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September 21, 2025

UW’s incoming classes welcomed by President Robert J. Jones at New Student Convocation

The University of Washington’s incoming classes were welcomed Sunday at the University’s 42nd annual New Student Convocation inside Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.  The ceremony was attended by thousands of students, family and friends. Welcome, Huskies! Thousands of incoming @uofwa.bsky.social students gathered for an annual 'W' formation today after kicking off the school year with a convocation ceremony. #newhuskies2025 #uwdawgdazeMedia assets: drive.google.com/drive/folder… — UW News (@uwnews.uw.edu) 2025-09-21T23:11:03.035Z For journalists Download ‘W’ timelapse, soundbites and B-roll from 2025 Convocation…

September 20, 2025

President Jones to welcome incoming class at New Student Convocation on Sunday

UW Convocation Ceremony inside Alaska Airlines Arena

The University of Washington’s incoming classes will be welcomed on Sunday by President Robert J. Jones at the University’s 42nd annual New Student Convocation inside Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.  The ceremony is expected to be attended by thousands of students, family and friends.  Preliminary figures show the incoming freshman class will be about 7,175 students, with around 4,550 from Washington.  An additional 1,650 transfer students are expected to arrive this fall, including 1,375 of whom will be…

September 17, 2025

VIDEO: UW welcomes incoming students to on-campus housing

This week the University of Washington campus is once again buzzing with energy as students begin to move into the residence halls and participate in annual fall activities for incoming undergraduates.    A majority of the UW freshman class has signed up to live on campus for Autumn 2025, and thousands of students are expected to move into campus housing this week, beginning on Tuesday, September 16.  Move-in occurs at various locations on the University of Washington campus during the following…

September 15, 2025

Webb telescope finds clues to Earth’s creation in a cosmic butterfly

An image of the core of the Butterfly Nebula.

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

An illustration of a fish with teeth in its mouth and teeth on the tip of a trunk-like structure protruding from its forehead.

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

A mountain in the Alps, a lake below, and the Milky Way galaxy visible in a starry sky above.

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 27, 2025

New ad highlights national impact of Big Ten universities

Big10 we are here

The positive impact of Big Ten universities across the Pacific Northwest and around the nation will be highlighted in a new 30-second ad that will air during sporting events featuring conference members, starting with this week’s season-opening football games. The ad – entitled “We Are Here” – will air alongside the fan-favorite “Maps” spot. The new spot focuses on how the University of Washington and other Big Ten universities make America healthier, safer and more prosperous in a variety of…

Fund for Science and Technology invests in the UW College of the Environment to further innovation and research related to climate solutions

three researchers collecting specimens in a marsh

The University of Washington’s College of the Environment will expand its work related to climate solutions thanks to a grant announced today from Fund for Science and Technology, FFST, a new foundation within the Paul G. Allen philanthropic ecosystem.

‘Revolutionary’ seafloor fiber sensing reveals how falling ice drives glacial retreat in Greenland

A Greenlandic fjord landscape with a huge glacier emerging from the background towards the front.

A UW-led team of researchers used a fiber-optic cable to capture calving dynamics across the fjord of the Eqalorutsit Kangilliit Sermiat glacier in South Greenland. This allowed them to document — without getting too close — one of the key processes that is accelerating the rate of glacial mass loss and in turn, threatening the stability of ice sheets, with consequences for global ocean currents and local ecosystems.

People who move to more walkable cities do, in fact, walk significantly more

People walk across a New York crosswalk.

New research led by the University of Washington provides clear evidence that highly walkable areas lead to significantly more walking. Authors compared the steps per day of 5,424 people who moved one or more times among 1,609 U.S. cities. Across all relocations, when the Walk Score rose or fell more than 48 points, average steps increased or decreased by about 1,100 per day.

August 11, 2025

UW researchers test common disinfectants’ abilities to fight antibiotic resistance at the genetic level

Huan He looks down at two agar plates she is holding in gloved hands.

Antimicrobial resistance is a lurking threat in hospitals around the world. As more strains of bacteria and other microbes evolve defenses against available drugs, more patients run the risk of contracting infections that defy treatment. Now, University of Washington researchers offer new insights into measures currently used to control the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria and other infectious agents in health care facilities.

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

Video: USDA freezes UW project that turns Washington shellfish farmers’ seaweed problem into soil solution for land farmers

A man in bright orange waders holds a small clam.

A UW-led project aimed to test the viability of seaweed as a soil amendment, and, if successful, develop a market for sea-based farmers to sell excess seaweed to their counterparts on land. The USDA froze the project’s funding, and for now, a solution remains just out of reach.

July 11, 2025

Pat Tillman Foundation names Stephanie Mitchell and Brian Riley in class of 2025 scholars

Block W

The Pat Tillman Foundation this week announced the 2025 Class of Tillman Scholars, which included two University of Washington students who exemplify the values Pat Tillman stood for: leadership, service, scholarship and impact. Stephanie Mitchell is a third-year doctoral student in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) and a military spouse. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on global health and conservation. Brian Riley earned a degree in Economics from the US Air Force Academy, and served nearly…

July 1, 2025

This puzzle game shows kids how they’re smarter than AI

Two children play a game on a computer.

University of Washington researchers developed the game AI Puzzlers to show kids an area where AI systems still typically and blatantly fail: solving certain reasoning puzzles. In the game, users get a chance to solve puzzles by completing patterns of colored blocks. They can then ask various AI chatbots to solve and have the systems explain their solutions — which they nearly always fail to do accurately.

June 26, 2025

Seven UW students receive Fulbright exchange awards for study, research and teaching positions around the world

collage of seven students

Seven UW students and recent alumni were awarded Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarships for the 2025–2026 academic year, joining about 2,000 students and recent graduates from around the country to pursue graduate study, conduct research and teach English abroad.

June 10, 2025

Ken Yocom appointed dean of UW College of Built Environments

Ken Yocom

Ken Yocom has been named the next John and Rosalind Jacobi Family Endowed Dean of the University of Washington College of Built Environments, Provost Tricia Serio announced today. His appointment, effective July 1, is subject to approval by the UW Board of Regents. Yocom has served as interim dean since October 2024 and is a professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture, where he previously served as department chair. A longtime member of the UW faculty, Yocom brings deep institutional…

‘Ways of Knowing’ Episode 6: Sound Studies

Golden Marie Owens

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 same holds true for technology. In this episode, Owens discusses her research into why a white woman is the default voice for virtual assistants in…