YING Family Scholars Fellowship

The YING Family Scholars Fellowship

Advancing Energy Sustainability and Materials Engineering

Program Overview

The YING Family Scholars Fellowship is a prestigious, annually funded Ph.D. fellowship program established through the generous support of Steven Ying and Young Kim P’29, through the Foundation for Amazing Potentials Ltd. This fellowship supports the educational mission of the Duke Materials Initiative (DMI) by funding student fellows in their pursuit of cutting-edge research in materials engineering for energy and sustainability.

Fellowship Purpose

This program aims to:

  • Support Ph.D. students in Materials Science and Engineering at Duke University.
  • Advance research in energy and sustainability-related materials engineering.
  • Promote visibility and impact of the Duke Materials Initiative.

Research Focus Areas

Fellows will be selected based on applicant research proposals in energy and sustainability materials research, with exemplary focal areas including:

  • Semiconductors for pervasive solar energy
  • Advanced batteries and fuel cells
  • Carbon sequestration systems
  • Energy-efficient next-generation computing
  • Computational approaches to energy/sustainability materials development

Fellowship Benefits

Each year, one student will be selected for the YING Family Scholars Fellowship. The award covers two years, with the second-year renewal contingent on satisfactory performance in the first year. 

Each YING Family Scholar will receive:

  • Full stipend
  • Tuition and graduate school fees
  • Health insurance
  • Annual travel (conference/research-related) reimbursement of up to $2,800   

Eligibility

Applicants must:

  • Be enrolled in a DMI-affiliated Ph.D. program, in years 1-3, at the time of applying.
  • Demonstrate a strong materials-related energy and sustainability research focus.
  • Show potential for technical innovation and societal impact.
  • Faculty may nominate only one student from their research group per award cycle (if more than one is received, only the first submitted will be considered). 

Application Process

The YING Family Scholars Fellowship application comprises:

  • Applicant’s curriculum vitae (including a list of publications/presentations)
  • Applicant’s current transcript
  • Two-year research proposal (no more than 2 pages in length, single-spaced at no smaller than 11 pt font, including references) written by the student, which should cover the research goal, how it connects to the materials-related energy and sustainability focus, the methods, checkpoints, and targeted outcome(s)
  • Nomination letter from the DMI-affiliated faculty advisor, and one additional reference from another Duke faculty member

The nominating faculty is requested to assemble the nomination materials and submit them as one (1) PDF file to the selection committee. 

Deadline: TBD (expected in the March/April 2026 timeframe for the 2026-2027 academic year)

Submit to: TBD