Natural Sciences Division

In the wake of a 2011 study that found black applicants for National Institutes of Health grants were significantly less likely to receive funding than their equally qualified white counterparts, the health agency began to look at ways to uncover and address bias in how it awards research funding.

Within weeks of publishing surprising new insights about how zebrafish get their stripes, the same University of Washington group is now able to explain how to "erase" them.

A mathematician and artist, married for decades, teach a course that explores the creative process at the core of both disciplines.

A philosopher and a statistician won an NIH competition that addresses the problem of bias in academic peer review.

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope will photograph the visible sky 1,000 times over ten years, providing unparalleled data about our universe.

A paper published this month in Biological Psychiatry shows that children who spent their early years in overcrowded institutions with minimal human contact have thinner brain tissue in cortical areas that correspond to impulse control and attention.

When kids say "the darnedest things," it's often in response to something they heard or saw. This sponge-like learning starts at birth, as infants begin to decipher the social world surrounding them long before they can speak.

Evolutionary biology has tremendous potential to help solve many of today's pressing problems, according to nine international scientists. The scientists point to everything from food security to emerging diseases in their article, "Applying evolutionary biology to address global challenges."

Exploration of songbird brain cells may lead the way to treatments for lost human neurons because of aging, severe depression or Alzheimer's disease.

Adrian E. Raftery, professor of statistics and sociology, offers thoughts on the many benefits of action around the world's projected rapid population growth.

The Biology Department has redesigned its introductory courses so that students actively participate in class, even in its largest lecture courses.

Scientists have developed what they believe is the thinnest-possible semiconductor, a new class of nanoscale materials made in sheets only three atoms thick.

New research from the University of Washington examines the surprisingly little increase in the average temperature at the Earth's surface, and shows that it is part of a naturally occurring cycle.

Three major experiments aimed at detecting elusive dark matter particles believed to make up most of the matter in the universe have gotten a financial shot in the arm. Two of the projects are at large national laboratories; the other is at the University of Washington.

UW physics students build their own version of the Atlas particle detector, only much smaller - and using Legos.