Overview
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The Molecular Biophysics Program at the University of Colorado trains graduate students and supports multidisciplinary research. Biophysics bridges the gap between qualitative biology and the predictive power of physics to answer complex biological questions, from understanding molecular structure and function to discovering disease origins and developing diagnostics and treatments. The breadth of the program comes from 36 outstanding and nationally-recognized faculty across five departments:Ìý
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MD simulation of a PYR1 biosensor for detection of lithocholic acid and other bile acids. (Shirts Lab)
Faculty Overview
Above figure made by Eric Parrish
A Cos7 cell with fluorescently labelled SigmaR1-mNeonGreen and Reticulon3l-Halo646. (Sylas Anderson and Gia Voeltz)
Each of these departments is among the nation's best in its field.Ìý The National Institutes of Health established this Molecular Biophysics Training Program at CU in 2002 through a Ruth L. Kirschstein T32 Training Grant. NIH/NIGMS funds, together with matching funds provided by the University of Colorado, enable our program to award training fellowships annually to selected graduate student participants, as well as to support an array of courses, seminars, supergroups, career lunches and other activities sponsored by the training program. In the past ten years, the program has produced more than 100 trainees, producing 191 publications, 89 of which are first-authored by trainees. Trainees benefit from a program designed to produce biophysicists with technical expertise, ethical grounding, and leadership skills who can drive rigorous, state-of-the-art research. This program also fosters a rich, interdisciplinary culture that benefits the broader biophysics community at CU and contributes to improving graduate student training standards across CU by serving as a blueprint.
The Biophysics program strives to promote and support collaboration among students and faculty.Ìý We actively foster a collegial community of people whose complementary experiences and perspectives strengthen and broaden our research, teaching and learning.
For doctoral students, the Molecular Biophysics Graduate Training Program provides strong theoretical and experimental foundations in the cross-disciplinary approaches of modern biophysics. The principal offerings of the training program include:
- NIH and CU fellowships to support doctoral studies in biophysics
- An integrated training environment for doctoral students
- Interdisciplinary courses in molecular biophysics
- Biophysical supergroup meetings and seminar series
- Cross-disciplinary advising by teams of faculty mentors
- Professional skills training and experience
- Career development activities and support
- Training in the responsible conduct of rigorous and reproducible research
- Participation in a collaborative, welcoming biophysics research community
- Graduate Certificate in Molecular Biophysics
MD simulation of human fibronectin (FnIII) domain 10 in solution with an aggregate of EPGMA polymers. (Sprenger Lab)Ìý
This website contains information about the departments, laboratories, faculty, and trainees participating in the program; the sponsored courses and seminars offered; the Graduate Certificate in Molecular Biophysics; the available biophysical instrumentation; the campus environment and resources; and graduate admissions.
The CU Molecular Biophysics program is supported by a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Institutional Training Grant from the NIGMS, grant number 5T32GM145437-05. Please acknowledge this support in publications and presentations!