{"id":508,"date":"2022-12-02T20:59:07","date_gmt":"2022-12-02T20:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/physics\/?page_id=508"},"modified":"2025-11-12T22:05:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T22:05:13","slug":"physical-biology-phd-program","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/physics\/physical-biology-phd-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Physical Biology PhD Program"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Physical Biology PhD Program<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The interface between physics and biology is experiencing a revolution much like the one experienced by 17th century astronomers. Then, like now, new quantitative techniques allowed unprecedented observations, which in turn demanded quantitative reasoning. Galileo\u2019s approach subjected the laws of motion to a unique blend of experiment and theory, before finally being placed in a predictive mathematical context. This style of inquiry, long favored by physicists, is now being applied to the biological sciences with increasing frequency. New experimental tools are elucidating phenomena ranging from the forces experienced by single biomolecules to the complex regulatory networks of gene expression, and the target biophysical problems range from the metabolism of individual cells to the dynamics of entire populations. The power of this physics-based approach is now widely recognized as essential for approaching all grand challenges in the biological sciences, from combating cancer to unraveling the mysteries of the brain.<\/p>\n

Motivated by the promise of this approach at the physics\/biology interface, the PhD\u00a0program in Physical Biology integrates biophysical research experience leading to a dissertation with state-of-the art curriculum that (i) introduces molecular and cell biology to quantitatively minded students; (ii) presents a rigorous treatment of the physical principles underlying biological phenomena; and (iii) emphasizes the emerging physical methods that has transformed the biological sciences into a quantitative discipline. While distinct in its intellectual focus from existing graduate programs at USC, this program harnesses the critical mass of research-active biophysicists in multiple departments (physics, biological sciences, chemistry, multiple engineering departments, and the Keck School of Medicine of USC.<\/p>\n

The Physical Biology PhD Program is actively looking for PhD students.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our application\u00a0requires\u00a0no<\/strong>\u00a0fee<\/strong>\u00a0to apply.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Affiliated Faculty:<\/h4>\n
James Boedicker<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
Peter Chung<\/a><\/div>\n
\n
Rosa Di Felice<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Moh El-Naggar<\/a><\/div>\n
Peter Foster<\/a><\/div>\n
Geoff Fudenberg\u00a0<\/a><\/div>\n
\n
Stephan Haas<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Christoph Haselwandter<\/a><\/div>\n
Eva Kanso<\/a><\/div>\n
Emily Liman<\/a><\/div>\n
Adam MacLean<\/a><\/div>\n
Sergie Nuzhdin<\/a><\/div>\n
\n
Remo Rohs<\/a><\/div>\n
Julia Schwartzman<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
Wade Zeno<\/a><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":195,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-508","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPhysical Biology PhD Program - Department of Physics and Astronomy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/physics\/physical-biology-phd-program\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Physical Biology PhD Program - Department of Physics and Astronomy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/physics\/physical-biology-phd-program\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Department of Physics and Astronomy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-12T22:05:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/physics\/physical-biology-phd-program\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/physics\/physical-biology-phd-program\/\",\"name\":\"Physical Biology PhD Program - 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