoals (i.e., a strategy) and solving for the robot behavior that achieves each of these subgoals. Critically, to accomplish a rich set of manipulation tasks, these subgoal solvers must account for force, motion, deformation, contact, uncertainty and partial observability. My research contributes models and algorithms for generating this kind of robot behavior such that it both generalizes to new environments and can be composed into long-horizon strategies. In this talk, I will first discuss how this approach has enabled robots to perform tasks that require reasoning over and exerting force, like opening a childproof medicine bottle with a single arm. Next, I will illustrate different ways robots can make robust choices in the face of uncertainty. For example, this empowers robots to reliably chop up fruit of unknown ripeness! Finally, I propose how robots operating with uncertain dynamics can generate cautious behavior, such as shoving an object near the edge of the table without it falling.

Hester, Glenda 660-5359

When It Comes to Heat Shock Proteins, It’s All About Stress

With five major chaperone classes identified, particularly the HSP70 family, Dimitra Apostolidou's research challenges the "universal mechanism" concept, aiming to understand specific protein interactions.

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are the chaperones of cellular stress response because they help guide the folding and unfolding of other proteins.

Understanding how these chaperones work could also help researchers understand how diseases like Alzheimer’s function. While fundamental to the survival and function of cells across the natural kingdoms, HSPs, which are actually just one type of chaperone, can provide a greater understanding of cellular biology as it pertains to stress.

At least that’s what Dimitra Apostolidou , a PhD candidate in mechanical engineering and materials science at Duke University, has been researching.

These proteins, which perform their bedrock work from simple organisms like E. coli to complicated ones like humans, offer up insights into the cellular mechanisms that help protect us against stress.

HSPs were initially discovered due to their increased presence in cells exposed to higher temperatures. This discovery highlighted temperature as a critical stress factor, paralleling how fever can detrimentally affect human health. However, Apostolidou points out that HSPs respond not only to thermal stress but also to a myriad of other stress factors, demonstrating their vital role in cellular defense mechanisms.

Apostolidou says the scientific community recognizes five major classes of HSPs, with the HSP70 family being particularly noteworthy. Humans possess up to 17 variations of this protein, contrasting sharply with E. coli, which harbors a single variant known as DnaK.

These proteins perform various functions within cells, including aiding other proteins in maintaining their structure and functionality amidst stressful conditions. She emphasizes the significance of HSPs in regulating vital cellular processes, pointing out how their malfunction can lead to diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and cataracts due to protein aggregation.

By expanding the range of substrates used in studies, Apostolidou’s research aims to deepen our understanding of complex proteins like HSPs and challenge the prevailing idea of a “universal mechanism” at play. “I don’t want to come across as though this has solved the problem, but we have to try and understand how these systems work for various proteins,” she said.

Substrates are engineered versions of a protein that researchers can use to get a fuller understanding of how chaperones work. Apostolidou’s previous work describes a new substrate that could allow new types of studies with individual proteins one at a time.

Her recent work published in Protein Science suggests that not all proteins require the same chaperones for proper function, and though chaperones act upon them, what should really be noted is what the proteins do in response as well as the state they are in. The extent of this highly dynamic relationship could have far-reaching implications for our understanding of cellular mechanics and disease pathology.

Beyond her scientific work, Apostolidou shared that she was driven by a desire to pivot from physics and polymer science to biology, bringing her all the way from Athens to Durham, North Carolina.

“Athens is a big city, but coming to Durham it felt smaller and more intimate,” she shared. “One thing I will say, I made many incredible friends through the program–I’d even go grocery shopping with one of them every Sunday.”

Though the culture shift was an adjustment for Apostolidou, she credits the research collaborations through labs with Piotr E. Marszalek , professor of mechanical engineering and materials science, and the support of her graduate peers with helping her feel welcome.

“When I joined the lab, the previous graduate students were very welcoming,” she said. “After my time in that space, I learned how important collaboration was to everyone there.”

Meet Duke Engineering’s Graduate Researchers

The future of engineering.

Pop Quantum

The word “quantum” is quickly creeping into the lexicon of American culture. But what does it actually mean? And what does Chris Nolan get right that Marvel gets wrong? Members of the Duke Quantum Center have answers.

Pushing Duke Tech Down the Commercialization Pathway

Thirty graduate and professional students from across Duke took part in a two-day technology commercialization bootcamp

Water Droplet Spun by Sound Screens for Colon Cancer

New platform separates biomarkers with a water droplet-based centrifuge that spins up to 6000 RPM, pushed only by sound waves

The Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies at Duke University currently offers a Ph.D. Program in Art History and Visual Culture , and Master's Programs Digital Art History and Computational Media .

The department also participates in an interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in Computational Media, Arts & Cultures , co-sponsored by the Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies, the Program in Literature , the Franklin Humanities Institute , and the Information Science + Studies certificate program, and many of the faculty are involved in the MFA in Experimental & Documentary Arts .

The department strives to provide students with the necessary tools to understand the global visual and material cultures of the past and present and with the skills to interpret them for the benefit of the broader community.

