15 Research Programs for High School Students in Hawaii
- Stephen Turban
- 2 hours ago
- 12 min read
If you’re in high school and want to make your summer count, research programs should be on your radar!
Research programs give you space to go beyond surface-level learning and actually spend time understanding how a subject works. You might begin with a simple idea, then keep building on it. Reading, analyzing, asking questions, and slowly shaping your own conclusions.
Why should I do a research program in high school?
A research program helps you go beyond classwork and actually work on a topic in detail. You learn how to frame a question, find and evaluate information, and build a clear answer step by step. You also get used to writing, working with data or sources, and explaining your ideas properly.
Hawaii offers a range of research programs for high school students where you can explore a subject of interest more deeply. Staying local helps you avoid travel and housing costs, which makes these programs more practical to attend. At the same time, research experience strengthens your college applications and gives you solid examples for your resume and interviews. If you’re interested in summer opportunities more specifically, please check out this blog!
With that, here are 15 research programs for high school students in Hawaii!
15 Research Programs for High School Students in Hawaii
Location: University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine or University of Hawaii at Hilo; other Pacific Basin sites and mainland U.S. locations. Symposium held in Bethesda and Washington, D.C.
Stipend: A participation stipend is provided, and selected students may receive fully funded travel to present at the NIH/NIDDK National High School STEP‑UP Symposium in Bethesda, Maryland.
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Very selective
Dates: 8 weeks from the first week of June to late July/early August; exact dates are determined between students and mentors.
Application Deadline: February 15
Eligibility: 11th and 12th-grade students aged 16+ from Hawaii, American Samoa, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, Guam, and Palau. Citizenship requirements apply; see here for more details.
Pacific STEP-UP places you in a biomedical or behavioral research setting where you work on a project under a University of Hawai‘i faculty mentor. You spend your time understanding a specific research problem, then contributing through data work, analysis, or literature review, depending on your project. The topics often connect to areas like diabetes, metabolic diseases, or public health, so the work has a clear real-world angle. As your project develops, you turn it into a formal poster and prepare to explain your findings. The program ends with a trip to the NIH Research Symposium, where you present your work and sit through sessions that show how research moves beyond the lab.
Location: Remote , you can participate in this program from anywhere in the world!
Cost: Varies depending on program type. Full financial aid available.
Application Deadline: Varying deadlines based on cohort.
Dates: Varies by cohort: summer, fall, winter, or spring. Options range from 12 weeks to 1 year.
Eligibility: You must be currently enrolled in high school and demonstrate a high level of academic achievement.
The Lumiere Research Scholar Program is a rigorous research program tailored for high school students. The program offers extensive 1-on-1 research opportunities for high school students across a broad range of subject areas that you can explore as a high schooler. The program pairs high school students with Ph.D. mentors to work 1-on-1 on an independent research project. At the end of the 12-week program, you’ll have developed an independent research paper! You can choose research topics from subjects such as psychology, physics, economics, data science, computer science, engineering, chemistry, international relations, and more. You can find more details about the application here, and check out students’ reviews of the program here and here.
Location: Oceanit headquarters in Honolulu, HI, and other company sites in California, Texas, and Washington, D.C.
Cost/Stipend: Paid hourly rate of $16-$30/hour based on education level and experience (high schoolers will likely fall on the low end of the range),
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Very selective
Dates: Not specified
Application Deadline: Rolling application review beginning in November; students should apply early, as interviews begin in January.
Eligibility: You must be enrolled or accepted as a degree-seeking student taking at least half-time courses at an accredited high school. Not all internships are open to high school students, so check each listing.
Oceanit, a Hawaii-based science, technology, and engineering company, offers a professional-level research program for high school students in Hawaii through its Future Innovators Student Internships. The work depends on your placement, but it can include building computer vision models, working with materials at a very small scale, or supporting engineering solutions tied to real problems like coastal erosion. You are expected to contribute to the work rather than just observe it, which changes how you approach each task. Toward the end, you develop a capstone project based on what you’ve seen and learned, often tied to actual needs within the company.
Location: Virtual
Cost: Varies depending on program type. Financial aid is available.
Application Date: Multiple deadlines throughout the year for the Spring, Summer, and Fall cohorts.
Dates: The spring and fall cohorts run 15 weeks, while the summer cohort runs 10 weeks (June-September).
Eligibility: High school students with good academic standing (>3.67/4.0 GPA) can apply. Most accepted students are 10th/11th graders!
Horizon offers trimester-long research programs for high school students across subject areas such as data science, machine learning, political theory, and more! Horizon is one of the few research programs for high school students that offers you the choice to engage in either quantitative or qualitative research. Once you select a particular subject track, Horizon pairs you with a professor/PhD scholar who acts as a mentor throughout your research journey. As a participant, you will be expected to develop a 20-page research paper that you can send to prestigious journals for publication as a high school student. The program also provides a letter of recommendation for each student and detailed project feedback that you can use to work on future projects. Apply here!
