About Bass Connections

Through year-long research teams, intensive summer programs, semester-long courses and student research grants, faculty, graduate/professional students and undergraduates work together to explore big unanswered questions about major societal challenges drawing on perspectives and methods from multiple disciplines, as well as robust engagement with communities, stakeholders and decision-makers.

Launched in 2013, Bass Connections is named in honor of founding donors Anne T. and Robert M. Bass P’97 whose $50 million gift sparked a new approach to integrating research, education and civic engagement within the university. Their donation, which included a $25 million matching challenge, has since inspired more than 65 donors to support this innovative program.

In its first decade, more than 5,500 Duke community members and nearly 600 external partners have been part of Bass Connections projects. The research created through the program has yielded more than $70 million in post-team awards and almost 200 identified scholarly publications.

Bass Connections channels Duke’s unique culture of collaboration, ambitious entrepreneurial spirit and established record of applying classroom learning to pressing global problems and has become a cornerstone of the Duke experience.

Our vision

To create a distinctive new model for education, predicated on collaborative and interdisciplinary inquiry, that actively engages students in the exploration of big, unanswered questions about major societal challenges.

Our Goal

Elevate the importance of exploring societal and cultural challenges by:

• Engaging faculty, undergraduate students, graduate/professional students and trainees in teamwork
• Integrating disciplinary approaches and professional practice
• Applying knowledge, research and skills in problem-solving, with engagement from community partners.

Our Objectives

1. Students and trainees at all levels gain problem-centered expertise and team-oriented skills and then use them to pursue research across disciplines that explore societal and cultural challenges.
2. Faculty members integrate interdisciplinary education, research and outreach to explore societal and cultural challenges within specific themes. 
3. Themes support and administer project teams and develop curricular pathways into, through and beyond teams, fostering cohesive, problem-centered education for students and trainees.
4. Duke administration, departments, schools and institutes make infrastructure and programmatic changes that facilitate, sustain and promote the above objectives.