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President’s Annual Address to the Faculty

By Matt Carter

On March 22, 2024

In Speeches & Writings

Thank you, Trina. And let me begin my offering my thanks to you and to ECAC for your leadership, and to all of the members of this Council for your dedicated service to the university’s academic mission. 

This year we are celebrating Duke’s University centennial.   Nearly 100 years ago, in December of 1924, James B. Duke signed the Indenture of Trust that transformed Trinity College into Duke University. 

In his indenture, Duke made clear that he saw higher education, and especially the advanced professional training a research university can provide, as critical to the social and economic development of our region, as a means “to develop our resources, increase our wisdom and promote human happiness.” 

Though he could not have foreseen then the great advancements and possibilities the next century would bring—certainly nothing like advanced biomedical engineering or generative artificial intelligence—James B. Duke’s vision of the university as a catalyst for societal progress was forward-thinking. North Carolina in 1924 was still primarily rural, with rigid racial segregation enforced by Jim Crow laws, and one or two of every 10 adult residents were not able to read or write.

Fittingly, our Centennial Celebration is also forward-thinking. Following the recommendations of a trustee strategic task force that included students and faculty, including council chair Trina Jones, we have three goals in mind: we seek to deepen our understanding of our history through informed self-reflection; we hope to inspire our community by honoring the people who have contributed to Duke’s growth and success; and, looking forward, we seek to build on our momentum and advance our strategic vision for the future. 

These three goals are now being brought to life through a yearlong series of events and activities organized by individuals and units across campus, in coordination with our Centennial Executive Director Jill Boy. 

First, we have the opportunity to engage this year with our institutional history, in candid reflection as we learn from our past. Examples include the “Our Duke” historical exhibit in Perkins Library or the bilingual exploration of the history of Latiné students at Duke, housed in the Classroom Building on East Campus. Both exhibits were curated by students with guidance from faculty and the Duke Archives. 

This year, as well, several Bass Connections project teams are studying defining features of Duke’s first century. In addition, an oral history project, a book, and documentaries—including a history of the Blue Devil that was released earlier this week—will explore and preserve the achievements—and the struggles—of our first 100 years.

These are but a few of the many ways our community has embraced Duke’s Centennial as an opportunity for teaching and scholarship about our own history, and I hope you will join me in generating, promoting, and taking advantage of these resources.

Second, we have the opportunity this year to honor and recognize some of the many people who have made Duke University’s accomplishments possible, as well as the people—including you—who are shaping the institution today.

Throughout the year we are shining a spotlight on both well-known and under-recognized individuals who have contributed to the university’s growth and success. 

These include, to name just a few:

Alice Mary Baldwin—who was named Dean of Women 100 years ago this month—and who worked to advance opportunities and recognition for women students, faculty and alumni.

C.B. Claiborne—Duke’s first Black student-athlete—who went on to build a distinguished academic career, and who will be awarded an honorary degree at this year’s commencement.

And—as we announced last month—we are recognizing two of Duke’s most dedicated early staff members with the naming of the George and George-Frank Wall Center for Student Life. 

Third, and in some ways most importantly, we have the opportunity to frame these hundred years as the foundation for advancing our strategic vision for Duke’s next century of excellence and leadership. 

Just as James B. Duke, President William Preston Few, and the faculty, staff and students of Trinity College together set this institution on a path then to realizing our current success, we now have—all of us here—the ability to ensure we are on a path to an even brighter future. Yes, we face the challenges of a turbulent and changing world, one that seems unusually unsettling for higher education, for academic medicine, for intercollegiate athletics, for much of what we do today. But the 1920s were unsettling in their own ways, as the world transitioned out of the Great War and a deadly flu pandemic and would face, within the following decades, the Great Depression and the Second World War.  

They found opportunity in their moment. We will find opportunity in ours, as well.

How do we do that?  

We start by recognizing that our success, like their success, derives entirely from Duke’s people. At our core, we are in the business of identifying and developing human talent. It is through our people—our faculty, staff, students and alumni—that we make a positive difference in our region and the world.  

James B. Duke clearly recognized this, calling on Duke University, in his Indenture of Trust, to recruit people “of such outstanding character, ability and vision as will insure its attaining and maintaining a place of real leadership.”

And that is precisely what we’re doing. Through the Duke Science and Technology Initiative, we’ve hired 35 new faculty members, significantly enhancing Duke’s standing in the areas of computing, materials science, and brain and body resilience. 

We’re also enhancing the infrastructure that supports faculty research, and beginning the long-overdue process of renewing key academic facilities to ensure they support 21st century learning and scholarship. 

The result is an increasingly diverse and talented faculty, with more members than ever before in the national academies, a faculty that last year enabled Duke to spend $1.4 billion on research and launch 15 new companies. And as we announced earlier this week, this year we have the pleasure of recognizing 32 members of our faculty with Distinguished Professorships.

