Duke University Research Interview Questions
& Process
Real candidates share what happened, how many rounds they had,
and how the experience turned out.
Based on 28 interview experiences · FREE TO READ
Candidate interview experiences
First-hand accounts from people who interviewed at Duke University.
Duke University
Research Assistant
Entry Average Positive experience No offer 1 round
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen
Interview formats
Behavioral Technical
It was a brief 60-minute online interview via Zoom. It consisted of a behavioural chat and then a technical part where we talked about research writing. The person interviewing me was really nice and friendly. We used a Google Doc together to look at my writing and research approach.
Confirmed questions1 question
- What makes you want to study this specific research topic?
Duke University
Research Assistant
Entry Average Neutral experience Accept offer 5 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen Onsite Offer
Interview formats
Behavioral Technical
It's the typical PhD interview process. We were flown to Durham for the day and met with several research groups. If a group selected us, they'd offer admission, contingent on us agreeing to work with that specific group.
Confirmed questions2 questions
- Tell me about your past experiences.
- Can you discuss specific things you have done in the past?
Duke University
Research Assistant
Entry Average Positive experience Accept offer 3 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen Onsite
Interview formats
Behavioral Technical
It's kinda all over the place depending on the specific lab. Questions are usually pretty simple, not much stress. I had one interview with a lab manager where they only asked a couple of questions, and the rest of the time he just talked about different science stuff! But yeah, it was definitely a chill vibe with really smart people. They aren't trying to grill you or make you feel bad to get the job. Pretty standard interview questions, plus maybe some related to what the lab is currently working on. I don't recall any super tough technical questions, mostly stuff I knew from my education in a related area. You'll probably talk to a few people, but that's not too bad since you'll likely be working closely with them. It's mostly to see if you'd be okay with the grunt work and if you'd be a good fit for the lab's vibe.
Confirmed questions5 questions
- What makes you want to work in this particular lab?
- Tell me about your interest in this lab's research area.
- Why this lab?
Duke University Research Interview Questions
Quoted word for word from Duke University interview reports.
“Explain the concept of a p-value to a layperson.”
Read reports →“Can you explain the mechanism of the Western Blot technique?”
Read reports →“Can you suggest a good method for designing a metric to assess the performance of a Summarization LLM?”
Read reports →“What criticisms could you offer regarding my theory?”
Read reports →“Since I'm no longer working in that field, would you still be interested in collaborating?”
Read report →“Can you discuss your research background in physics and biomedical engineering?”
Read report →“What's the biggest size of the data set you have worked with?”
Read report →“What is the largest dataset you have worked with?”
Read report →“Are you interested in the research I'm doing?”
Read report →Formats, difficulty and experience
Across all 28 Duke University interview reports.