Biological Physics

Historically, Life and Physics have been studied in parallel, with little or no overlap. With modern microbiology this has changed substantially, but still we seem to know physics better than life. However, there is bound to be fundamental steps in life processes, where physics plays a crucial role.

The field of Biological Physics encompasses molecular functions, biomechanics, animal studies, portions of physical chemistry, biophysics.... As biophysics has attained a special meaning, the term biological physics is today used for this type of broad approach by physicists. Biological Physics as an undergraduate education or research field is the study of the physical processes governing living systems and the study of biological system with physical methods. There are many reasons why this is an important and worthwhile endeavour for the School of Physics and Engineering Physics:

• we witness an ever increasing interest among young people in life sciences
• many physicists trained in fields other than biology, e.g., condensed matter physics, apply their techniques to biological problems, investigating living systems of any size and shape
• it is an interdisciplinary field where parallels between different human activities are clearly portrayed at the same time as biological materials, complex as they are, are but forms of condensed matter, bordering the area of soft matter
• a lot of different physical techniques are used on various levels in biology, from organs down to cells and molecules, which need the skilled engineers and physicists that we can educate at the School of Physics and Engineering Physics
• there is a growing demand of educating young students who can bridge the gap between scientists in life sciences and in physics
• the School gets a major common goal which can make several groups join forces and make us stronger.

For a more detailed account see Biological Physics - bringing Life to Physics and for an interesting perspective on Biological Physics please read the short paper by Raymond Goldstein, associate professor of Physics at the University of Arizona: A Perspective on Biological Physics.

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