Bass Connections is a new Duke University initiative launched in January with a $50 million gift from Anne and Robert Bass to provide a range of new educational pathways for Duke's undergraduate, graduate and professional students and bring them together on project teams with faculty and others to address issues that require the expertise of educators and researchers with diverse backgrounds. The initiative will focus initially on five broad areas: brain and society; education and human development; energy; global health; and, information, society and culture.
Bass Connections in Global Health is interested in promoting educational and research activities that integrate disciplines and bring together various levels of students and trainees in teams to address problems of societal consequence. Global health is defined as an area for study, research, and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide.
A request for proposals focused in Global Health is underway. Proposals must describe the project team, with specific attention to three core elements:
- A real-world problem that will provide the focus of the team;
- Interdisciplinary membership, representing diverse disciplinary expertise that is relevant to the chosen problem;
- Students at different learning levels. Teams will consist of two or more faculty (the faculty should come from different disciplines), at least three undergraduates and at least one graduate/professional student or postdoctoral fellow.