We are investing as well in our students and alumni. Student financial aid remains among our highest priorities, reflecting our commitment to equitable access to a Duke education with enhanced financial support for undergraduate and graduate students alike. Last year, with the support of the Duke Endowment, we launched our new initiative for students from North and South Carolina. The proportion of students in the undergraduate class of 2027 who come from Pell-eligible families rose to an all-time high 17 percent, and we are launching new initiatives to help graduates from HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions in our region to attend Duke’s graduate and professional programs.

We’re transforming teaching and learning for our students as well, leveraging experiential and team-based learning opportunities, and fusing our educational and research missions ever more closely as we pursue creative solutions to the challenges of our day.  

And recognizing the critical work of our staff—and Duke’s role as a major employer in Durham and the Triangle region—we’re focused on ensuring pay equity, and this July we will raise our minimum wage to $18 an hour. 

We do this because we know the deep and transformative value of bringing to Duke an ever more diverse collection of people that truly reflects the society we live in. 

But we also know that, to realize the full potential of Duke’s people, we must cultivate and maintain a campus community where every person—especially those whose viewpoints or backgrounds may be in the minority—feels a strong sense of belonging and support for their work. We must work to create a culture that clearly reflects our core institutional values of respect, trust, inclusion, discovery, and excellence in all we do.

To that end, we have just concluded our second Campus Culture Survey, which seeks to understand the ways our students, faculty and staff experience Duke. The results of this survey will be used to identify areas where members of our community may not feel included, supported or valued for the work they do—and to introduce and share new practices to address those areas of concern. 

In the first such survey, we learned that staff members felt an acute need for clearer pathways for career advancement, and in the time since we’ve been working to address that need, and others, identified through the survey.

As a university community, we seek to advance discovery and excellence through honest, open inquiry while maintaining mutual respect and trust. As the world around us becomes even more polarizing, it is imperative that our Duke community be one in which we foster open and civil discourse, express our differences in productive ways, and build mutual trust and respect for others in all that we do. 

We’ve seen the intense need for this on a global scale this year, as the Israel-Hamas war has caused profound suffering and conflict, both for those directly affected by the violence, and for countless others worldwide. 

Although our campus has not been immune to conflict regarding this situation, our response throughout has been guided by our commitment to community, and to the safety and well-being of all community members. Provost Alec Gallimore has launched an Initiative on the Middle East to foster constructive dialogue, leverage academic expertise, and enhance learning opportunities. I’m grateful to Professor Bruce Jentleson for his leadership of this initiative, as well as to the many other members of the faculty who have already engaged with this work. 

So, investing in people, and investing in community are two fundamental ways we position Duke well for the future. To this list, I will add a third: investing in purposeful partnerships.  

The challenges we now face—from divisive politics and souring international relations, to threats to human health from natural and man-made factors, to the existential threat of climate change—these all require unprecedented levels of interdisciplinary collaboration and coordination, both within Duke and with external partners. 

We enjoy a well-deserved reputation for interdisciplinary collaboration, thanks to your work as faculty and traditions established over the years, and now we’re building on that in quite significant ways. 

A few notable examples include our work on advancing racial and social equity, supported across campus by every one of our schools and our Racial Equity Advisory Council; and the Duke Climate Commitment, which is mobilizing all of our operational, research, and educational assets to seek sustainable and equitable solutions that place us on a path toward a resilient, flourishing, carbon-neutral world.

We’ve also renewed our commitment to Duke’s hometown of Durham—and to our neighbors throughout the Carolinas—as we thoughtfully draw on our educational and research missions to advance our Strategic Community Impact Plan, designed to help address our city and region’s most pressing challenges. 

At Duke Health, we have proceeded with an historic integration of the Duke University Health System and the Private Diagnostic Clinic, our former physician practice. While our new Duke Health Integrated Practice is still very much a work in progress, it promises new opportunities for our academic medical enterprise.

Through Duke Health, we’ve recently partnered with Durham Public Schools and Durham Tech to establish an early college high school that will prepare local students for careers in healthcare, while simultaneously addressing crucial workforce needs at Duke and elsewhere. 

At the same time, we are also enhancing our connections to Duke’s global network of alumni and friends, leveraging our centennial to deepen alumni engagement through personalized experiences online, on-campus, and around the world.

These reinvigorated forms of local and regional engagement complement our exceptional global presence, through Duke-NUS in Singapore, Duke Kunshan University in China, and through the worldwide scholarship and engagement of our faculty and students. Over the course of the next year, the Board of Trustees, the Provost, and I will be engaged in regular conversations with you, the faculty, regarding our global presence and our aspirations for global impact.

Indeed, as we consider the challenges and the opportunities of artificial intelligence, climate, and global health, I believe no other university is as well situated as we are, as James B. Duke hoped we would be, to serve society and uplift mankind. 

As we celebrate our first century, and approach our second, I’m confident that our strategic vision—to invest in people, strengthen our community, and multiply our impact through purposeful partnerships—will build on our remarkable past and ensure an extraordinary future.

I thank you—my faculty colleagues—for supporting the Duke we have always been—and the even more remarkable Duke we are destined to become. 

And I would now be happy to take questions.

Announcing the George and George-Frank Wall Center for Student Life

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