Researchers at the °®¶ąÉçÇř and partners at Carnegie Mellon University are collaborating with the U.S. Department of Energy’s on a new project to help scientists use artificial intelligence to better understand the universe.

Modern astronomy is producing more data than ever before. Powerful telescopes — like the — and other instruments around the world are collecting detailed information about billions of stars, galaxies and other cosmic objects. These observations help researchers investigate some of the biggest mysteries in science, including the nature of dark matter and dark energy, how the universe evolved over time and what it is made of.

But there is a challenge: Much of the data from those projects is stored in different formats, housed at different institutions and difficult to combine. As a result, scientists often spend significant time preparing data before they can begin analyzing it.

“The scientific opportunities and the data analysis challenges are incredible,” said , head of physics at Carnegie Mellon University.

The new effort, led by Mandelbaum and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s , will create a shared data service to allow researchers to seamlessly access and combine information from multiple astronomy experiments. Rather than moving massive datasets from one location to another, the system will allow the data to remain where it is stored while making it available through a central platform.

“A new generation of telescopes and surveys will each change the way we understand our universe,” said co-investigator , a UW professor of astronomy and director of the eScience Institute. “But it is when we bring these data together to look at the universe from a unified perspective that these discoveries will be truly transformative.”

The data infrastructure developed as part of this project will be available to the astronomical community at the SLAC-hosted Rubin Observatory’s U.S. Data Facility and via the American Science Cloud, which integrates the nation’s most advanced high-performance computing systems, scientific facilities, data resources and production capabilities into a single, coordinated AI-driven system. The project extends the UW’s investments in Rubin Observatory and the UW , which are supported by Charles and Lisa Simonyi and led by and .Ěý

The infrastructure also will support a growing area of AI known as foundation models. These AI systems are trained on large and diverse datasets, enabling them to recognize patterns and connections that might otherwise go unnoticed.

In astronomy, foundation models could help researchers analyze many different types of observations at once, including images, measurements of light from distant objects and records of how those objects change over time. By bringing these data sources together, scientists hope to uncover new insights about the universe more quickly and efficiently.

Ultimately, the team hopes to transform the vast collections of astronomical data being gathered today into a long-lasting scientific resource, helping researchers answer some of humanity’s most fundamental questions about the origin, evolution and makeup of the universe.

Other UW co-investigators include , a research scientist and engineer in astronomy. Other co-investigators include , director of engineering for the LINCC project and , senior staff scientist at SLAC and at Stanford’s/SLAC’s Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology.

Additional modeling will be provided by Francois Lanusse of the French National Centre for Scientific Research. Their work is an extension of the Schmidt Sciences-supported LINCC Frameworks program, a partnership led jointly by CMU and the UW.

This story was adapted from a press release by .

From a mountaintop in Chile, under clear dark skies, the Simonyi Survey Telescope at the NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory has officially begun the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (). The 10-year survey will create the most comprehensive, cinematic record of the universe in history. Over the next decade, Rubin will observe the entire southern sky every few nights to create an ultra-wide, ultra-high-definition time-lapse record of our universe.Ěý

“The decision to officially begin the LSST was made after a period of system optimization and a careful operational review of technical readiness, data system performance and scientific validation,” said , a °®¶ąÉçÇř professor of astronomy and head of LSST. “The °®¶ąÉçÇř Rubin team played a central role in optimizing the observatory and helping prepare it for the start of full survey operations.”

The Simonyi Survey Telescope’s unique design combines enormous light-collecting power, the ability to move rapidly across the sky and a wide field of view. The attached 3,200-megapixel camera — the largest digital camera in the world — is now capturing a new, detailed image approximately every 40 seconds. Using a telescope with this speed and sensitivity, Rubin is capable of catching faint objects and fleeting events with reliability and consistency every night.

Over the next decade, Rubin will illuminate a treasure trove of discoveries: pulsating stars, supernova explosions, the fossil record of galaxies, clues to the mysteries of dark energy and dark matter, and entirely new phenomena we’ve never seen before. Some cosmic processes unfold slowly, unpredictably or incredibly rarely, which is why a 10-year survey is essential. By returning to each point in the sky about 800 times over a decade, Rubin data will provide the scientific community with deep, time-rich views needed to uncover subtle events, capture moving objects and study the accelerating expansion of the universe.

