The latest news from the UW

October 25, 2016

University of Washington Population Health Initiative receives transformative gift from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

The University of Washington’s Population Health Initiative, which aims to bring together the research and resources of the UW and partners around the Puget Sound and beyond to improve the health and well-being of people around the world, has received a significant vote of support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the university announced Tuesday. In May, the UW launched an initiative to develop a 25-year vision to improve population health locally and globally by focusing on three key…

Engineering | News releases | Research | Technology

October 24, 2016

Uber service faster in low income Seattle neighborhoods, initial study finds

Your wait time for an Uber ride in Seattle is shorter if you are in a lower income neighborhood. Alternatively, wait times are longer for an Uber in wealthier neighborhoods, according to a new University of Washington study that measures one dimension of whether TNCs are providing equitable access.

Environment | News releases | Research | Science

Nanometer-scale image reveals new details about formation of a marine shell

Oceanographers used tools developed for semiconductor research to view the formation of a marine shell in the most detail yet, to understand how organisms turn seawater into solid mineral.

HCDE professor’s invention wins Popular Science 2016 ‘Best of What’s New’ award

An IV drip technology developed by Shift Labs, founded by University of Washington Human Centered Design and Engineering Professor Beth Kolko, has been recognized by Popular Science with a 2016 “Best of What’s New” Award.

Engineering | News releases | Research | Science | Technology

Turning your living room into a wireless charging station

A flat-screen panel that resembles a TV on your living room wall could one day remotely charge any device within its line of sight, according to new research from UW and Duke University engineers.

Engineering | Honors and awards | Science | UW News blog

October 21, 2016

Research in complex computational problems snares Packard honors for UW’s Thomas Rothvoss

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation has awarded a prestigious fellowship to University of Washington assistant professor Thomas Rothvoss to fuel his passion to balance precision and efficiency in complex mathematical calculations. The Packard Foundation Fellowships for Science and Engineering honor early-career academics pursuing innovative research in all fields of science and engineering. “It’s a great honor — and frankly, I’m still digesting the news,” said Rothvoss, who has joint appointments with the Department of Mathematics and the Department of…

Communication professor Leah Ceccarelli honored, discusses ‘rhetoric of science’

Communication professor Leah Ceccarelli discusses the work that brought her the National Communication Association’s Douglas W. Ehninger Distinguished Rhetorical Scholar Award for 2016.

Administrative affairs | For UW employees | News releases | UW and the community

University of Washington launches historic $5 billion philanthropic campaign

The University of Washington on Friday is launching the public phase of its most ambitious philanthropic campaign in history, with a goal of raising $5 billion by the year 2020.

Arts and entertainment

October 19, 2016

Arts Roundup: Iphigenia and Other Daughters, The Kreutzer Sonata – and Music of Today

This week, the University of Washington launches its philanthropic campaign with a live multimedia experience. The School of Drama revisits a classical tale, and faculty performances are front and center at the School of Music. Swing by the Henry for an exhibition that explores the history of transgender communities in the Pacific Northwest. Iphigenia and Other Daughters October 18- 30 | Glenn Hughes Penthouse Theater The School of Drama opens its 2016-2017 season with modern retelling of the ancient Greek…

Popular Science picks DNA data storage project for 2016 ‘Best of What’s New’ Award

A technique to store and retrieve digital data in DNA developed by University of Washington and Microsoft researchers is one of the most innovative and game-changing technologies of the year, according to Popular Science’s 2016 “Best of What’s New” Awards.

Buildings and grounds | Politics and government | UW and the community | UW News blog

October 18, 2016

Documentary, archive to remember the ‘Seattle Freeway Revolt’

Minda Martin had not lived in Seattle long before, on a walking tour, she noticed the famously truncated “ramps to nowhere” in the Washington Park Arboretum. A filmmaker and faculty member at UW Bothell, she was fascinated — and inspired. “I was stunned by these giant freeway stumps covered in ivy along land that didn’t seem to belong to anyone,” said Martin, who moved to Seattle in 2013. “But it was clearly important to a large variety of folks who…

For UW employees | News releases | UW and the community

October 16, 2016

Week of festivities celebrating launch of University of Washington campaign

The impact of the University of Washington will be even more visible this week during the lead-up to a Friday night celebration marking the launch of the UW’s most ambitious philanthropic campaign.

News releases | UW and the community

October 14, 2016

A new way to ‘college’: University of Washington Continuum College

The University of Washington has renamed Educational Outreach to Continuum College, a new name for a new era of higher education.

Arts and entertainment | Environment | Science | UW News blog

October 12, 2016

In new book, UW’s Estella Leopold revisits childhood at the family shack, described in Aldo Leopold’s best-seller ‘A Sand County Almanac’

Estella Leopold, a University of Washington professor emeritus of biology, has written a new memoir of her formative years, “Stories from the Leopold Shack: Sand County Revisited.” She describes life on the land where her father, Aldo Leopold, practiced the revolutionary conservation philosophy described in his famous book of essays “A Sand County Almanac.”

