Applications are encouraged from students with varied backgrounds, including biochemistry, biology, chemistry, computer science, and physics. The curriculum is designed to facilitate the training of students with strong backgrounds in the physical sciences for research careers in the biomedical sciences. In addition, students participate in a seminar series, three to four laboratory rotations, teaching assistantships, a colloquium in biomolecular structure, and an annual retreat. The intellectually rigorous but flexible program capitalizes on the physical proximity of the college and the medical school. Each student, in consultation with an advising committee, selects elective courses that best meet his or her professional goals.
Course work is completed in the first two years.
Formal requirements include written and oral examinations, a thesis, and an oral defense. The Program in Biophysics requires that students act as teaching assistants for one semester in one course, which permits students to work nearly full-time on their course program and dissertation research. The MBSB cluster consists of 24 faculty members who provide students with a wide choice of areas in which to work. Students are required to perform one rotation in a laboratory of the MBSB cluster. The facilities directly under the supervision of the biophysics faculty are extensive.