Other Working in a biology lab for a physics/biophysics major

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Working in a biology lab can be valuable for students pursuing a career in biophysics, as it provides practical experience and skills that complement their physics background. The opportunity to engage in experimental biology, such as using spectrometers and fluorescence microscopes, can enhance understanding of biophysics concepts. Graduate school admissions committees prioritize students who maximize their opportunities, regardless of whether their research aligns perfectly with their intended field. Proactive students can leverage their lab experiences by engaging deeply with the work, conducting independent research, and collaborating with faculty, which can lead to significant academic contributions. Understanding both physics and biology perspectives is crucial for effective collaboration in interdisciplinary research, ultimately making one a more competent biophysicist.
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I was wondering if it is of any value for someone interested in physics/Biophysics grad school and a Biophysics career to be working in a biology lab?

I'm an undergraduate physics major concentrating in biophysics in the US and I have an offer to work in a cancer biology lab. It's very much experimental biology: a lot of pipetting, centrifuging, etc. They use spectrometers to measure concentration and fluorescence microscopes to take images, which I guess is biophysics related? They also do some computational modeling but they haven't offered me to be involved on that.

Anyways, I'm wondering if such an opportunity would drift me away too much from my Physics/Biophysics major and if I'd be better off trying to work with biophysicists in my school's physics department.
 
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I don't think it would be worth giving up an opportunity like this for something better that you *might* get.

When it comes to graduate school admissions, committees don't typically look down on a student because they don't have research experience in the specific sub-field they're interested in. They're looking for students who've made the best of the opportunities they have.

Some students take an opportunity like this, do the pipetting they're told to do and watch the clock until it's time to go and hope for a decent letter of reference.

Other students read up on the gamma H2AX foci assay, write a python code to assess "luminiomics" - higher order patterns in images of the foci that correlate with different long term outcomes - write a paper, and present it at a conference. They talk to their physics professors about what they're doing, and find a biophysics post-doc who's been looking for just this kind of work to fit into another paper, and a major grant application. Etc.
 
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Think rationally about your question and the way the job description relates to Biophysics, and you should easily be able to answer your own question to the affirmative.

Also, do you think anything like what you described had hurt this guy's future:
?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Stallman
https://stallman.org/
edit: very bad grammar was corrected.
 
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OP: If you are strongly interested in pursuing a career in biophysics, an interdisciplinary field at the intersection of physics and biology, and if you are planning on majoring in physics, then I highly urge you to take advantage of the opportunity to work in a biology lab. Learning skills, techniques, and approaches from a biologist's perspective (i.e., complementary to those from a physicist's perspective) will serve you well in the future. It will also be likely that at some point you will collaborate with researchers who majored in biology, and you will collaborate with them more effectively if you understand their background, and, more importantly, if you understand how they think and approach problems. By understanding the pluses and minuses of both physics and biology, you will be a better biophysicist.

Note: My personal background is not in biophysics. But I majored in physics and worked at the intersection of physics and materials science and engineering. The research experience I gained working in materials science and engineering labs helped make me a better solid-state physicist than if I had worked in physics labs alone.
 
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Thank you all so much for the responses! Very helpful and insightful!
Choppy said:
do the pipetting they're told to do and watch the clock until it's time to go and hope for a decent letter of reference.

Other students read up on the gamma H2AX foci assay, write a python code to assess "luminiomics" - higher order patterns in images of the foci that correlate with different long term outcomes - write a paper, and present it at a conference.
It does seem like from the comparison you make that the latter style of approaching one's work is a bit more driven, values-oriented, and probably more conducive to enjoyment and satisfaction in the long run.
 
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Hey, I am Andreas from Germany. I am currently 35 years old and I want to relearn math and physics. This is not one of these regular questions when it comes to this matter. So... I am very realistic about it. I know that there are severe contraints when it comes to selfstudy compared to a regular school and/or university (structure, peers, teachers, learning groups, tests, access to papers and so on) . I will never get a job in this field and I will never be taken serious by "real"...
Yesterday, 9/5/2025, when I was surfing, I found an article The Schwarzschild solution contains three problems, which can be easily solved - Journal of King Saud University - Science ABUNDANCE ESTIMATION IN AN ARID ENVIRONMENT https://jksus.org/the-schwarzschild-solution-contains-three-problems-which-can-be-easily-solved/ that has the derivation of a line element as a corrected version of the Schwarzschild solution to Einstein’s field equation. This article's date received is 2022-11-15...
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