Education | News releases | Research | Social science | Technology

Why do some STEM fields have fewer women than others? UW study may have the answer

Women’s relative lack of participation in science, technology, engineering and math is well documented, but why women are more represented in some STEM areas than others is less clear. A new University of Washington study is among the first to address that question by comparing gender disparities across STEM fields. Published Oct. 12 in the journal Psychological Bulletin, the paper identifies three main factors driving the disparity — and the most powerful one, the researchers conclude, is a “masculine culture”…

Arts and entertainment

Arts Roundup: Chamber Dance Company, Mindfulness Meditation – and Stylus Fantasticus

The Chamber Dance Company celebrates the birth of post-modern dance in Meany Hall, the School of Drama opens its season with a modern retelling of a Greek classic, and School of Music faculty members Stephen Stubbs and Tekla Cunningham give a performance of 17th century works. The Henry Art Gallery invites the public to practice mindfulness meditation and the Burke Museum celebrates the rugged beauty of the Wild Nearby. Chamber Dance Company October 13-16 | Meany Theater The UW…

Cars vs. health: UW’s Moudon, Dannenberg contribute to Lancet series on urban planning, public health

Automobiles — and the planning and infrastructure to support them — are making our cities sick, says an international group of researchers now publishing a three-part series in the British medical journal The Lancet.

Technology | UW News blog

UW law professor Ryan Calo to join experts at White House conference

Ryan Calo, an assistant professor in the University of Washington School of Law, will be among national experts at a White House event tomorrow on innovations in science and technology. A nationally known expert on robotics and privacy law, Calo will speak at the White House Frontiers Conference at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University on Oct. 13. He will be part of a panel moderated by President Obama’s chief of staff, Denis McDonough, and will discuss the role…

As online retailing booms, new Urban Freight Lab to work with industry, SDOT on delivery challenges

As online retailing booms, the new UW Urban Freight Lab will partner with UPS, Costco, Nordstrom and SDOT to research solutions for businesses delivering goods in urban settings and cities trying to manage limited street space.

Environment | News releases | Research | Science

October 11, 2016

Morel mushrooms pop up, cluster together after wildfires

A new study finds that morel mushrooms cluster in groups across burned areas in the forest after a wildfire. It’s one of the only scientific studies to actually quantify morels’ abundance after a fire.

Buildings and grounds | Engineering | News releases | Technology

October 6, 2016

CSE gets major boost with $10 million donation from Amazon

Amazon is giving a major push to the campaign to build a second Computer Science & Engineering building on the University of Washington campus with a $10 million gift, the university announced Thursday. “Our state’s economy — and the world’s economy — depends on innovation and on innovators. UW graduates with skills in computer science are highly sought after, yet we are turning away excellent students who want to pursue studies in the field because we simply don’t have enough…

Arts and entertainment

October 5, 2016

Arts Roundup: The Silk Road Ensemble, Birds at the Burke – and Double Rainbow All the Way

It’s a busy week for the arts: The Silk Road Ensemble and Mark Morris Dance Group collaborate on a new work at Meany Center; School of Music artist-in-residence Greg Sinibaldi gives the first faculty recital of the school year, and the Burke Museum hosts its annual “Birds at the Burke” day. The Henry Art Gallery presents artwork by American artist Senga Nengudi and the Jacob Lawrence Gallery showcases work by second-year MFA students. Mark Morris Dance Group with the Silk…

Building ‘up not out’: Draft UW Campus Master Plan for 2018 now seeking public input

A new proposed draft Campus Master Plan for 2018 sees the University of Washington’s Seattle campus growing up rather than out — building a little higher, filling in with more density, not expanding its borders, helping to ease transportation flow and creating big new green spaces. 2018 draft Campus Master Plan — opportunities for public comment: Online open house: Oct. 12, noon to 1 p.m. Sign up online. Open house: October 18, noon to 2 p.m. Cascade Room, Haggett Hall…

Environment | News releases | Research | Science

Atlantic Ocean’s slowdown tied to changes in the Southern Hemisphere

Unlike in the movies, and in some theories of climate change, the recent slowdown of Atlantic Ocean circulation is not connected with the melting of the Arctic sea ice. Instead, it seems to be connected to shifts around the southern tip of Africa.

Learning | Politics and government | UW and the community

‘A Hug from Afar’: A Sephardic family’s journey of escape as World War II looms

Prof. Devin Naar of the Jackson School’s Stroum Center for Jewish Studies discusses the book “A Hug from Afar: One Family’s Dramatic Journey Through Three Continents to Escape the Holocaust,” by Claire Barkey Flash, for which Naar wrote the foreword.

$4M grant funds new UW RAPID Facility to investigate natural disasters worldwide

A new UW disaster investigation center funded by a $4 million National Science Foundation grant will collect and analyze critical data that’s often lost in the immediate aftermath of hurricanes and earthquakes but that can help create more resilient communities.

