#National Science Foundation

Hawaiʻi Community College has secured a new $920,238 National Science Foundation grant to expand education using tools such as drone-mounted sensors to collect data across the state.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa has received a $2 million NSF award to lead a four-year, multi-institutional project starting Sept. 1, 2026, that utilizes AI and advanced environmental analysis to develop early-warning tools for detecting threats to food production systems.

University of Hawaiʻi Maui College has secured over $660,000 in federal funding to launch the “CyberAI Innovation” project and host summer camps aimed at addressing the critical shortage of cybersecurity and AI professionals through new curriculum and statewide training initiatives.

University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa atmospheric scientists found that the century-old yardstick used across many industries to estimate air-conditioning and refrigeration energy demand—called cooling degree days—is missing something fundamental. 

The University of Hawaiʻi has launched a new office that will serve as a central hub for grant support, research development and funding opportunities to help boost scientific discovery, increase research capacity and stimulate workforce development in the state.

The Akamai Internship Program, a STEM workforce program led by the Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators at University of California Observatories, in partnership with the University of Hawaiʻi, is now accepting applications for its 2026 cohort.

The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa has secured a three-year, $549,960 grant from the National Science Foundation to study how fecal contamination travels through Hawai‘i’s coastal beaches and what that means for public health and marine environments. As proposed, the project plans to study water at beaches on O‘ahu. However, researchers told Maui Now that […]

To dramatically increase coral survival rates, scientists at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology have developed innovative 3D-printed ceramic structures that provide crucial protection for baby corals.

Hawai‘i Pacific University has received a $502,819 grant from the National Science Foundation’s Building Research Capacity of New Faculty in Biology (BRC-BIO) program to fund coastal wetland research at the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge while creating paid, career-launching opportunities for HPU undergraduate and graduate students.

“SOEST is Hawaiʻi’s largest producer of geoscience graduates—alumni who go on to monitor volcanic hazards, predict extreme weather, conduct assessments of environmental impacts, ensure sustainable use of Hawaiʻi’s freshwater resources, and more,” said Barbara Bruno, project lead and faculty member at the Hawaiʻi Institute of Geophysics and Planetology in the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology. “I think the biggest impact of this termination is the loss of professional development opportunities for women. STEM is hemorrhaging women—we need programs to keep them.”

The University of Hawaiʻi is calling on students and teachers across the state to register for the 2025 GenCyber camps. The last day to register for the in-person camp is May 16, 2025.

At the urging of University of Hawaiʻi President Wendy Hensel, the UH Foundation is working to raise private donations to support graduate students whose funding has been interrupted due to recent federal executive orders.

New research has uncovered evidence that an ancient Hawaiian heiau (place of worship, shrine) served as a sophisticated seasonal calendar and more, demonstrating the advanced scientific knowledge of Native Hawaiian culture. The research, published in Waka Kuaka, the journal of The Polynesian Society, examined Hapaialiʻi Heiau near Kahaluʻu Beach Park on Hawaiʻi Island.

In a series of newly published groundbreaking studies, researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Hawaiʻi Institute for Marine Biology identified ten new species of marine sponges found in Kāneʻohe Bay, shedding light on an often-overlooked but vital part of coral reef ecosystems.

The array of young stars — all between 1 and 5 million years old — that is about 2,500 light-years, or 14.7 quadrillion miles, from Earth in the Milky Way. A composite image shows it in the shape of a tree with glowing stellar lights.

“This black hole is having a feast,” said astronomer Julia Scharwächter.

Coral reefs may have a brighter future than previously thought—if carbon emissions are reduced and local stressors like pollution are addressed, reefs could adapt and persist even under climate change.

A scientific research trip led by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa professors is studying the historic movement of marine species between the Hawaiian Islands and other parts of the Pacific, according to a UH news post. UH professor Peter Marko, who is co-leading the research team, says their discovery could lead to predicting how species dispersal will impact the Hawaiian coral reef ecosystem in the future.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is one of the top universities in the country, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). UH Mānoa was one of 500 universities that made the WSJ/College Pulse 2025 Best Colleges in the US rankings released in September 2024. The schools were selected out of more than 2,600 four-year colleges.

It is estimated that scientists have discovered only 1% of the yeast species thought to exist on Earth. A professor in the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), hopes to change this by shedding light on what is known as a “dark area” of the fungal tree of life using a $1 million award over the next four years, funded by the National Science Foundation.