This program introduces graduate students to the field of biophysics, its methodologies and the state-of-the-art biophysical research efforts being carried out in diverse laboratories and departments on the CU Boulder campus. It creates interdepartmental connections that provide the breadth of training needed to develop biophysical scholars.
Students must be admitted through the regular admissions process to a PhD program in one of the following departments:
- Biochemistry
- Chemical and Biological Engineering
- Chemistry
- Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
- Physics
They must satisfy all of their home department's requirements to receive a PhD as well as the additional requirements of the certificate program. For more information, visit the program's Molecular Biophysics Training Program: Certificate Option webpage.
Requirements
- Participation in one to three laboratory rotations outside the thesis lab, which provide experience with a range of biophysical methods. Subsequently the student joins one of the member laboratories of the training program for thesis work.
- Completion of two courses chosen from the list of approved courses below.
- Annual meeting with a faculty advisory committee that provides helpful feedback on the thesis research.
- Students are expected to take part in a seminar series, which presents internationally renowned speakers and their research. They also are required to participate in supergroup meetings and symposia, which provide forums for them to present their own research in front of their colleagues and advisory committee.
Approved Course List
Code | Title | Credit Hours |
---|---|---|
APPM 5390 | Modeling in Mathematical Biology | 3 |
APPM 5720 | Open Topics in Applied Mathematics | 1-3 |
BCHM 5491 | Modern Biophysical Methods | 3 |
BCHM 5776 | Scientific Ethics and Responsible Conduct in Research | 1 |
BCHM 5801 | Advanced Signal Transduction and Cell Cycle Regulation | 3 |
BCHM 5811 | Advanced Methods in Protein Sequencing and Analysis | 3 |
BCHM 6601 | Biochemistry Seminar | 1 |
BCHM 6711 | Advanced Topics in Biochemistry | 3-6 |
CHEM 5321 | Advanced Physical Organic Chemistry | 3 |
CHEM 5331 | Advanced Spectroscopic Techniques in Organic Chemistry | 3 |
CHEM 5531 | Statistical Mechanics | 3 |
CHEM 5541 | Chemical Dynamics | 3 |
CHEM 5591 | Advanced Molecular Spectroscopy | 3 |
CHEN 5150 | Biomolecular Kinetics, Transport, and Thermodynamics | 3 |
CHEN 5210 | Transport Phenomena | 4 |
CHEN 5805 | Biological Interactions to Biomaterials | 3 |
CHEN 5900 | Pharmaceutical Biotechnology | 3 |
CHEN 6820 | Biochemical Engineering Fundamentals | 3 |
ECEN 5126 | Computational Optical Imaging | 3 |
MATH 5030 | Intermediate Mathematical Physics 1 | 3 |
MCDB 5312 | Quantitative Optical Imaging | 3-4 |
MCDB 5350 | Microbial Diversity and the Biosphere | 3 |
MCDB 5520 | Bioinformatics and Genomics | 3 |
MCDB 5550 | Cells, Molecules and Tissues: A Biophysical Approach | 3 |
MCDB 5560 | Introduction to Biophysics | 3 |
MCDB 5776 | Scientific Ethics and Responsible Conduct in Research | 1 |
PHYS 5030 | Intermediate Mathematical Physics 1 | 3 |
PHYS 5040 | Intermediate Mathematical Physics 2 | 3 |
PHYS 5250 | Introduction to Quantum Mechanics 1 | 3 |
PHYS 5260 | Introduction to Quantum Mechanics 2 | 3 |
PHYS 5550 | Cells, Molecules and Tissues: A Biophysical Approach | 3 |
PHYS 5560 | Introduction to Biophysics | 3 |
PHYS 7810 | Special Topics in Physics | 1-3 |