How much Chemistry should I take to prepare for Biophysics PhD?

[XcgsdV]

Hey y'all! I'm about to enter my second year of undergrad as a double major in Physics and Vocal Music. I am still exploring a lot of what physics has to offer, but I'm very intrigued by biophysics.

I recently found a paper on the mechanics behind cell differentiation during embryonic development that really piqued my interest. The first author on that paper also has interesting work in morphogensis and wound healing. That sort of cellular-mechanics-type physics, making use of some cool computational techniques, is really where my interests lie.

That said, what types of courses in undergrad will best get me there? I come from am fairly small department, with literally nothing biophysics-y going on. We have 4 professors, none of whom studied biophysics in really any capacity, and thus no biophysics courses available.

By the time I graduate, I'll have taken the standard physics courses (Calc Based 1 and 2, Modern Physics, Classical Mechanics, E&M, Thermo & Stat. Mech., Adv. Physics Lab, undergrad Research, and Quantum Mechanics) and a couple others (a Computational Physics course and Optics). Math-wise, I'll also have the essentials (Calc 1 - 3, ODEs, Linear Algebra) and some electives (Discrete, Mathematical Modeling, PDEs, and Applied Statistics). In EECS I'll have at least Programming 1 and 2 in C++, a Python course, and 2 courses in electrical circuits. That's the long winded rundown... now onto the actual question.

I have enough space (or can make space, rather) for a few more courses. My options are Organic Chem 1 and 2, Biochemistry 1 (pre-req: Orgo 2), Physical Chemistry (pre-req: Orgo 1), Bioinformatics, Cell Biology (pre-req: Biochem 1), Complex Variables, or Data Structures (pre-req: Programming 2 and Discrete). I'm leaning towards OChem 1 & 2, and maybe Biochem and Bioinformatics. I'm pretty confident in my ability to self teach math and CS, and Cell Bio has the most prerequisites and would require moving my schedule around a lot. All of them are doable, I just want opinions on what would be the most useful.

Thank you so much if you've read this far! I appreciate the help :)

 

[hutchphd]

I like your analysis. My only advice is that sometimes you take a course (or not) just because of the professor. Maybe more cell molecular biology and less programming?? Your preparation will never be perfect, unless you are clairvoyant.

 

[CrysPhys]

I'm not a biophysicist, and I hope that a biophysicist will reply to you. I did look into biophysics programs for a student several years ago. Here's some info that might help.

There are multiple avenues to a biophysics PhD, depending on the school. E.g., (a) You can apply for a regular PhD physics program, and pick a thesis advisor specializing in biophysics; (b) You an apply for an interdisciplinary biophysics PhD program, jointly administered by the physics and biology depts. Typically, a student with a physics undergrad will apply through the physics dept, and a student with a biology undergrad will apply through the biology dept. The PhD program provides opportunity for physics students to make up deficiencies in biology, and for biology students to make up deficiencies in physics; (c) You can apply for a dedicated biophysics PhD program. Some are not affiliated with the physics or biology depts, but with schools of medicine.

A key point is these programs specialize in different aspects of biophysics and have different incoming undergrad requirements or recommendations. Some programs have fairly general requirements or recommendations. But Stanford has interesting ones. Under recommended undergrad courses, they don't list any specific physics or biology courses, but they do list the following (https://med.stanford.edu/biophysics/admissions/course-requirements.html):

The recommendations for applying to the Ph.D. Program in Biophysics include:

Course	Title	Units
CHEM 123	Organic Polyfunctional Compounds	3
CHEM 171	Physical Chemistry I	4
CHEM 173	Physical Chemistry II	3
CHEM 175	Physical Chemistry III	3
BIOC 200	Applied Biochemistry	2

Four chem and one biochem!Fortunately, you've identified your area of future research:

I recently found a paper on the mechanics behind cell differentiation during embryonic development that really piqued my interest. The first author on that paper also has interesting work in morphogensis and wound healing. That sort of cellular-mechanics-type physics, making use of some cool computational techniques, is really where my interests lie.

So I'd recommend you work backwards. Develop a candidate list of biophysics PhD programs that do research in your field of interest. Are the authors of the paper associated with universities? If so, that would be a good place to start. Then check the programs on your candidate list for their specific requirements or recommendations for undergrad courses.