Graduate Student Funding and Awards


There are several categories of financial assistance for graduate students in the Tropical Medicine Graduate Program:

Contact Dr. Saguna Verma for more information and application deadlines for these awards.

Graduate Division Achievement Awards

UH Manoa’s Graduate Division allocates an annual budget to the department for these awards each academic year.  The Tropical Medicine Admissions and Awards Committee administers these awards.

Eligibility & How to Apply

To be eligible, the applicant must be a degree-seeking student in the Tropical Medicine masters or doctoral program and have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or above. Both US residents and non-residents are eligible. Students apply through the Tropical Medicine graduate programs using a standardized application form. Awards are competitive.

Award Amount

The award amount varies, depending on the purpose of the award. The award ranges from $500-$1000, however exceptions may be made under certain conditions. Awards are applicable toward the cost of attendance (tuition and fees, housing, books, and other educational expenses). Other educational expenses may include, but are not restricted to, research expenses not covered by the mentor’s laboratory and travel, registration and fees associated with participation in a scientific conference or workshop. For conference awards, the student must have an accepted abstract for an oral or poster presentation.

Award Conditions

Award recipients must maintain an enrollment of six credits or more of degree-related courses and a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or above, for the entire period of the award. Exceptions are students in the all-but-degree phase of their training, who must be enrolled for 1 credit in TRMD 700 Thesis or TRMD 800 Dissertation. Recipients will be liable to reimburse UHM for the full amount of the award, if they fail to meet the award conditions or if for any other reason the award becomes invalid.

Award Distribution Procedure

The Graduate Division allocates achievement scholarships to graduate programs, which in turn distribute the awards to qualified students via BANNER and STAR. For scholarships made to international students, awards that exceed the total cost of education may only be distributed through the Disbursing Office or the UH Foundation, which will withhold appropriate taxes for the excess award amount. International students will need to submit the required tax documents to the International Student Services office when the award is made.

Joseph E. Alicata Award in Tropical Medicine & Infectious Disease

These awards are supported by the Joseph E. and Earleen M. Alicata Endowment managed by the University of Hawaii Foundation. This endowment was established in 1981 in memory of Dr. Joseph E. Alicata, a former Professor of Zoology at the University of Hawaii, and Mrs. Earleen Alicata. The stated purposes of this award are: (1) to encourage the study of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease; and (2) to reward outstanding scholastic achievement in Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease. The two mechanisms by which this award is made are through a graduate scholarship for outstanding Tropical Medicine PhD students, preferably during their first year of study, and through a recognition award to graduating PhD students during the final semester of their training. Students are nominated for these awards by the department.

Alicata Graduate Scholarship

Eligibility & Selection

To be eligible, a student must be a degree-seeking student in the Tropical Medicine doctoral program and have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above. Both US residents and non-residents are eligible.

For the graduate scholarship, all incoming applicants to the PhD program are ranked by the Admissions and Awards Committee. 

Award Amount

The award consists of a stipend equivalent to the salary of a graduate assistant (GA) at the PhD level and an allocation sufficient to cover graduate tuition and fees and the institutional contribution to student health insurance. GA compensation adheres to the schedule (based on 0.50 FTE per year) approved by the UH Board of Regents. Newly appointed GAs are compensated at a pay step recommended by the department or unit of hire. GAs with research duties are usually appointed at pay steps depending on their qualifications and experiences, the needs of their departments or units, and the availability of funds.

Award Conditions

Award recipients must maintain an enrollment of six credits or more of degree-related courses and a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or above, for the entire period of the award. Recipients will be liable to reimburse UHM for the full amount of the award, if they fail to meet the award conditions or if for any other reason the award becomes invalid.

Award Distribution Procedure

The Alicata Award is administered by the UH Foundation as a scholarship award. The award is distributed to the student via BANNER and STAR.

Alicata Achievement Award

Eligibility

To be eligible, a student must be a PhD student in the Tropical Medicine doctoral program has and must have completed all dissertation requirements. Both US residents and non-residents are eligible and the award is administered by the Tropical Medicine graduate chair.

Award Amount

The award amount is currently set at $1000 but may vary depending on availability of funds. Minimum award is $500. Awards are applicable toward the cost of attendance (tuition and fees, housing, books, and other educational expenses).

Award Conditions

Award recipients must maintain an enrollment of at least 1 credit in TRMD 800 Dissertation Research and a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or above. Recipients will be liable to reimburse UHM for the full amount of the award, if they fail to meet the award conditions or if for any other reason the award becomes invalid.

Award Distribution Procedure

The award is distributed by the UH Foundation in the form of a check made out to the student which is presented during a departmental award function at the end of the semester.

Chancellor Virginia S. Hinshaw Biomedical Research Scholarship

This scholarship was established by Chancellor Virginia S. Hinshaw to assist students with a focus in the field of biomedical science in the Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology & Pharmacology at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine.

Recipients must be full-time, graduate students with a focus on biomedical research in the department. Other required qualifications are a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above and demonstrated leadership skills and academic excellence. One to two scholarships in the amount of $1000-1500 will be awarded annually. Recipients are eligible for scholarship renewal for a maximum of two years provided they reapply and continue to meet eligibility criteria.

Windsor and Mary Cutting Award

This award is given in honor of Windsor and Mary Cutting to perpetuate their memory and lifelong dedication to pharmacology research conducted at the University of Hawai‘i. Dr. Windsor Cutting was an internationally renowned academician, basic medical scientist and clinician. Dr. Cutting was also the Chairman of Pharmacology and Physiology Department and the Founding Dean of the John A. Burns School of Medicine. His wife, Mary Cutting, was an unstinting supporter of the medical school. She was the founder and President of the Friends of the Medical School organization and was affectionately dubbed “Med School Mom” by students during her long tenure in the Dean’s office.

