College of Arts & Sciences
October 10, 2025
Q&A: UW chemistry professors explain MOFs, the materials behind the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Oct. 8 awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi “for the development of metal-organic frameworks,” or MOFs. Both Dianne Xiao, a UW associate professor of chemistry, and Douglas Reed, a UW assistant professor of chemistry, use MOFs in their research at the UW. UW News reached out to them to learn more about the significance of these structures and how researchers use them.
October 8, 2025
‘Much-loved’ UW collaborator John Clarke wins the Nobel Prize in Physics
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Tuesday awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics jointly to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis, “for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunneling and energy quantization in an electric circuit.” Clarke, a professor emeritus of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, collaborates with the Axion Dark Matter Experiment at the University of Washington.
October 6, 2025
Q&A: What to know about the UW biology degree that launched Nobel Prize laureate Mary Brunkow
The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute on Monday awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to Mary E. Brunkow — an alum of the University of Washington — along with Frederick J. Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi “for groundbreaking discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance that prevents the immune system from harming the…
UW alum Mary E. Brunkow awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute on Monday awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly to Mary E. Brunkow — an alum of the University of Washington — along with Frederick J. Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi “for groundbreaking discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance that prevents the immune system from harming the body.”
September 29, 2025
UW announces Katherine and John Simpson deanship in the College of Arts & Sciences
The University of Washington announced a transformative gift that solidifies the importance and vitality of the arts, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences. It recognizes the legacy of former Dean John Simpson, his late wife Katherine, and the Simpson family by creating a namesake deanship for the College of Arts & Sciences. The Katherine and…
September 25, 2025
Q&A: Insect pollinators need more higher-quality habitats to help farmers, new research says
In a new study, a team of scientists determined the minimum natural habitat on agricultural land that will allow insect pollinators — including bumble bees, solitary bees, hoverflies and butterflies — to thrive. UW News reached out to co-author Berry Brosi, UW professor of biology, to learn more about these results and how habitat is important to two types of bees native to Washington.
September 23, 2025
More bees please: 8 new-to-Washington species identified
Bee experts wouldn’t have previously expected to find the likes of Osmia cyaneonitens, Dufourea dilatipes and Stelis heronae in Washington. But this year, while collecting pollinators in Chelan County to study how climate and wildfires affect native bee populations, Autumn Maust, a University of Washington research scientist of biology, discovered eight bee species never recorded in Washington.
September 16, 2025
Q&A: From TVs to the future of computing, UW professor explains what makes quantum dots shine
Quantum dots, which are 10,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair, are unique materials that generate very specific colors of light. Researchers, including Brandi Cossairt, UW professor of chemistry, hope that quantum dots can one day be useful for more than just illuminating TV screens. UW News asked her to compare the quantum dots in QLED TVs with the ones her lab makes.
Story pole celebrating Coast Salish peoples installed on UW campus
Sven Haakanson, a University of Washington professor of anthropology, worked with three Coast Salish carvers to install a story pole on campus. Story poles were specifically created to share and teach Coast Salish legends, histories and stories.
September 15, 2025
ArtSci Roundup: September and October
Come curious. Leave inspired. We welcome you to connect with us this autumn quarter through an incredible lineup of more than 30 events, exhibitions, podcasts, and more. From thought-provoking talks on monsters to boundary-pushing performances by Grammy-nominated Mariachi ensembles, it’s a celebration of bold ideas and creative energy. ArtSci On Your Own Time Exhibition: Woven…
Webb telescope finds clues to Earth’s creation in a cosmic butterfly
The James Webb Space Telescope has revealed new details in the core of the Butterfly Nebula, known to astronomers as NGC 6302. From the dense ring of dust that surrounds the nebula’s core to the tiny but bright star hidden within, the Webb observations paint a never-before-seen portrait of the nebula’s inner workings. Researchers at the UW and around the world are studying the imagery to learn more about the origins of cosmic dust and its role in the formation of planets like ours.
September 4, 2025
This common fish has an uncommon feature: Forehead teeth, used for mating
New findings call into question one of the core assumptions about teeth. Adult male spotted ratfish, a shark-like species native to the eastern Pacific Ocean, have rows of teeth on top of their heads, lining a cartilaginous appendage called the tenaculum, in addition to those in their jaws. They used their tenaculum teeth to grip females while mating in water.