Location: Multiple sites across Hawaii, including Oʻahu, Hilo, Pearl City, Lānaʻi, Kauaʻi, Maui, and the West and East Hawaiian Islands.
Stipend: $500 (upon completion of internship)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: Year-round programming. Internships are offered in the Spring/Summer (Orientation/Classes: February 28-17 | Summer Internship: June-July; Ho’ike Presentation: July 26
Application Deadline: February 21
Eligibility: Open to students who will be in grades 9–12 at high schools on Oʻahu, Kauaʻi, Lānaʻi, Maui, or Hawaiʻi Island.
Project Hōkūlani combines academic sessions with a research internship, so your time is split between learning and applying. You begin with enrichment sessions where you work through STEM concepts using projects and activities. After that, you move into an internship placement, where you work with a mentor on a research problem at a university, observatory, or industry site. The range of placements is wide, from astronomy operations to restoration ecology and cybersecurity work. You also stay connected to the program through cultural events, mentorship, and discussions that tie your work back to local communities.
Location: Hawai‘i Agriculture Research Center (HARC), Waipahu, HI
Stipend: Paid (amount not specified)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: Orientation: June 10 | Internship: June 15 - July 24
Application Deadline: April 15
Eligibility: Rising 10th-12th-grade students and recent high school graduates. Applicants should have an interest in science-related disciplines.
Seeds4Tomorrow places you in both field and lab environments, where you move between outdoor agricultural research and controlled lab work. You spend time working on crop trials, soil analysis, and tissue culturing, depending on the day. The structure alternates between field shifts and lab sessions, which gives you a different view of the same research problem. You also attend lectures, field trips, and discussions that connect your work to broader topics like sustainability and food systems. Over time, you start to see how research decisions affect actual agricultural practices. You can find more details here.
Location: University of Hawaii Cancer Center, Honolulu, HI
Cost: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: Summer Research Program: One week | Individual Research: Determined between mentor and student
Application Deadline: Summer Research Program: Nominations are sent in the spring | Individual Research: Rolling
Eligibility: Summer Research Program: Rising 11th-12th grade students. Must be nominated by a school science teacher for the Summer Research Program. | Individual Research: At prospective mentors’ discretion. Students under 18 cannot conduct a wet-lab research project.
The UH Cancer Center offers two paths, one short and one more open-ended, depending on how you apply. In the summer program, you spend a week working through cancer-related topics like epidemiology, genomics, and public health, often through guided projects and dry-lab work. In the independent track, you design a research proposal and, if accepted, work with a faculty mentor to carry it forward. The work involves understanding how cancer research is structured, especially in areas like prevention and population science. Writing and presenting your findings becomes a key part of the process.
Location: Honolulu, HI
Stipend: Stipend is provided (amount not specified)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Very selective
Dates: June 9 - August 16
Application Deadline: April 18
Eligibility: High school students are eligible
Mālama Maunalua is a Hawaiian environmental health non-profit that offers 10-week research internships for students focused on ecology, restoration, and marine conservation. In collaboration with your peers, you’ll develop a research project aligned with one of the organization’s current research focuses, leading the project with mentorship and supervision from staff members. Potential project areas include coral and native algae restoration, green infrastructure, stormwater runoff, and more. Outside of your work, you’ll participate in community volunteer events, educational programming, academic and professional development workshops, and visits to partner organizations. Your internship will culminate in a final project or product design that will be used in the organization’s research in Manualua Bay.
Location: Maui Ocean Center, Maui, HI
Cost: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Very selective; 6 internship positions are offered.
Dates: Flexible; determined between interns and Maui Ocean Center. Minimum 40 hours.
Application Deadline: Students may submit applications throughout the year; the final deadline is in November for internships in the following year.
Eligibility: Current high school students aged 16+ (with preference to students attending college in Hawaii studying marine sciences, environmental sciences, aquarium systems, or related fields. Must live (or secure housing) within commuting distance to the Maui Ocean Center.
The Maui Ocean Center offers internships for high school and college students interested in marine biology and environmental sciences through their Marine Naturalist Internship program. You’ll take on a combination of education, curation, and research assignments such as evaluating water quality, helping the Curatorial team with exhibit design, caring for the aquarium’s tropical marine life, and more. You’ll be trained by marine biologists, naturalists, educators, and curators, gaining exposure to diverse approaches to the field and building connections with industry professionals. You’ll also learn about research and practice of marine science through studying topics including oceanography, conservation, and marine threats. You can take on a research initiative of your own for your final project, where you’ll analyze a specialized topic in the marine sciences and design an educational presentation for both Ocean Center staff and visitors.
Location: Multiple sites on Hawaiʻi Island, Kauaʻi, Maui, Molokaʻi, O’ahu, HI, and American Samoa
Stipend: $20/hour plus paid time off (amount varies by term length). Interns will receive medical insurance if working 20+ hours/week and a retention bonus of $200-$800, depending on term length. Based on your position, you may be eligible for professional certifications.
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Very selective; high schoolers are considered alongside professionals up to age 38 for a limited number of roles.
