mountain profile Institute for Astronomy University of Hawaii

Astronomy Education

Maintained by LG

To live and work under the sky of Hawai‘i is an extraordinary privilege. The Institute for Astronomy's unmatched access to the telescopes and instruments on Manua Kea and Haleakala represents a unique resource for education as well as research. We thus have an opportunity and a responsibility to advance the future of our subject by training world-class astronomers, and by sharing our knowledge with anyone interested in astronomy.

The Astronomy Program at the University of Hawa`ii at Manoa was founded in 1972. Officially, it is part of the Department of Physics & Astronomy, currently chaired by physics Professor Pui Lam. In practice, the astronomy program operates independently of the physics program and is based at the Institute for Astronomy (IfA), a few blocks north of the UH-Manoa campus. The current chair of the astronomy graduate program, Dr. David Sanders, also oversees undergraduate astronomy courses at UH-Manoa.

Graduate Program

We are one of the top astronomy graduate schools in the country, offering the MS and PhD degrees. If you are a prospective student, please read our page entitled "Why choose Hawai‘i?"

Undergraduate Education

We don't offer an astronomy major at UH-Manoa, but there are plenty of opportunities for both scientists and non-scientists to explore the night sky and learn about the Universe.