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The primary objective of the Biophysics Program at Harvard University is to prepare investigators with diverse backgrounds for independent research careers in which the concepts and methods of physical science are applied to biological problems. The program is administered by the Committee on Higher Degrees in Biophysics , which is comprised of senior representatives from the Departments of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology; Molecular and Cellular Biology; Chemistry and Chemical Biology; Physics; Genetics and Pathology. Owing to the interdepartmental nature of the program, research may be pursued on the Cambridge campus (in the Departments of Molecular and Cellular Biology; Chemistry and Chemical Biology; Physics; the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences; etc.) or the Boston campus (including the Harvard Medical School, Division of Medical Sciences, and the 11 Harvard-affiliated teaching hospitals, which include the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Children’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital).

The goal of the biophysics program is to nurture independent, creative scientists. To this end, the first part of the program seeks both to introduce the student to the faculty members and their research directly, enabling the student to make a considered choice of research advisor, and to involve the student in the diverse areas of biophysics through laboratory as well as coursework. This first two years provides a background for the second part of the program: the training of the student to be an independent scientist by a period of intensive research, culminating in publications and the PhD degree.

Most graduates of the biophysics program at Harvard have been undergraduate majors in physics or physical chemistry, though a few have come from biology. Consequently, the course requirements for admission are flexible. Each student’s program of graduate study is planned in consultation with a faculty advisor. The degree program is designed to be completed in a maximum of six years.

The first year’s training in the Biophysics Program provides an introduction to five diverse areas of Biophysics: 1) Structural Molecular Biology; 2) Cell and Membrane Biophysics; 3) Molecular Genetics; 4) Physical Biochemistry; and 5) Neurosciences. The curriculum includes learning experiences in a laboratory environment as well as coursework. The program is flexible and special effort has been devoted to minimizing formal requirements.

The laboratory experience is organized as a full course, Biophysics 300. In the first 10 weeks of the fall term, faculty members associated with the biophysics program give seminars describing the current research interests of their own laboratories. Following this, a student spends six-week periods in each of three different laboratories. The list under Participating Faculty and Their Special Fields names some of our professors who currently support biophysics rotation students. In order to make sure that the student gains familiarity with several fields of biophysics, each of the three laboratory experiences usually is selected from a different one of the areas of biophysics listed above. It will also be possible to work on a suitable problem in mathematical biophysics in place of one of the three laboratory rotations.

Combined MD-PhD Program

Students admitted to Harvard Medical School, as candidates for the MD degree, may also apply for admission to the biophysics program in order to earn a PhD degree in biophysics. This program may be of particular interest to prospective medical students with a strong background in physics and to students enrolled in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.