Dates: Varies by program; ranges from 6-12 months with both part-time and full-time options
Application Deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: You must be 17 or older (some roles have no upper age limit and are legally allowed to work in the U.S. Environmental experience may be preferred for some roles, but is not required. You must live or arrange housing within commuting distance.
Kupu’s program places you in a real job setting within environmental or community-focused organizations. You apply to a specific role, which means your work depends on where you’re placed, but it often involves fieldwork, restoration projects, or data collection. Tasks might include working on watershed protection, managing invasive species, or tracking ecosystem changes. The program runs over several months, so you get enough time to understand how projects develop. You also receive mentorship and training that prepares you for long-term work in the field.
Location: Students may conduct their research at any location in Hawaii
Stipend: Varies by project and funding availability; past awards have ranged from $50 - $610
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Very selective; 12 students
Dates: Not specified
Application Deadline: Typically Mid-October
Eligibility: 6th-12th-grade students enrolled in a Hawaii public, private, or home school. Accepted students must apply to their School or District Science & Engineering Fair (open to grades 6-12) or the Hawaii Junior Sciences & Humanities Symposium (open to grades 9-12).
The Hawai’i Young Investigators Program sponsors Hawaiian middle and high school students by providing grant funding to support higher-level research projects. You’ll submit a formal grant application to HYIP, including a detailed proposal for your research project and a budget enumerating your planned expenses. Through the process, you’ll prepare for your research project by crafting a clear action plan and building professional skills through learning the academic grant writing process. Former student projects have covered topics including identifying native and invasive algae using eDNA and neural networks, developing improved detection methods for Staphylococcus in water samples, and designing natural adhesives from native Hawaiian plants.
Location: Maunalua Bay, Honolulu region, HI
Cost: Free
Acceptance rate/cohort size: N/A
Dates: Varies; students may choose their dates of participation, and initiative workflows vary
Application Deadline: Open registration
Eligibility: Open to all
Restore With Resilience, a Hawaiian ecological protection organization, hosts regular volunteer opportunities for high school students and community members at large to assist with hands-on research and restoration projects. You’ll contribute to the Hana Pūko‘a project, a community initiative aimed at restoring Maunalua Bay’s reefs and fighting climate change through coral propagation. Your work might include identifying and tagging healthy corals for fragmentation, processing and outplanting coral fragments, collecting coral samples for biopsies, and contributing to heat stress tests to analyze coral resilience. You’ll learn about the natural history of Maunalua Bay, ecological field work and research methodologies, and how factors such as photosynthetic activity and heat responses can help determine the resilience of coral, all while helping to restore the health of your local area. You can view more information on volunteering opportunities at Maunalua Bay here.
Location: Hawai’i Pacific Health medical centers in Oahu and Kaua’i, HI
Stipend: Paid (amount not specified)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Very selective
Dates: Oahu: June 15 - July 23 | Kauai: June 15 - July 24
Application Deadline: February 20
Eligibility: 11th-12th grade students and undergraduates
Hawai‘i Pacific Health places you inside a hospital department, where you work alongside professionals in areas like oncology, surgery, or cardiology. You observe how care is delivered while also taking part in tasks that support the department. Some placements allow you to see how research connects to treatment, especially in clinical or pathology settings. You also move across departments to understand how different specialties operate. The experience gives you a broader sense of how a medical system functions day to day.
Stipend: $16/hour
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: June 1 - July 24 (Makawao site) | June 1 – August 7 (Kawaihae site)
Application Deadline: May 8 (Makawao site) | May 22 (Kawaihae site)
Eligibility: You must be 15 to 18, a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, and eligible for a Hawaii work permit. You must live within commuting distance, have or apply for a valid Social Security number, and be able to perform job functions with or without accommodation.
Hosted by the National Park Service, the U.S. Youth Conservation Corps Summer Program provides a paid work experience centered on ecology and conservation for high school students in Hawaii at both the Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site and Haleakalā National Park. You’ll support park and site staff with a wide range of projects such as contributing to wildlife and environmental research, hosting educational programs for visitors, maintaining and constructing trails, and more. Projects will vary substantially based on the time of your participation, as the needs and priorities of host sites shift throughout the year. You’ll build experience across STEM research, field work, and hands-on natural restoration, while gaining mentorship and networking opportunities with professionals in the National Park system.
Location: Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology at Moku o Lo‘e
Cost: Hawai’i residents: $750 | Non-residents: $1,500
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective; 24 students
Dates: June 1-5
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Current 9th-12th grade students
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology hosts a marine science research program for high school students, providing hands-on experience in both land and sea settings. You’ll conduct ocean field work in Kāne‘ohe Bay, conducting in-water transects of coral reefs to use for data analysis. You’ll learn and apply lab research skills at the University’s Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology at Moku o Lo‘e, taking on projects across neuroethology, coral reef biology and diversity, and marine bioacoustics.
Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a Ph.D. student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program in which students work one-on-one with a mentor to develop an independent research paper.
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