The Research Development Office (RDO) works closely with SOEST faculty to strengthen funding success, foster collaborative proposals, and pursue new research directions. We identify strategic funding opportunities, support interdisciplinary team formation, and help position your work for sustained investment, leadership, and impact.
How we can help
The SOEST Research Development Office offers tailored, strategic support at every stage of the research development process. Whether you’re pursuing a new direction, assembling a team, or preparing a large-scale proposal, we’re here to help you navigate opportunities and position your work for success.
Our Strategic Support Services
Strategic Planning & Opportunity Scouting
- Identify targeted opportunities across federal, state, and philanthropic sources- matched to your expertise, goals, and research priorities.
- Check out our RFP Bulletin.
- Strategize on new initiatives, emphasis on multi-investigator, center-level, and infrastructure-oriented proposals.
- Facilitate early-stage planning and visioning sessions to explore new research ideas.
Proposal Development & Team Science
- Support interdisciplinary collaboration across SOEST units, UH, and with external partners.
- Facilitate concept development meetings to organize competitive teams.
- Organize team meetings, create checklists and timelines, and track writing progress.
- Coordinate with administrative staff and across UH (e.g., UH Foundation, OVPRS, OVPRI) to ensure timely and complete application submissions.
Graphics & Visual Development
- Strategize and develop high-impact visuals for facing funders or proposal submissions in collaboration with SOEST Communications.
- Graphical abstracts that summarize your research goals, methods, or findings at a glance.
- Logic models and conceptual frameworks that clearly communicate pathways of change, theoretical foundations, or interdisciplinary linkages.
- Summary or schematic figures that visualize workflows, collaborations, infrastructure, or system interactions.
Tools, Templates & Proposal Assembly
- Review proposal documents to ensure completion, aligned with solicitation, and agency requirements.
- Develop tailored toolkits, boilerplate language, templates, and guides to streamline processes.
- Refine non-technical sections (e.g., broader impacts, mentoring plans) and assist with proposal review.
- Maintain submission records and help analyze trends to inform future proposal planning.
Post-Submission Support
- Review rejected proposals; Arrange a “postmortem” meeting to discuss reviewer comments and strategize next steps.
- Help identify weaknesses and focus areas for revision/resubmission.
- Scout other funding mechanims to pursue.
Strategic Research Priorities
We work to advance research that positions SOEST to lead. These strategic priorities reflect where we’re aligning expertise to respond to the most urgent challenges facing island, coastal, and global communities. From basic science to applied, place-based solutions, these cross-cutting themes guide how we build interdisciplinary teams, cultivate partners, and pursue funding. They serve as a framework for how we invest in research, collaborate across sectors, and translate science into impact — with a focus on climate resilience, equity, and innovation.
Protecting Health in a changing climate
- Protecting public health from climate-driven threats such as extreme heat, flooding, and waterborne illness, through actionable science, Indigenous knowledge, and community-rooted solutions.
Coastal Resilience and Marine Ecosystems
- Safeguarding Hawai‘i’s coastlines and marine ecosystems through nature-based and engineered strategies that protect communities, preserve biodiversity, and adapt to sea-level rise.
Ocean Technology and Observing Systems
- Advancing ocean observing and climate monitoring systems that deliver timely, decision-ready data to guide local action and inform global adaptation.
Education and Place-Based Knowledge
- Creating inclusive, culturally grounded pathways into climate, ocean, and STEM careers rooted in the strengths of Hawai‘i’s communities and designed to expand opportunity, leadership, and local impact.
Clean Energy and Carbon Solutions
- Driving renewable energy, carbon removal, and sustainability solutions designed for island and coastal communities — accelerating decarbonization and expanding energy equity.
Natural Hazards and Climate Risk
- Delivering cutting-edge science and early warning systems to help island communities anticipate, respond to, and recover from natural hazards, including tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, and sea-level rise.
Planetary Science and Earth systems
- Pioneering Earth and planetary observation systems to track climate shifts, forecast natural hazards, and map resource dynamics – enabling early warning, smarter decision-making, and transformative understanding of our planet and beyond.
Microbiome Science for Climate, Food, and Health
- Exploring microbiome systems across oceans, soils, and human environments to unlock solutions for climate resilience, sustainable agriculture, and public health.
Let’s Collaborate
Rebecca H. Chung, PhD
Director of Research Development
rhchung@hawaii.edu
808-956-6182
SOEST Research Development Office
University of Hawai’i at Mānoa
1680 East-West Road, POST 802
Honolulu, HI 96822