Natural Sciences Division

COVID-era school closures caused the U.S. significant economic and educational loss while being less effective than other transmission interventions, according to new research. Adrian Raftery, professor emeritus of statistics and of sociology, is quoted.

Seattleite Mary Brunkow said she was astonished when she learned she and two scientist colleagues had won the 2025 Nobel Prize for medicine or physiology. But based on her career accomplishments in medical research, she shouldnt have been. Brunkow earned a bachelors degree in molecular and cellular biology from the UW.

University of Washington researchers analyzed data collected in the decade following the Paris Agreement, an international treaty signed in 2015 to limit warming by cutting emissions. The treaty has helped nations reduce the amount of carbon released per dollar, but emissions are still too high due to global economic growth.

The math of even the simplest ocean waves is notoriously uncooperative. A team of Italian mathematicians has made major advances toward understanding it. Bernard Deconinck, professor of applied mathematics and adjunct professor of mathematics at the UW, is mentioned.

The Multicultural Alumni Partnership is proud to present the 2025 community and student MAP awardees.

Come curious. Leave inspired. We invite you to connect with us this November through a rich and varied schedule of more than 30 events, exhibitions, podcasts, and more. From chamber opera premieres and public lectures to Indigenous storytelling and poetry celebrations, theres something to spark every curiosity. Expect boundary-pushing performances, thought-provoking dialogues on memory and...

The Pacific spiny lumpsucker is a clumsy, surprisingly charming fish. At first glance, one might assume this fish, usually only a few inches long, has a hard time in the wild. Its not the fastest or the strongest creature in Puget Sound, but its developed tools that help it navigate the murky depths of the ocean. Karly Cohen, a postdoctoral researcher at the UW Friday Harbor Labs, is quoted.

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.

"Alternative undergraduate physics courses expand access to students and address socioeconomic barriers that prevent many of them from entering physics and engineering fields," write Suzanne White Brahmia, associate professor of physics at the UW, and Geraldine L. Cochran.

Mary Brunkow, a Seattle scientist who earned a bachelors degree in molecular and cellular biology from the UW, is one of three scientists awarded this years Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

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.

On Monday morning, Mary Brunkow was among three scientists who won the Nobel Prize in medicine for discoveries about how the immune system knows not to attack the body. Brunkow is a Seattle scientist who earned a bachelors degree in molecular and cellular biology from the UW.

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...

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."

Three scientists including Mary E. Brunkow, who earned bachelors degree in molecular and cellular biology from the UW won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Monday for discoveries about how the immune system knows to attack germs and not our own bodies.