University Institutes, Initiatives & Centers

The university institutes, initiatives and centers complement the widespread interdisciplinarity found in every school at Duke. They serve as crucial incubators of innovations in research, teaching and community engagement.

The Office of Interdisciplinary Studies provides central leadership for these units, which have the related roles of convening new scholarly configurations, catalyzing new research agendas and pedagogical approaches, and connecting faculty and students across disciplinary, divisional and school boundaries. These units also furnish cross-cutting infrastructures that facilitate the work of faculty and students within schools.

See the 2021 report of the Interdisciplinary Priorities Committee.

The Duke Institute for Brain Sciences is an incubator for new ideas and initiatives and an intellectual home for scholars and students working to understand the brain, with the goal of improving human health and society.

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The John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute supports interdisciplinary conversations, partnerships and collaborations that stimulate creative and fresh humanistic research, writing, teaching and practice.

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The Duke Global Health Institute brings together knowledge and resources to address the most important global health issues of our time, seeking to achieve health equity for vulnerable people around the world.

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The Kenan Institute for Ethics is an interdisciplinary home for faculty, students and staff dedicated to understanding and negotiating the moral challenges of our time through the energetic and capacious pursuit of good.

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The mission of the Robert J. Margolis, MD, Institute for Health Policy is to improve health, health equity and the value of health care through practical, innovative and evidence-based policy solutions.

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The Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability accelerates energy and environmental solutions by conducting actionable research, engaging with decision-makers and preparing future leaders.

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The Social Science Research Institute at Duke brings together researchers with interests in problems that cross the various social and behavioral sciences, helping projects grow.

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Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship empowers the Duke community to act entrepreneurially in all their endeavors. With experiential programs, world-class faculty and a powerful global network, Duke I&E helps our community change the world.

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The Rhodes Information Initiative at Duke (Rhodes iiD) is an interdisciplinary program designed to increase “big data” computational research and expand opportunities for student engagement in this rapidly growing field.

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The Duke Initiative for Science & Society fosters research, education, communication, democratic deliberation, and policy engagement on the ethical progress of science and technology in society.

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Duke’s Center for Documentary Studies teaches, produces and presents the documentary arts across a full range of media — photography, audio, film, writing, and experimental and emerging media.

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