Discovery Days gives K-12 students from across Washington state a chance to experience science and engineering concepts for themselves at the University of Washington’s Seattle campus.


Discovery Days gives K-12 students from across Washington state a chance to experience science and engineering concepts for themselves at the University of Washington’s Seattle campus.

Anita Ramasastry, a professor of law at the University of Washington, is an expert in the convergence of business and human rights. After the 2022 World Cup, FIFA made Ramasastry an independent advisor to its human rights subcommittee. Now, as the 2026 World Cup approaches, her involvement includes: chairing the human rights advisory group for FIFA 2026 and drafting the human rights action plan for host city Seattle.

Explore recent research from the University of Washington: how sunbirds sip nectar through straw-like tongues, why the Seattle Fault might not pose as great a risk as previously thought, how to gauge landslide dam risk in the PNW, what marine microbes use for making meals and when the Simonyi Survey Telescope at the NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory will spot small inbound asteroids.

University of Washington researchers created BikeButler, a demo web app that lets users find personalized bike routes in Seattle. Cyclists plug in their destination and origin — just like in other mapping apps — and can then toggle sliders for eight attributes to create personalized route options.

A research team led by the UW has identified a new species of an ancient rodent-like creature. The new species, named Cimolodon desosai, was about the size of a golden hamster, the researchers said. It likely scampered on the ground and in the trees and ate fruits and insects.

UW News spoke with Paul Wiggins, a University of Washington associate professor of both physics and bioengineering, to learn about a surprisingly relatable behavior prompting bacteria to stockpile huge reserves of essential proteins.

David Hertzog, a University of Washington professor of physics, is a recipient of the 2026 Breakthrough Prize for Fundamental Physics. The award is shared among roughly 400 scientists and celebrates decades of work to better understand the muon — a subatomic particle with anomalous properties.
A statement from the University of Washington in response to a U.S. Department of Justice compliance review that was announced by a U.S. assistant attorney general on social media.

A directive signed by former Gov. Jay Inslee in 2018 aimed to eliminate hepatitis C from Washington state by 2030. A new study led by the University of Washington found that the plan not only expanded access to tests and treatment, but may save money in the long run.

The Ecological Society of America named the UW’s Claire Willing a 2026 Early Career Fellow. Willing, an assistant professor of environmental and forest science, studies fungal ecology, looking at how fungi are evolving and supporting plant communities as the climate changes.

In a new study, University of Washington researchers show that an Earth-sized planet likely needs at least 20 to 50% of the water in Earth’s oceans to maintain a critical natural cycle that keeps water on the surface. These new parameters could exclude many exoplanets in the so-called habitable zone.

The University of Washington has earned a Gold rating from the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System, or STARS.

University of Washington researchers developed a system called VueBuds that uses tiny cameras in off-the-shelf wireless earbuds to allow users to talk with an AI model about the scene in front of them. For instance, a user might look at a Korean food package and say, “Hey VueBuds, translate this for me.” They’d then hear an AI voice say, “The visible text translates to ‘Cold Noodles’ in English.

A new study doubles the evolutionary history of the weasel family. Researchers, including Chris Law, a UW principal research scientist in the biology department, have determined that a fossil that was discovered in Spain belongs to a new species dating back to around 6.5 million years ago. This new species was likely similar in size to the smallest living weasel species today, the least weasel.

At the brand-new Quantum Technologies Training and Testbed lab, researchers from across the UW probe the “spooky” mysteries of quantum phenomena.

As judges across the United States face growing political pressure, public attacks and threats to their personal safety, the University of Washington School of Law will host a national symposium on April 17 and 18 to examine how to protect America’s independent federal judiciary and the rule of law.

University of Washington President Robert J. Jones on Wednesday announced that David Lance has been appointed chief of staff to the president, effective May 11. The chief of staff serves as a senior advisor to the president and plays a critical role in advancing the University’s strategic priorities and institutional goals.

Come curious. Leave inspired. The UW offers an exciting lineup of in-person and online events. From thought-provoking art and music to conversations on culture, history, and science, the UW community invites you to explore, learn, and connect across disciplines throughout the University. And as May comes to a close, see what’s happening in June. Sign up to receive a monthly notice when the ArtSci Roundup has been published. ArtSci On Your Own Time: Video | Emily M. Bender Katz Lecture…

The Peace Corps announced Tuesday that the University of Washington is again No. 3 on the list of top volunteer-producing institutions since the international program launched in 1961.

The University of Washington’s graduate and professional degree programs again were recognized as among the best in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best Graduate Schools released late Monday.

New evidence suggests that a disease-causing tapeworm that has been spreading across the United States and Canada has arrived in the Pacific Northwest. The tapeworm, called Echinococcus multilocularis, was found in one-third of coyotes surveyed from the Puget Sound region.

Using preliminary data from the Simonyi Survey Telescope at the NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, scientists have discovered over 11,000 new asteroids in our solar system. The findings include hundreds of distant worlds beyond Neptune as well as 33 previously unknown near-Earth objects.