The Trent Foundation was established in 1977 by Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans and her second husband, Dr. James H. Semans, to honor the memory of her first husband, Dr. Josiah Charles Trent. Duke University faculty and staff were assisted by seed grants for projects addressing medical history, medical humanities, human sexual function, and international studies. The Trent Foundation awarded 504 grants totaling more than $1.39 million to Duke faculty and staff members. Together with members of the Trent and Semans families, the foundation also established the Josiah Charles Trent Professorship in the History of Medicine and the Josiah Charles Trent Scholar in Medical Humanities at Duke University, to support two of Dr. Trent’s lifelong passions.
With the passing of Ms. Semans, the foundation has transitioned into the Josiah Charles Trent Memorial Foundation Endowment Fund. Twice a year, in the spring and the fall, the Fund assists Duke University faculty and staff by providing modest grants.
We welcome funding requests of $500 – $10,000 per proposal. A second request for the same proposal has a diminished chance of funding. Our standard grant period is 12 months with no-cost extensions negotiable if necessary.
Deadline: March 25, 2025; Oct. 25, 2024
Areas of Funding:
- Human Sexual Function: Clinical or laboratory research involving human sexuality or reproduction, with emphasis on the psycho biological aspect of sexual function and dysfunction.
- Medical History: Research projects, conferences, speakers, etc. in the area of medical history.
- Medical Ethics and Medical Humanities: Conferences, speakers, or research on ethical issues in the fields of medical and biomedical research, treatment and practice, and in the areas of medical professionalism, as well as medical humanities and humanism in medicine.
- International Studies: The Fund’s international studies grant-making intends to increase faculty and student knowledge of other countries and/or to deepen cultural exchange. The Fund supports conferences, lectures, research, and other projects that will have a broad impact on the Duke community. Although students are not eligible for direct funding, we encourage projects that engage students in significant ways and encourage them to consider diplomatic careers.
Please note that the Fund only supports Duke faculty and staff projects.
The Fund offers support to Duke faculty and staff for research projects, invited speakers, seed funding for pilot projects, research service learning if faculty involvement is essential to the project and the student will produce an intellectual product, and other program support. In the case of conferences, we prefer to support those held at Duke, but will consider proposals for those elsewhere. Our standard grant period is 12 months with no-cost extensions negotiable if necessary. We welcome funding requests of $500 – $10,000 per project. A second request for the same project has a diminished chance of funding.