This milestone follows the Rubin First Look event that took place in June 2025, which was followed by final commissioning work, an operational readiness review and the beginning of the alert stream.

Each night, Rubin collects approximately 10 terabytes of data and produces as many as seven million alerts of changes in the night sky. These alerts stream to : automated systems that sort and classify these changes so scientists can act quickly. UW researchers led by , research associate professor of astronomy, developed the alert pipeline.

“Astronomers have already used Rubin’s public alerts to discover and follow up hundreds of transient phenomena during the early optimization period,” Bellm said. “We can expect many more exciting discoveries with the start of the full survey.”

Not only is Rubin helping to unlock the mysteries of the distant universe, it is also the most powerful solar system discovery machine ever built. By taking about a thousand images every night, Rubin is compiling a detailed census of our solar system, including millions of asteroids and comets. In just a month and a half, during early optimization surveys, Rubin discovered over 11,000 never-before-seen asteroids, including 33 near-Earth objects and 380 trans-Neptunian objects.

When the LSST is complete, the final dataset will contain billions of objects with trillions of measurements, all accessible through regular data releases. This is the first time so much astronomical data will be available to so many people, opening the door to new kinds of discovery by both scientists and the public. Rubin invites anyone in the world to engage with its data and explore the dynamic universe in ways never before possible.

“It is amazing and humbling to be here at this time and place as we start the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, after more than two decades of incredible work by our dedicated team,” said Bob Blum, director of Rubin Observatory at NSF NOIRLab. “Rubin Observatory is for everyone; the LSST will change how we do astronomy and astrophysics, allowing researchers anywhere to participate in cutting-edge science.”

Visit to follow the status of the LSST in real time.

Rubin Observatory is jointly operated by NSF NOIRLab and SLAC. Observatory operationsĚýare funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

For more information, contact Ivezić at ivezic@astro.washington.edu.

This story was adapted from a press release by .

Project Name: UWMC Outpatient Medical Center Expansion

Proponent/Lead Agency: °®¶ąÉçÇř

Comment Period Closes: July 6, 2026

Description: The project is intended to modernize and expand the existing medical center by remodeling four existing and developing four new operating rooms, including upgrades and additions to associated support spaces (approx. 9,700 sq.ft. expansion). SEPA checklist: https://facilities.uw.edu/committees/sepa

Location: The proposal is located at 10330 Meridian Avenue N in the Northgate neighborhood of Seattle. The site is generally bound by multi-family residential buildings to the north, Interstate-5 to the east, an apartment complex and undeveloped, natural areas to the south, and Meridian Avenue N to the west.

Contact Person: Julie Blakeslee, UW Planner; UW Facilities; Box 359571; Seattle, WAĚý 98195-9571; jblakesl@uw.edu

The °®¶ąÉçÇř recently was ranked highly among its global peers in both the and the . Both rankings were released in mid-June.

According to U.S. News, the UW is No. 12 in the world on the 2026-27 rankings, No. 3 among U.S. public institutions. The UW also placed in the top 10 globally in six subject areas.

On the QS World University Rankings, the UW is among the top 100, landing at No. 92, or No. 7 among U.S. public universities.

More about the U.S. News & World Report Best Global Universities ranking:

The U.S. News ranking methodology — based on data and metrics provided by Clarivate — weighs factors that measure a university’s global and regional research reputation and academic research performance. For the overall rankings, this includes bibliometric indicators such as the number of publications, citations and international collaboration.

The overall Best Global Universities ranking encompasses 2,250 institutions spread across 105 countries.

Here are the UW fields of study that are in the top 10 in U.S. News’ subject rankings:

• Public, environmental and occupational health — No. 4
• Molecular biology and genetics — No. 6
• Microbiology — No. 7
• Biology and biochemistry — No. 7
• Infectious diseases — No. 7
• Clinical medicine — No. 8

More about the QS World University Rankings:Ěý

This is the 23rd edition of the global higher education ranking by the analyst firm QS Quacquarelli Symonds. The UW placed No. 92 in the world and No. 23 in America. The UW is in the top 10 among U.S. public universities, landing at No. 7. This year’s ranking features more than 1,500 universities across 106 higher education systems, including 184 in the U.S.