UW and the community | UW News blog

October 4, 2016

First Livable City Year projects underway; kickoff event Oct. 6

The Livable City Year program will formally celebrate the start of its first year at 10 a.m. Oct. 6 at wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ – Intellectual House on the UW’s campus in a kickoff event open to all. Professors leading Livable City Year courses this fall will talk about their projects, followed by time for Q&A.

Honors and awards | News releases | Research | Science

UW Professor Emeritus David J. Thouless wins Nobel Prize in physics for exploring exotic states of matter

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced Tuesday that David James Thouless, professor emeritus at the University of Washington, will share the 2016 Nobel Prize in physics with two of his colleagues. Thouless splits the prize with Professor F. Duncan M. Haldane of Princeton University and Professor J. Michael Kosterlitz of Brown University “for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter,” according to the prize announcement from the Academy. Half the prize goes to Thouless while Haldane and Kosterlitz divide the remaining half. Thouless is the UW’s seventh Nobel laureate, and second in physics after Hans Dehmelt in 1989.

New LGBTQ Activism in Seattle History project debuts Oct. 10

The UW’s Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project has an important new component — the LGBTQ Activism in Seattle History Project. There will be a public launch at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 10, in Room 340 of the HUB.

Oct. 10 bioengineering lecture focuses on accelerating drug delivery

Accelerating growth in effectively delivering new oral and transdermal drug delivery techniques will be the focus of the University of Washington Department of Bioengineering’s 2016 Allan S. Hoffman Lecture on Oct. 10.

Engineering | News releases | Research | Science | Technology

October 3, 2016

New protein bridges chemical divide for ‘seamless’ bioelectronics devices

In a paper published Sept. 22 in Scientific Reports, engineers at the University of Washington unveiled peptides that could help bridge the gap where artificial meets biological — harnessing biological rules to exchange information between the biochemistry of our bodies and the chemistry of our devices.

Engineering | For UW employees | Technology | UW and the community | UW News blog

Engineering lecture series focuses on building safe, resilient communities

As the fourth-fastest growing city in the United States, Seattle faces important questions in its quest to remain a resilient and sustainable community. Can we build to withstand natural disasters, reduce environmental toxins as consumption rises, meet urban transportation challenges so food, supplies and consumer products can get where they need to go? Over the next month, College of Engineering’s annual fall lecture series will feature faculty focusing on these questions and developing technologies to build more resilient urban communities….

September 30, 2016

‘We the people’: All invited to UW Constitution read-aloud event Oct. 7

UW Libraries is inviting the public to Suzzallo Library at lunchtime on Oct. 7 to listen to — or participate in — the annual reading of the United States Constitution.

Environment | Research | Science | UW News blog

CO2 record at Mauna Loa, the music video: The sounds of climate change

University of Washington scientists have put world’s longest-running measure of atmospheric carbon dioxide to music. The result is a 90-second rendition of human-induced climate change: The video project was done by Judy Twedt, a UW doctoral student in atmospheric sciences, and Dargan Frierson, a UW associate professor of atmospheric sciences and amateur musician. Their techno soundtrack maps musical notes to the Keeling Curve, a 58-year record of carbon dioxide measured high in the atmosphere at the Mauna Loa Observatory in…

Environment | Research | Science | UW News blog

September 29, 2016

UW gets NOAA grant to begin testing new forecast for toxic shellfish

UW oceanographers are working on a system that will act like a ‘weather forecast’ for Pacific Northwest harmful algal blooms.

Environment | News releases | Research | Science

Ocean conditions contributed to unprecedented 2015 toxic algal bloom

A study led by researchers at the University of Washington and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration connects the unprecedented West Coast toxic algal bloom of 2015 to the unusually warm ocean conditions — nicknamed “the blob” — in winter and spring of that year.

September 28, 2016

UW ranked among the top five most innovative universities in the world by Reuters

The University of Washington landed at No. 5 on The Reuters 100: The World’s Most Innovative Universities. Now in its second year, the list ranks the educational institutions doing the most to advance science, invent new technologies and help drive the global economy.

News releases

September 27, 2016

UW works to boost faculty diversity through recruitment and retention efforts

Like post-secondary schools across the country, the University of Washington has struggled to attract and retain a talented, diverse faculty. But efforts that have been quietly underway for a few years are starting to pay off, attracting top-level candidates to the UW even over schools that are able to offer bigger salaries and more perks. That work involves not simply convincing excellent candidates to come to the UW, but creating a supportive and inclusive environment that prompts them to stay,…

Uncategorized

Researchers modify yeast to show how plants respond to a key hormone

Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a novel toolkit based on modified yeast cells to tease out how plant genes and proteins respond to auxin, the most ubiquitous plant hormone. Their system, described in a paper published Sept. 19 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, allowed them to decode auxin’s basic effects on the diverse family of genes that plants utilize to detect and interpret auxin-driven messages.

NSF award to launch citizen science initiative across Pacific Rim

A team of researchers led by the University of Washington believes creating a network of community-based science is possible with new support from the National Science Foundation.