Graduate assistantships/Teaching (TA): TAs are available from academic departments and programs engaged in undergraduate education and affiliated with this graduate program (Biology, Chemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Zoology, Botany, and Microbiology) for students who have a minimum 3.0 GPA and who are not in the first year of their PhD program. Assistantships carry a stipend that is paid on a 12-month basis for 12 months of service, or may be only for a single semester. Tuition is waived. Teaching assistants are expected to spend half-time (not more than 20 hours/week) working for the department or program of instruction, usually configured as 12 hrs/week in undergraduate instruction and 8 hrs/wk in associated duties. Teaching assistantships are normally approved by the instructor of record, and applicants must have a background appropriate to the course that they are applying to student teach in.
See https://manoa.hawaii.edu/graduate/content/graduate-assistants.
Research Assistantships (RA): Research assistantships frequently are available to qualified students in connection with funded research projects. Such assistantships are rarely available until after faculty have had the opportunity to assess the student’s research potential. The stipend may be more than that of a teaching assistantship.
National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health (NIH) and American Heart Association (AHA) pre-doctoral fellowships: These US government and the AHA make a number of awards each year to hundreds of highly qualified graduate students who are either entering a new graduate program with an undergraduate degree or are currently in a graduate program but have not completed 30 credit hours of work (typically, a first year student who gets a bright idea after participating in a research rotation but wants to work on a project not currently funded in that faculty member’s lab). The fellowships give a stipend for 1-3 years. The student can use them at any institution with any qualified faculty member. Students write a short research proposal, submit supporting letters from faculty who know their potential and can address their ability to perform independent research. The applicant should have competitive GRE scores in order to have a reasonable chance of success in these programs.
Advancing Science in America (ARCS) Foundation: Colleges with faculty participating in the CMB program award research fellowships to outstanding graduate students on an annual basis. The student must be a US citizen and is nominated by their advisor. After screening by a committee in the Dean’s office, one student is selected to represent that academic unit for the university, and receives a cash award.
See https://honolulu.arcsfoundation.org
Graduate Division teaching awards: In recognition that student teaching is a valuable and important skill, the Dean of Graduate Division makes an annual award for the best Graduate Assistant contributing to the UH learning community. TAs are nominated by students and faculty and nominations are screened by a committee. The winner is honored with an award of $1000 and recognition of meritorious teaching at the annual fall convocation.
Scholarships and small research grants: See the Bank of Hawaii grants, Sigma Xi grants in aid of research, AAUW, Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate, Soroptimists, etc. Some research societies also make best student paper awards for publication of a student’s thesis work when submitted to their journals. Your advisor is probably the best source of information about special programs and supplements available in a particular discipline.
Student Publications Fund: As publishing fees for peer-reviewed manuscripts can be costly, a JABSOM Student Publications Fund was created to assist both medical and graduate students in sharing their JABSOM generated research findings by supporting publication efforts. To ensure many students can be supported through this fund, applications are reviewed on a quarterly basis. The maximum amount of funding available per student for peer-reviewed publications is: case report - $750; other research - $1,500. Please note the year of application is defined by the date of the invoice from the journal.
Timeline for quarterly reviews:
Download the Student Publications Fund Application (accessible with your hawaii.edu email address) and submit the completed form along with the supporting documents to Sandy Liu at sandyliu@hawaii.edu. Incomplete applications will not be considered and reviewed.
Additional employment: The educational responsibilities of being a graduate student and working as a GA are a full time commitment. It is not recommended that graduate students have extracurricular employment.
Financial Aid: The university has a Financial Aid Services department that can assist you. Further information on financial aid can be found at: https://manoa.hawaii.edu/fas/
Health insurance: Graduate assistants may enroll in the State of Hawaii Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund (EUTF) medical insurance program if appointed at 0.50 FTE. There are several plans to choose from, both single and family, with the cost shared in part by the State. See https://eutf.hawaii.gov.
Housing: See https://manoa.hawaii.edu/housing/
Parking: Please see your departmental administrator for parking at JABSOM. Parking is limited at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. See https://manoa.hawaii.edu/commuter/index.html.