The QS World University Rankings are based on a weighted index of indicators including research and discovery, employability and outcomes, global engagement, learning experience and sustainability.

Seven °®¶ąÉçÇř students and recent alumni were awardedĚýĚýscholarships for the 2026–27 academic year, joining about 2,000 students and recent graduates from around the country to pursue graduate study, conduct research and teach English abroad.

The Fulbright scholarship program is the largest U.S. international exchange opportunity for students to pursue graduate study, advanced research and teaching in elementary and secondary schools worldwide.

The Fulbright awards speak to the talent, curiosity and global commitment of °®¶ąÉçÇř students, said UW Vice Provost for Global Affairs Ahmad Ezzeddine.

“Fulbright remains one of our nation’s most powerful platforms for learning across cultures, and it gives students the opportunity to pursue ambitious research, teaching and study while building meaningful relationships around the world,” Ezzeddine said. “We’re grateful for the State Department’s continued investment in this program and proud to see UW students representing our university — and the best of higher education — as thoughtful ambassadors engaged in work that will have lasting impact.”

Among this year’s recipients are four UW undergraduate students or recent alumni who plan to travel to Europe and Asia to take part in graduate study, research and teaching assistantships. Three graduate-level students, including one recent alumnus, plan to travel to Asia, Europe and South America.

The UW also had five undergraduate students selected as alternates.

This year’sĚýĚýawardees are:

• Katherine Guild: English teaching award, South Korea
• Tin Pak: Master’s degree program award, Taiwan
• Sofia Regan-BonĂ©: English teaching award, Spain
• Wendi Zhou: Study award, Germany

This year’sĚý awardees are:

• Vecksle Drake: English teaching award, Mongolia
• Tessa Marks: Research award, Honduras
• Justin Zeitlinger: Study award, Netherlands

The Fulbright program, funded by the U.S. Department of State, provides round-trip travel, health insurance, a housing stipend and visa assistance to awardees. Awardees may, from time to time, decline the Fulbright scholarship to pursue other opportunities.

Read more about this year’s UW Fulbright Student Program finalists and the projects they will pursue abroad at the Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowships & AwardsĚýand the Graduate School’sĚý.

Cauce is the immediate past UW president, having stepped down at the end of her second five-year term in 2025. She is one of five newĚýcouncilorsĚýelected to three-year terms on the NAM Council. Ěý

Cauce arrived at the UW in 1986 as an assistant professor and eventually served as executive vice provost, dean of the UW College of Arts & Sciences,ĚýprovostĚýand president. Cauce’s career has been defined by a commitment to improving the health and well-being of individuals and communities through psychology, publicĚýhealthĚýand public service. She has championed health equity and interdisciplinary approaches that bring together medicine, publicĚýpolicyĚýand community partnerships, helping reshape how institutions address complex health challenges and improve lives.Ěý

Ěýwas first conceived in the 1960s and officially launched in 1970 to provide a source of independent, evidence-based guidance to inform health policy decisions. The organization has national standing and makes recommendations informed by research, rather than business or political interests. Ěý

Maeda also was appointed a professor of American ethnic studies. He succeeds Dianne Harris, who will complete her service this year.

Maeda has previously served as the dean of the University of Colorado Boulder College of Arts and Sciences where he also was a professor of ethnic studies. He is an interdisciplinary cultural historian and is a nationally recognized scholar in Asian American studies and comparative ethnic studies.

“Dr. Maeda brings a wealth of experience to all aspects of the role of Katherine and John Simpson Endowed Dean for the College of Arts & Sciences, including a deep commitment to shared governance,” Serio said. “Throughout the selection process, Dr. Maeda repeatedly elevated the broad strengths of the College of Arts & Sciences, and the students, staff and faculty who define them, as foundational to leading the path forward through a framework of opportunity for all.”

Since joining CU Boulder as an assistant professor in 2005, Maeda has served as chair of the Department of Ethnic Studies, associate dean for student success in the College of Arts and Sciences, and dean and vice provost of undergraduate education. Maeda served as interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences since June 2024 until he was appointed dean earlier this year. He is returning to the UW where he was an acting assistant professor in the Department of History from 2001 to 2002.

