Graduate students pursuing a PhD and postdoctoral fellows at any stage of their progression. 

Research Scientists who are between a postdoctoral fellowship and their next career stage are welcome to apply. All applicants must have approval to apply from their mentor. Medical students may submit an application for funding their 3rd year research rotation, but only if they anticipate taking two third years, to meet the requirement of a 1-year timeline for the funding. Master’s students are not eligible to apply. Medical residents/fellows are not eligible to apply.

Potential applicants who work closely with the DIBS Director or Associate Directors are not eligible to apply. “Working closely” is based on perceived or real financial benefit and does not apply if a DIBS leadership member is simply your teacher or committee member. If you have questions, please contact the Director (marc.sommer@duke.edu) to discuss.

A creative, interdisciplinary, rigorous plan for a 1-year project within a $25k budget. We're open minded about topics. Preliminary data doesn't hurt, but is not required. Interdisciplinarity is critical

Applications will be reviewed on the basis of scientific merit and scholarliness, impact on an applicant’s training, alignment with DIBS’s mission to promote interdisciplinary research, and a realistic fit to a 1-year timeline. Reviewers will be selected after we receive letters of intent, to ensure a fair evaluation with appropriate expertise.

No, this is a merit-based award. Given the challenges of this past year, however, we may consider need as a tie-breaker between comparably scored applications, which is why we are allowing applicants to address it in the application.

We welcome applications representing all aspects of the brain sciences, including engineering, humanities, basic sciences, clinical, or human-subject-non-clinical approaches, with an emphasis on interdisciplinarity.

Yes. You may submit a letter of intent and ask for feedback at that stage, or you may reach out to Dr. Marc Sommer, DIBS director, for an informal conversation about an idea before submitting a letter of intent.

Letters of intent are due Monday, October 13th.

  • Applicants who are invited to submit a full application will receive the instructions and link to the full application by October 16th.
  • The full application is due November 21st.
  • Reviews will take place in late November and early December, and awards will be announced by the end of the year.
  • Funding will begin in January 2026.
  • Expected project duration: January 1-December 31, 2026 (with opportunity to petition for no-cost-extension if justifiable)