Research

The next time your phone’s virtual assistant gives you a quick answer instead of nudging you to think harder, remember Andre Ye (Computer Science / Philosophy, 2025). He’s part of a new generation of researchers reimagining how AI supports human thought.

At its heart, the Jackson School’s Cybersecurity Initiative is more than a program — it’s a community. From the get-go, the program builds a sense of community that carries students through their time at the University of Washington and well into their professional lives.

A decade ago, nearly every country in the world adopted the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit the rise in global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius by 2100. Adrian Raftery, professor emeritus of statistics and of sociology, is interviewed.

Although cicadas are known to sing in unison, a new study shows the striking behavior of cicadas interacting with each other when a few cicadas sing, the others join. Saumya Gupta, a postdoctoral researcher of biology at the UW, is quoted.

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 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.

"These are not abstract debates. They cut to the marrow of how we live in a city where the Black share of the population has dwindled, where rising housing costs shove families south to Tukwila and Federal Way, where wealth gaps mean our elders have fewer cushions and our kids fewer chances. Representation matters, yes. But what does it mean when symbolic victories don't lead to material change?" writes columnist Marcus Harrison Green. LaShawnDa Pittman, associate professor of American ethnic studies at the UW, is quoted.

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.

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...

Mary Brunkow, a Seattle scientist who earned a bachelors degree in molecular and cellular biology from the UW, was awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday. Her work, alongside two other scientists, led to a new branch of immunology research that has already led to new developments in treatment for cancers and autoimmune diseases.

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to three scientists on Monday for their research on the human immune system, including Mary E. Brunkow, who earned bachelors degree in molecular and cellular biology from the UW.