Bass Connections is a university-wide academic program that supports collaborative, interdisciplinary research at Duke.
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.
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
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.