Graduate study in physics at the University of Hawaii is a nearly ideal combination of the pursuit of the one of the most prestigious postgraduate science curricula, the study of physics, with a living environment that is one of the healthiest and friendliest to be found anywhere in the world. The physics department has consistently ranked well above comparable departments at its peer universities, and is among the star departments at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, with several research programs that receive consistent acclaim and support.

Present opportunities for graduate research assistantships exist in several areas of research including elementary particle physics (both experimental and theoretical), particle astrophysics, free electron laser physics, and solid state physics. Student will typically spend several semesters as teaching assistants before matriculating to a research assistantship, but in exceptional cases students may be able to begin a half-time graduate research assistantship soon after they begin their graduate study. Tuition waivers often accompany a stipend award for teaching or research, and research assistants can earn full-time wages during the summer break.

New graduate students continue to come from institutions all around the world, including MIT, Princeton, UC Santa Cruz, ETH Zurich, University of Tokyo and Beijing University. Ph.D. recipients have been placed at the University of Illinois at Champaign, The College of William and Mary, Stanford University, Brown University, and Hong Kong University, among many other places.