Cross-disciplinary curriculum in Biophysics, Computational Biology, and Evolution

The UoC faculty in Biophysics and Computational Biology has developed a timely interdisciplinary curriculum in quantitative biology, with a focus on graduate education in Biophysics, Computational Biology, Population Genetics and Evolution. We offer a broad range of courses on theory, experiment, and data analysis. These courses are part of the module Statistical Physics and Biophysics within the Master and PhD program in Physics. They are closely linked with the curriculum in Computational Biology at UoC’s Biology Department and can be taken for credit within the Master programs in Physics and Biology.

Core courses at IBP

• Biological Physics I: Molecules and Cells (3+1 HPW, 6 CP): Introduction to molecular cell biology, random walks in biology, mechanical forces in molecular and cellular biology, rate equations and cellular dynamics, photophysics, electrical signals in nerve cells, biophysical methods
• Biological Physics II: Systems (3+1 HPW, 6 CP): Dynamical systems, dynamics of small gene regulatory networks, noise in gene expression, statistical analysis of large biological networks, biological pattern formation, reaction-diffusion systems, empirical laws in biology

• Selected Topics in Statistical Physics (3+1 HPW, 6 CP), including Soft and biological matter, non- equilibrium statistical physics, disordered systems
• Statistical Biology of Evolution (3+1 HPW, 6 CP): Basic concepts of evolutionary theory, introduction to molecular evolution and genomics, theory of bio-molecular networks, concepts and methods of data analysis – offered every summer term
• Advanced Practical Course M Biophysics
• Evolutionary Biology for Physicists (until '23, superseded by Statistical Biology of Evolution) (3+1 HPW, 6 CP): Basic concepts of evolutionary theory, introduction to molecular evolution and genomics, theory of bio-molecular networks, concepts and methods of data analysis

Specialized courses and seminars at IBP

• Computational Soft Matter Physics (2+1 HPW, 4.5 CP)

• Information Theory and Statistical Physics (3+1 HPW, 6 CP)

• Non-Equilibrium Physics with Interdisciplinary Applications (2+1 HPW, 4.5 CP)

• Qualitative Methods in Theoretical Physics (4 HPW, 6 CP)

• Probability Theory and Stochastic Processes (3+1 HPW, 6 CP)

• Experiment and Simulation on Biological Systems (3 HPW, 4.5 CP)

• Advanced Seminar in Statistical and Biological Physics (2 HPW, 3 CP)

Related courses in Computational Biology at the Biology Department

• Bioinformatics 1: Introduction to bioinformatics, sequence alignment, structural biology, network biology
• Advanced Bioinformatics: High-dimensional statistics, analysis of chromatin structure data, alignment-free sequence analysis

• Statistical Genetics & Epidemiology: Human genetics, genetic mapping, genome-wide association studies

• Omics Data Analysis: High-throughput data analysis, RNA-sequencing data analysis, DNA-binding data analysis

• Population Genetics: Population genetics, evolutionary molecular biology