Recipient must be a Ph.D. student graduating in the current or preceding academic year from the University of Hawaii. Other required qualifications are overall impact of dissertation research on any field of pharmacology, and demonstrated leadership skills and academic excellence. The award amount is $1500.


Diane Wallace-Taylor Award

This award was established by Emeritus Tropical Medicine Professor Diane W. Taylor and Dr. Gordon D. Wallace to support Tropical Medicine graduate student to present their research results at scientific conferences and in peer-reviewed scientific publications.
Funds may be used for, but are not limited to, costs associated with attending conferences and publishing their research, and other related expenditures.

Full-time or part-time graduate students pursing a Tropical Medicine graduate degree within the Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Pharmacology at JABSOM are eligible to apply. Selection will be based on academic merit and/or quality of research as determined by the selection committee. Preference will be given to students participating in the “Young Investigator Awards”. The number and amount of awards will be determined by the selection committee.

ARCS Foundation Scholar Awards

The non-profit volunteer ARCS Foundation Inc. organization works to keep the US competitive in science and technology by supporting outstanding graduate students in STEM and health fields. The Honolulu Chapter has provided more than $2 million to UH graduate students since our founding in 1974.

ARCS nominations for the JABSOM awards in medicine are accepted in February. The student must be enrolled in a PhD program until May of the following year. PhD students chosen are usually post Form II and in their 3-5th years of enrollment.
The students is selected without regard to race, gender or religion and must meet the following criteria:

  • be a U.S. citizen,
  • have a 3.5 GPA or equivalent,
  • have at least one year of study remaining as of the year of the award
  • be enrolled as a full-time PhD student in the life sciences.

“Life Sciences” shall mean the study of medically relevant fields that involve the scientific study of living organisms, such as microorganisms, animals and human beings, as well as related work in chemistry, computer sciences, engineering, and materials sciences that could eventually be applied towards the study of living organisms. While biology remains the centerpiece of the life sciences, technological advances in molecular biology, chemical synthesis methods for creation of medicines, biotechnology for design and production of protein drugs, and computer sciences (bioinformatics) have led to a burgeoning of specializations and new, often interdisciplinary, fields.

The students selected for this award have one or more peer-reviewed publications.

The student must be available for the poster and oral presentation at UH Mānoa in April and for the award ceremony in May of the award year.

Hawaii Branch of the American Society for Microbiology Awards

The Hawaii Branch of the American Society for Microbiology (HI-ASM) draws together microbiologists from various Hawaii institutions such as universities, hospitals, government agencies, military branches, and biotechnology companies. HI-ASM sponsors two annual meetings in the Fall and Spring. At the Fall dinner meeting, HI-ASM hosts a speaker on a microbiology topic who presents a talk on their area of expertise. In the Spring, the organization holds an all-day scientific conference which features research presentations by students and faculty as well as a keynote speaker on a contemporary microbiology topic.

Oral and poster presentation awards are presented to students in the undergraduate, MS and PhD categories. Travel awards are also available for students to present their research at a national conference. The Col Person Research Achievement Award is given to the most outstanding presentation in memory of Col Person, a retired US Army Medical Corps officer who worked at Tripler Army Medical Center for over 20 years and who received a lifetime membership in HI-ASM for his generosity to the organization.

Graduate Assistantships

Departmental graduate assistantships (GAs) are offered by the Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Pharmacology to outstanding incoming PhD students during their first year of training. The Tropical Medicine Admissions and Awards Committee administers these departmental GAs.  Alternatively, graduate students may receive research assistantships provided by faculty mentors from research grants or institutional funds. These GAs are offered to qualified students by their faculty mentors. Finally, graduate students may be supported by teaching assistantships offered by undergraduate teaching programs such as the School of Life Sciences.

Eligibility & Selection

To be eligible, a student must be a degree-seeking student in the Tropical Medicine doctoral program and have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above. Both US residents and non-residents are eligible.

For the departmental GAs, all incoming applicants to the PhD program are ranked using a standard evaluation form by the Admissions and Awards Committee. Top-ranking applicants are eligible for selection for the departmental graduate assistantship or for scholarship support through the Alicata Award (see above).

Mentor-supported graduate assistantshipsare awarded at the discretion of the faculty mentor and are based on the student’s research interests, academic qualifications, and research experience.

Graduate Assistantship Amount

GA compensation adheres to the schedule (based on 0.50 FTE per year) approved by the UH Board of Regents. Newly appointed GAs are compensated at a pay step recommended by the department or unit of hire. GAs with research duties are usually appointed at pay steps depending on their qualifications and experiences, the needs of their departments or units, and the availability of funds. Students selected to receive a graduate assistantship at the PhD level also obtain a full tuition waiver.

Award Conditions

GA recipients must maintain an enrollment of six credits or more of degree-related courses and a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above, for the entire period of the award until they have attained the all-but-dissertation (ABD) stage. Students at the ABD stage must be registered for TRMD 800 Dissertation.

Award Distribution Procedure

Graduate assistantships are distributed through the State of Hawaii payroll system in bi-monthly installments over a period of 12 months, and subject to both federal and state income tax withholding. GAs who are full-time students are exempt from the FICA tax. GAs who work during the summer without maintaining their full-time student status are subject to the PTS Deferred Compensation tax (7.5 percent of gross pay) and the Medicare tax (1.45 percent of gross pay).

Last Updated: 06/5/23