The University of Hawai‘i at Manoa offers both MS and PhD degrees in astronomy. Our program is designed for students with a strong undergraduate background in physical sciences. We focus on training professional astronomers for academic and research positions. Since a PhD is generally necessary for such a career, almost all astronomy students enter the program with the goal of getting a PhD. We rarely accept students who are only pursuing an MS degree — these tend to be special cases, for example funded by a short-term fellowship.
Most students enter with bachelors degrees (BA/BS) in physics or astronomy. We also accept students with masters degrees (MA/MS) in astronomy, physics, or closely related fields and allow them to move more rapidly through the initial phases of the graduate PhD program.
For prospective graduate students
- How to apply
- Why choose Hawai‘i for graduate school?
- Course descriptions
- Observatory facilities
- Financial support
- Protograd Visit Statement of Values
- Other astronomy-related programs at the University of Hawaii
- Overview of graduate studies from UH Manoa Graduate Division
For our current graduate students
- How to get a PhD
- How to get an MS degree
- How to choose and register for classes
- How to do 699 research projects
- How to propose your dissertation
- How to graduate
- Financial arrangements
- Codes of conduct for Graduate Division and UH Manoa
- How to go on travel (requests, advances & reimbursements)
- List of IfA committee memberships (internal access only)
- Virtual career training platforms
- Beyond Graduate School, tailored for master’s students
- Beyond the Professoriate, designed for doctoral students and postdocs
- Astronomy education site map
Please send questions to gradchair AT ifa.hawaii.edu.
