Biology for Physicists

The goal of the Fall Graduate School is to bring together Ph.D. students from around the country with interests in biophysics and biochemistry. We are particularly aiming for students with backgrounds in the physical sciences, both to provide them with insight into the applicability of the physical sciences to biology and to deepen their knowledge of the biological sciences themselves. Every effort will be made to lectures pedagogical and interconnected, since the number of relevant lecture courses is limited and research articles treat material quite compactly. The lectures will focus on several parts: fundamentals of DNA mechanics and the importance of electrostatics; the cytoskeleton and its accompanying motors; RNA structure and function; and DNA-protein interactions.