Deep beneath the French Alps, dark matter hunters narrow their search
Physicists have floated numerous theories to explain what dark matter might be, but to date, no experiment has turned up compelling evidence to support any of them. An international team of physicists, including researchers from the UW, is now working on a new kind of dark matter detector with the goal of capturing the first direct observation of the puzzling material. Results from the detector’s prototype have already ruled out one of the leading theories of how dark matter originated.
August 19, 2025
UW research shows Fresh Bucks program improves fruit and vegetable intake, food security
A new study from the University of Washington shows that households enrolled in the City of Seattle’s Fresh Bucks program experience a 31% higher rate of food security and consume at least three daily servings of fruits and vegetables 37% more often than those assigned to a program waitlist. Fresh Bucks, a $40 a month benefit, works with local partners to help residents access fresh food.
August 18, 2025
Q&A: How marginalized artists invented the Broadway musical
A new book from David Armstrong, University of Washington affiliate instructor of drama, is an historical and cultural account of how the Broadway musical was predominantly created by people marginalized from mainstream society. The book, “Broadway Nation: How Immigrant, Jewish, Queer, and Black Artists Invented the Broadway Musical,” traces this history through four major eras.
August 14, 2025
New faculty books: Language instruction, the yoga of power, and more
New faculty books from the University of Washington include those from Asian languages and literature, applied mathematics and the Jackson School of International Studies.
August 11, 2025
Fresh fossil finds in Africa shed light on the era before Earth’s largest mass extinction
An international team of paleontologists, led by researchers at the University of Washington and the Field Museum of Natural History, is identifying the animals that thrived in southern Pangea — the planet’s single supercontinent at the time — just before the so-called “Great Dying” wiped out about 70% of terrestrial species, and an even larger fraction of marine ones.
August 6, 2025
With just a few messages, biased AI chatbots swayed people’s political views
University of Washington researchers recruited self-identifying Democrats and Republicans to make political decisions with help from three versions of ChatGPT: a base model, one with liberal bias and one with conservative bias. Democrats and Republicans were both likelier to lean in the direction of the biased chatbot they were talking with than those participants who interacted with the base model.
August 4, 2025
‘The discovery of the decade’: Researchers have found the culprit behind sea star wasting disease
An international research effort, including scientists from the University of Washington, has finally revealed the cause of sea star wasting disease: a strain of the bacterium Vibrio pectenicida.
July 21, 2025
12 UW professors elected to Washington State Academy of Sciences
Election recognizes the new member’s “outstanding record of scientific and technical achievement and willingness to assist the Academy in providing the best available scientific information and technical understanding to inform complex policy decisions in Washington.”
July 14, 2025
New UW course connects the climate crisis to communications and design
“Communications & Design for the Environment,” a Communication Leadership course held for the first time this spring, University of Washington professors Adrienne Russell and Dominic Muren teach students how to examine the climate crisis and environmental problems from a perspective beyond the hard sciences.
June 30, 2025
UW computational neuroscientist and physicist among newly elected National Academy of Sciences members
Adrienne Fairhall and David Hertzog are among 120 new members and 30 international members elected “in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.”
June 23, 2025
UW helps bring the cosmos into focus as the Vera C. Rubin Observatory unveils a new glimpse into the solar system
A new era of astronomy and astrophysics began Monday when the first images captured by the NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory were released, demonstrating the extraordinary capabilities of the new telescope and the world’s largest digital camera.
