Biophysics Major

Major requirements

The major requires the following courses (16-18 courses):

1. BIOL 043L KS - Introductory Biology  or BIOL 040L KS - Introduction to Biological Chemistry , and
   BIOL 044L KS - Introductory Biology 
2. CHEM 014L KS - Basic Principles of Chemistry  or CHEM 040L KS - Introduction to Biological Chemistry , and
   CHEM 015L KS - Basic Principles of Chemistry , or
   CHEM 029L KS - Accelerated General Chemistry 
3. PHYS 030L KS - General Physics  and PHYS 031L KS - General Physics 
   or
   PHYS 033L KS - Principles of Physics  and PHYS 034L KS - Principles of Physics 
4. PHYS 035 KS - Modern Physics
     and
   PHYS 178 KS - Biophysics
    
5. MATH 032 CM - Calculus III  and MATH 111 CM - Differential Equations 
6. One computer programming course selected from among:
   CSCI 051 CM - Introduction to Computer Science  or
   PHYS 108 KS - Programming for Science and Engineering  or
   CSCI 005 HM - Introduction to Computer Science
7. Three upper-division biology courses, at least one of which must include a laboratory component. CHEM 116L KS - Organic Chemistry  may be substituted for one of the three upper-division biology courses, but one of the two remaining upper-division biology courses must still include a laboratory component.
8. Two upper-division physics courses
9. Senior thesis in Biology or Physics (may be either one or two semesters)

The introductory courses in biology, chemistry, and physics may also be completed through both semesters of the Accelerated Integrated Science Sequence (AISS)  . All upper-division courses and the senior thesis must be approved in advance by the Biophysics advisor at Keck Science Department. Students who wish to dual major in Biophysics must determine which two electives may be eliminated from the overall requirements for the major in consultation with the Biophysics advisor at Keck Science Department.

Learning Goals

While biophysics is primarily a physics major, it can serve students who possess interests from multiple disciplines within the natural sciences. The design of this major is intended to provide students with a strong background in physics, mathematics and computer programming for careers that are applicable to the life sciences and health fields.

Student Learning Outcomes

Students who have completed a major in biophysics, when confronted with a natural phenomenon, should be able to examine, model and analyze the system and effectively communicate the findings. Specifically, students should be able to:
• Develop a conceptual framework for understanding the system by identifying the key physical principles, relationships, and constraints underlying the system.
• Develop a physical experiment to analyze the system within the framework.
• Translate that conceptual framework into an appropriate mathematical format/model.
• Demonstrate knowledge of and proficiency with the standard mathematical tools of physics and engineering.
• Use with proficiency standard methods of data analysis.
• Intelligently analyze, interpret, and assess the reasonableness of the answers obtained and/or the model’s predictions.
• Effectively communicate findings to diverse audiences.