When imagining the future of technology, sometimes all we need to do is look out the window — or into a microscope.
Our researchers take inspiration from nature to redefine what a computer can be, from data storage using synthetic DNA, to sensors modeled on insects and leaves. We also advance technologies to help solve biology’s biggest mysteries, such as computational approaches for understanding the mechanisms of disease and brain-computer interfaces that can restore or augment physical function and mobility.
Research Groups & Labs
Systems Neuroscience & AI Lab (SNAIL)
SNAIL develops computational models and algorithms for understanding how single-trial neural population activity drives our abilities to generate movements, make decisions, and learn from experience.
Neural Systems Lab
The Neural Systems Lab at the UW focuses on understanding the brain using computational models and simulations, and applying this knowledge to the task of developing human-like artificial intelligence (AI) and brain-computer interfaces (BCIs).
Allen School Faculty
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Centers & Initiatives
The Community-Engaged Computing Initiative (CECI) is a joint initiative to support community-centered scholarship and research within the broad computing and information field. Co-led by the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering, and the Information School, the initiative was launched in 2025 through a gift from Google. CECI supports projects that bring UW faculty and graduate students together with community partners to bring sustainable, equitable, and inclusive technology into real-world contexts.
Society + Technology is a cross-campus, cross-disciplinary initiative and community at the University of Washington that is dedicated to research, teaching and learning focused on the social, societal and justice dimensions of technology.
Highlights
Allen School News
Professors Andrea Coladangelo, Matthew Golub, Ranjay Krishna, Chinmay Nirkhe, and Stephanie Wang are shaping the future of computing through projects spanning AI, systems, computational neuroscience, cryptography and quantum computing.
Allen School News
Itani, who works with Allen School professor Shyam Gollakota in the Mobile Intelligence Lab, was recognized for exceptional early-career research advancing AI systems for “superhuman” hearing.
HearingTracker
A technology known as semantic hearing developed in Allen School professor Shyam Gollakota’s lab could let users create acoustic bubbles, isolate chosen voices, and control individual sounds in their environment.