June 17, 2025
‘Ways of Knowing’ Episode 8: Ethics of Technology
Brain-computer interfaces, or BCIs, can help people with severe injuries or impairments regain the ability to communicate or move their arms and legs through robotic substitutes. The devices, which are about the size of a dime and are implanted on the surface of a person’s brain, serve as a communication link between the brain’s neural…
June 12, 2025
‘Ways of Knowing’ Episode 7: Glitches
Imagine sitting in a movie theater watching a film you’ve been anticipating for months. Suddenly, the screen goes blank. It only lasts a second, but that’s long enough to disrupt the experience. It’s also long enough, says Mal Ahern, to remind you of the physical infrastructure behind what we so often see as an immaterial…
June 11, 2025
Faculty/staff honors: Innovation grant, best paper, outstanding research award
Recent recognition of the University of Washington includes an EarthLab Innovation Grant, the Best Paper Award from American Political Science Association and honorable recognition mention from the American Society for Theatre Research. UW professor Richard Watts and team awarded EarthLab Innovation Grant Richard Watts, UW associate professor of French, is part of an interdisciplinary team…
New faculty books: Artificial intelligence, 1990s Russia, song interpretation, and more
Recent faculty books from the University of Washington include those from linguistics, Slavic languages and literature and French. UW News spoke with the authors of four publications to learn more about their work. Scrutinizing and confronting AI hype Emily M. Bender, UW professor of linguistics, co-authored “The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype…
June 10, 2025
‘Ways of Knowing’ Episode 6: Sound Studies
Virtual assistants, such as Apple’s Siri, can perform a range of tasks or services for users — and a majority of them sound like white women. Golden Marie Owens, assistant professor of cinema and media studies at the University of Washington, says there is much to learn about a person from how they sound. The…
June 5, 2025
‘Ways of Knowing’ Episode 5: Abstract Pattern Recognition, or Math
Imagine an art class where you only did paint by numbers, or a music class where you weren’t allowed to play a song until you practiced scales for 20 years. This is often what it’s like to take a math class, where students spend most of their time learning to solve problems that have already…
June 3, 2025
Millions of new solar system objects to be found and ‘filmed in technicolor’ – studies predict
A group of astronomers from across the globe, including a team from the University of Washington and led by Queen’s University Belfast, have revealed new research showing that millions of new solar system objects will be detected by a brand-new facility, which is expected to come online later this year.
‘Ways of Knowing’ Episode 4: Global Disability Studies
Since 2014, The European Union has been crafting policy on the rights of disabled people with “independent living” as a key element. Officials noticed the law wasn’t being followed in countries like Malta, so they moved these young people into their own apartments. But these were pretty much the only people in their 20s who…
Muon g-2 announces most precise measurement of the magnetic anomaly of the muon
On June 3, scientists working on the Muon g-2 experiment (pronounced “mew-on gee-minus-two”) released the third and final measurement of the muon magnetic anomaly. This result agrees with the published results from 2021 and 2023 but with a much better precision of 127 parts per billion, surpassing the original experimental design goal of 140 parts per billion.
May 28, 2025
‘Ways of Knowing’ Episode 3: Ge’ez
The kingdom of Aksum was one of the most powerful empires in the world in the fourth century. It played a major role in the histories of Egypt, Persia and Rome, as well as the early days of Christianity and Islam. But Aksum’s accomplishments have long been overlooked because they are recorded in the ancient…
May 22, 2025
‘Ways of Knowing’ Episode 2: Paratext
There is more to literature than the text itself. Anything that surrounds the text — from the cover to chapter headings and author bios — is known as paratext. This is what transforms text into a book. Richard Watts’s research focuses on this under-examined aspect of literature. In this episode, Watts, an associate professor…
May 20, 2025
‘Ways of Knowing’ Episode 1: Digital Humanities
English, philosophy and comparative literature aren’t typically subjects that come to mind when thinking about big datasets. But the intersection between literature and data analysis is exactly where Anna Preus works. Preus, a University of Washington assistant professor of English and of data science, digitally streamlined the process of documenting the number of non-British…
April 15, 2025
ArtSci Roundup: May 2025
From campus to wherever you call home, we welcome you to learn from and connect with the College of Arts & Sciences community through public events spanning the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. We hope to see you this May. Innovation Month April 30 | An Evening with Christine Sun Kim (Public Lecture)…
April 7, 2025
UW Information School ties for 1st; other UW programs place highly in US News & World Report Best Graduate Schools ranking
The University of Washington’s graduate and professional degree programs were widely recognized as among the best in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best Graduate Schools released late Monday.
March 31, 2025
Discovery of Quina technology challenges view of ancient human development in East Asia
Ben Marwick, a University of Washington professor of archaeology, was part of a team of researchers that uncovered a complete Quina technological system in the Longtan site in southwest China. The discovery challenges the widely held perception that the Middle Paleolithic period was mostly static in East Asia.
March 27, 2025
Five UW researchers named AAAS Fellows
Five University of Washington researchers have been named AAAS Fellows, according to a March 27 announcement by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. They are among 471 newly elected fellows from around the world, who are recognized for their “scientifically and socially distinguished achievements” in science and engineering.
March 20, 2025
Cloaked in color: UW-led research finds some female hummingbirds evolve male plumage to dodge aggression
Trickery by female white-necked jacobin hummingbirds results in reduced aggression from other hummingbirds and increased access to nectar resources.
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