OpenFieldUH Mānoa · Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH Mānoa), founded in 1907 in Honolulu, is the flagship campus of the University of Hawaiʻi system and a world-class Carnegie R1 research university. Uniquely situated in the central Pacific, UH Mānoa is internationally recognized as a global capital for oceanography, marine biology, astronomy (operating telescopes atop Mauna Kea and Haleakalā), volcanology, tropical agriculture, and Pacific/Asian studies.
UH Mānoa encompasses the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), the Institute for Astronomy (IfA), the John A. Burns School of Medicine, the William S. Richardson School of Law, and the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR). It commands over $400 million in annual extramural research grants.
Undergraduate admissions evaluate high school preparation via UH System application or Common App (test-optional; minimum GPA 2.8). Graduate and doctoral applicants require an accredited baccalaureate degree with a minimum 3.0 GPA, letters of recommendation, statement of purpose, and demonstrated alignment with research faculty.
One of the world's top oceanography departments, operating research vessels Kilo Moana and Kaʻimikai-o-Kanaloa, studying biogeochemical cycles, ocean mixing, and coral reef ecosystems.
Elite astrophysics doctorate offering unprecedented direct observing access to world-class observatories on Mauna Kea (Subaru, Keck, Gemini) and Pan-STARRS sky survey telescopes.
Interdisciplinary master's based on Moku o Loʻe (Coconut Island) in Kāneʻohe Bay, investigating coral reef bleaching resilience, shark behavior, and marine genomics.
Doctoral research leveraging Hawaiʻi's active basaltic volcanoes (Kīlauea, Mauna Loa) to explore magma dynamics, seismic hazard modeling, and planetary volcanism.
Global benchmark program in Pacific indigenous sovereignty, climate migration across Oceania, Micronesian/Polynesian oral histories, and geopolitical security.
Field-oriented undergraduate degree exploring island agro-ecology, invasive pest biological control, indigenous agro-forestry systems, and tropical crop genetics.
Victor and Peggy Brandstrom Pavel Professor of Oceanography
School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology
Dr. Karl co-founded the Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT) Station ALOHA in 1988, is a National Academy of Sciences member, and pioneered marine microbial ecology a...
View researcher profile ↗Director of Pan-STARRS & Astronomer
Institute for Astronomy
Dr. Chambers directs the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) atop Haleakalā, surveying near-Earth asteroids, supernovae, and cosmi...
View researcher profile ↗Gordon A. Macdonald Professor of Volcanology
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Dr. Houghton is the Science Director of the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center, world-renowned for high-resolution studies of explosive basaltic eru...
View researcher profile ↗OpenField is an independent research platform not officially affiliated with University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Information reflects public documentation reviewed on 2026-10-16. Students must verify application deadlines, fee structures, and prerequisite details directly with official university admissions departments before applying.
Updated 2026-10-16 · Editorial policy · Submit corrections