“I am deeply honored to serve the College of Arts & Sciences and grateful for the opportunity to partner with its exceptional faculty, students and staff,” Maeda said. “Together, we will build on the college’s distinguished tradition of discovery, creativity and public impact while advancing an inclusive and inspiring vision for the future.”

The College of Arts and Sciences at CU Boulder has 1,300 faculty members and 400 staff members. The college also has approximately 15,000 undergraduates in 49 majors and more than 2,000 graduate students in 36 doctoral programs and 35 master’s programs. As dean, Maeda managed an annual budget of more than $250 million and led a collaborative process that created the college’s budget allocation model. Under his leadership, the college established new records for first-year retention and six-year graduation rates and set a record for highest annual fundraising in the college’s history.

Maeda has published two books and numerous articles and book chapters on Asian American activism in the 1960s and 1970s. His most recent book, a cultural history of the iconic martial artist and actor — and former UW student — Bruce Lee, was published in 2022.

Maeda earned his doctoral and master’s degrees in American culture from the University of Michigan. He also holds a master’s in ethnic studies from San Francisco State University and a bachelor’s in mathematics from Harvey Mudd College.

The vice president for university development leads university fundraising efforts within the UW’s globally recognized University Advancement program, which integrates development, alumni and stakeholder engagement, and marketing and communications in aligned efforts to support the University’s priorities,ĚýaspirationsĚýand values. The vice president works in partnership with university leadership, the development team, and philanthropic and civic leaders to champion, galvanize and grow private support for the UW’s mission. Ěý

“I’m delighted to welcome Justin to the °®¶ąÉçÇř,” Gresch said. “He is a seasoned leader with extensive experience spanning both public and private higher education institutions and with a provenĚýtrack recordĚýin building deep philanthropic relationships and authentic partnerships with individuals, within universities and across sectors. His enthusiasm and passion for the life-changing impact of higher education is inspiring and is sure to uplift our Advancement team as we prepare to launch our next campaign on behalf of the UW.”Ěý

Michalka comes to the UW from the University of Texas at Austin, where he serves as Assistant Vice President for Development – Campus Partnerships, working with academic leadership and chief development officers across UT’s colleges, schools and units on goal setting, strategic priorities and fundraising strategy and productivity. A member of the senior leadership team, he has been a key strategist for UT’s “What Starts Here” campaign — which is scheduled to close at the end of August as one of the largest and most impactful university campaigns in public higher education. Michalka also provides management oversight to UT’s Annual Giving Programs, Prospect Research and Management, andĚýco-established the University’sĚýprincipalĚýgiving program in 2014.Ěý

“I am excited to be joining the °®¶ąÉçÇř and honored to be leading such a highly respected development team,” Michalka said. “The UW is one of the few universities in the world that can advance knowledge and ease suffering at scale, while creating access to excellence for students and discovery and impact that changes the world. I am eager to build on and expand the University’s outstanding fundraising operation to grow and accelerate the UW’s mission.” Ěý

Michalka has served in various frontline development and leadership roles at UT Austin for the greater part of 20 years. As Executive Director of International Advancement, he co-founded and launched UT’s International Board of Advisors. As Chief Development Officer and Executive Director of Development for the UT Austin College of Liberal Arts, he led the College’s fundraising and donor engagement efforts, includingĚýplanning forĚýtheir current capital campaign.ĚýĚý

In addition to his leadership at UT, he has also served as Assistant Vice President for Alumni Engagement and Development for Trinity College and the Graduate School at Duke University, Director of Development at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and as a major gifts officer at the Arizona State University Foundation. Michalka is a 2001 graduate of Texas A&M University with a bachelor’s degree in English and is a member of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.ĚýĚýĚý

For more information, contact Victor Balta atĚýbalta@uw.edu.

Two current °®¶ąÉçÇř graduate students and one recent alumnus received this year’s prestigious .

This merit-based program supports outstanding immigrants and children of immigrants pursuing graduate education in the United States. were selected this year from a competitive pool of more than 3,000 applicants nationwide. Their remarkable contributions and potential span a range of fields, including medicine, law, engineering, literature, computer science, public service and the arts.

