The goal of the Biophysics Graduate Program at Berkeley is to train students to bring a physical approach to the study of biological processes that range in scale from the sub-molecular (studying the interplay of the inter-atomic forces that give proteins their particular shape, motion and function) to the systems level (studying the concerted activity of neural and genetic circuits).

Study in these research areas employs unique types of physical instrumentation and research methodologies such as X-ray diffraction, NMR, EPR and fluorescence spectroscopy, electronic and optical instrumentation, mathematical computer modeling and analysis. The Ph.D. program in biophysics at Berkeley provides a route for students from the physical and biological sciences to enter the leading edge of modern biology with the tools that will permit them to ask the next generation of biological questions. Students admitted to this program have backgrounds in either the physical or biological sciences. In some cases, students have an undergraduate degree in physics, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, or computer science, and may have limited coursework in biology, but have an interest in applying physical and computational approaches to biology. In other cases, students have an undergraduate degree in the biological sciences, with an interest in bringing a quantitative approach to their research.

For information about the research performed in particular laboratories, please see the faculty page.

The research falls into a number of broad categories, links below: