Are lipid bilayers the key to bridging physics and biology?

[Allday]

Hey everybody, what do you think of biophysics. I am a year into a physics PhD program and I am getting really interested in biology. There's one guy on the faculty who does research on lipid bilayers and another who does research on developing dynamic monte carlo techniques. John Nagle and Robert Swendson. Anybody heard of them? I am not too familiar with biophysics so anyone who is, I would be glad to hear your feelings on the career possibilities and the level of research activity, especially concerning lipid bilayers.

Thanks

 

[so-crates]

My brother did exactly this topic for his PhD thesis. He now has a tenure-track position. He does research on cochlear fluid dynamics.

Your career possibilities in biophysics are probably better than in pure physics as it is very difficult to get professorships in pure physics nowadays, and in terms of industry you have a lot more options especially with the pharmaceutical industry.

 

[Allday]

thanks socrates, good to hear. I saw a presentation on cochlear implants with all kinds of cool animations of the inner ear. pretty amazing stuff.

 

[ElectroPhysics]

Hey everybody, what do you think of biophysics. I am a year into a physics PhD program and I am getting really interested in biology. There's one guy on the faculty who does research on lipid bilayers and another who does research on developing dynamic monte carlo techniques. John Nagle and Robert Swendson. Anybody heard of them? I am not too familiar with biophysics so anyone who is, I would be glad to hear your feelings on the career possibilities and the level of research activity, especially concerning lipid bilayers.

Thanks

BioPhysics is very important branch of science. If I were there to research in BioPhysics then I would like to choose the topic "Implementation of Physics concepts to increase the age and health of human body using latest tools like nanotechnology".

 

[silin]

I´m doing my Master thesis on biophysics now. It´s a branch of science with certainly many perspectives. I´ve visited a Nobel prize winners meeting last year (as a student of course and that´s what these guys told me. Since molecular biology is THE science now in the 21st century, they will surely need appliaction of many methods, which THE science of 20th century - physics - has developed and is developing. So go into it without reservation. Career perspectives (and the amount of money you earn) are indeed better than in any other field of physics.

 

[so-crates]

Hey,

I am a current undergraduate student who is interested in studying biophysics, but unfortunately my current university does not offer a biophysics program. Thus, I am planning on taking some physics, math, and bio. courses this year in preparation for a transfer to a university which does have a biophysics program. I was wondering if anybody knows of a good biophysics program at a university in North America that I can try to transfer into next year?

Its more of a graduate level topic, so I wouldn't be so worried at the undergrad level. That said, the univerisities I personally know of that have people doing research on biophysics nclude Rice, Baylor, Johns Hopkins and the U. of Rochester. I wouldn't transfer to the last place though, over quality of life issues. It has all the advantages of a city (slums, crime, etc.) and almost none of the benefits (culture). Iits also very cold, and they get dumped with snow being right off the lake. Hopkins is right in the middle of a ghetto but if you stay within the University its not so bad (its like USC in that respect). As an undergrad you might be able to be able to get research experience(even if its only being a pipette monkey) that you wouldn' t get somewhere else.

 

[Einstien]

i hav completed my high school and i want to go in the fields of biophysics so i was wondering that can anybody tell me which subjects to take in the under graduate university program so i can pursue biophysics later on. and can anyone also tell me good universities for biophysics in america and Canada. and can u reply as soon as possible.

 

[inha]

The normal course is standard undergrad physics courses+biology+biophysics specific physics courses. As for the university it doesn't matter at undergrad. Just go where ever biophysics is offered.