“Having three members of the UW community receive Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans is a remarkable honor,” said UW President Robert J. Jones. “This fellowship recognizes immigrants and the children of immigrants whose work strengthens communities and advances knowledge, which aligns closely with the University’s mission and values. The accomplishments of these scholars speak to the UW’s commitment to expanding opportunity, advancing research and discovery, and serving the public good. We’re very proud to see their achievements acknowledged.”

Fellows will receive up to $90,000 for their graduate studies, as well as lifelong access to the fellowship’s distinguished alumni network.

This year’s Ěýfellows are Daniel G. Chen, Class of ’22, who received both a Marshall Scholarship and a Goldwater Scholarship, and is now pursuing a doctoral degree at the University of California, Los Angeles; Briana Martin-Villa, a doctoral student in the UW School of Medicine; and Ethan Shen, a doctoral student in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering.

Chen is the son of Chinese immigrants who came to the UW at 14 via the Robinson Center for Young Scholars. While at the UW, Chen interned with Meta’s Facebook AI Research team and he interviewed people from Greece with UW’s International Studies Department. He also conducted research at the Institute of Systems Biology and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center to identify drivers of the human immune response to COVID-19 and solid tumors in skin, lung and pancreatic tissue.

Chen’s UW education was supported by the Washington Research Foundation and the Goldwater Scholarship. The Marshall Scholarship enabled Chen to continue his research at the University of Cambridge where he studied the athymic organoid system. That work led him to pursue a doctoral degree at UCLA where he aims to develop new lines of therapy that increase immunotherapy efficacy while minimizing off-target side effects.

“I am deeply grateful to the Soros Foundation for this honor. The financial support afforded to me by the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship provides me the time and space to investigate new therapeutic strategies to overcome existing and future barriers to cancer immunotherapy,” Chen said.

Martin-Villa, now a first-year student at the UW School of Medicine, experienced rural health disparities firsthand earlier in her life when she, her twin brother and their mother worked long days in orchards in Eastern Washington. She witnessed the effects of heat, physical strain, pesticides and untreated illnesses on farm workers and was compelled to make medical advances more accessible after training in Stanford University research labs as an undergraduate.

Martin-Villa co-developed programs to improve communications between Latine childhood cancer survivors and clinicians. After graduation, she was named a at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. During the fellowship, she worked on the Biden Cancer Moonshot and initiatives to increase community engagement in science. She was drawn to the UW School of Medicine because of its WWAMI model of community-based training in rural and urban areas across a five-state region. She now co-leads Doctor for a Day, an academy that introduces youth to health careers. She also co-manages the Casa Latina Clinic, which cares for King County’s medically underserved communities. She hopes to practice as a physician at the intersection of patient care, research and public policy.

“As the daughter of Mexican immigrants, it is a profound honor to represent my community and to receive support that allows me to continue doing the work I love while creating opportunities to uplift others,” Martin-Villa said. “I’m excited to learn from and grow alongside the other fellows as I continue my medical training.”

Shen is a doctoral student in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering advised by Professor Ali Farhadi. Shen was born in Seattle to parents who emigrated from China after the Cultural Revolution and the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown. In the U.S., they had the freedom to pursue their education and better their lives. Shen was inspired by his parents’ story and his experience growing up in a city with a booming technology industry that improved people’s quality of life.

Shen decided to study computer science at the UW with a focus on artificial intelligence. He completed his bachelor’s within three years and continued into the Allen School’s doctoral program, where his research advances affordable, open-source coding agents such as SERA — short for Soft-Verified Efficient Repository Agents — that enable rapid creation of specialized agents for private codebases. With the support of the Soros Fellowship, Shen will continue working on agents for long horizon tasks and scientific discovery, as well as novel model architectures, with the goal of making frontier intelligence accessible and useful to as many people as possible.

“Artificial intelligence is increasingly privatized, and the best AI models are prohibitively expensive. My research focuses on developing new data pipelines and model architectures for cheap, personalized models that are both capable and broadly accessible,” Shen said. “AI has become an essential tool across engineering, computing and the natural sciences, and I believe that everyone should be able to afford and use it.”