Photo by Rensselaer/Gary Gold

The School of Science recently added a new Ph.D. program to its 20 other graduate degree offerings. As part of the Institutewide commitment to developing programs in bioscience and biotechnology, the school will begin offering a doctorate in biochemistry and biophysics (BCBP).

Jane Koretz, professor of biology, will direct the new program, which is jointly administered by faculty from the departments of biology and chemistry and chemical biology. In many instances, BCBP courses will be taught jointly by a biologist and a chemist, each of whom can contribute differing perspectives and expertise to the educational dialogue, Koretz said.

BCBP has been available as an undergraduate degree since 1991 and as a master’s degree for nearly 10 years. It has become a very popular program with many students interested in careers in research or in the health profession, Koretz said.

According to the Biophysical Society, only 60 different research universities offer graduate programs in biophysics, and many of these do not have biophysics in the title. Biochemistry programs are more common, but programs combining the two areas are rare. Rensselaer’s program will share a philosophical base with those of MIT and CalTech.

Being interdisciplinary in nature, the BCBP curriculum will include a broad grounding in the mathematical, chemical, physical, and biological sciences. Biophysical research at Rensselaer includes the study of areas as diverse as focusing processes of the eye, electrical impedance assays of cell motility, photosynthesis, myosin mechanics, cellular bioengineering, and biofluid mechanics. Biochemical research includes the application of chromatography to large-scale purification of biological macromolecules, biosensors, prebiotic chemistry, biochemical signaling, bioanalytical chemistry, glycobiology, DNA aptamers, and the catalysis and mechanisms of protein folding.

Published September 18, 2006