Enabling discoveries at the intersection of physics, biology, and chemistry.

Biophysics, literally the physics of life, enables scientists working at the intersection of physics, biology, chemistry, and applied mathematics and statistics, to collaborate with clinicians, mathematicians and engineers to develop a predictive understanding of biological processes, including cancer, development, infection and the immune system.  Novel tools and techniques now permit biophysicists to see and measure what was once invisible. Physics has long played a prominent role in biology – Watson, Crick and Franklin, discoverers of the structure of DNA, considered themselves biophysicists – but that role has increased dramatically in recent years as the development of new methods has transformed our understanding of biological systems, their complexity and their molecular details.

The University of Notre Dame has a rich history of molecular biophysics research across disciplines. The recent establishment of the Stavropoulos Center for Complex Quantum Matter will strengthen these efforts across campus, attracting elite research talent at all levels of career development.