The subject of Biophysics is one of the important interdisciplinary areas in teaching, training and learning which is considered to be important in terms of human resource development and National development. Biophysics is the physics of life phenomenon studied at all level, from molecules and cell to the biosphere as whole. It may be defined: Biophysics is that branch of knowledge that applies the principles of physics and chemistry and the methods of mathematical analysis and computer modeling to understand how biological systems work.The main emphasis of biophysics is on the quantitative analysis of the physical and chemical aspects of the functions of biological molecules, organisms and entities. The techniques and methodologies that biophysics relies on are closer to Physics and Chemistry, but areas of application are in the biological, medical and related sciences Biophysicists use many techniques which includes UV visible spectroscopy, Gel electrophoresis, X-ray crystallography, macrocalorimetry, Atomic force Microscope, CAT (Computer Aided Tomography), MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), PET (Positron Emission Tomography), FTIR and fluorescence spectroscopy. They are used to study the problems in areas of biophysics ranging from structure aided drug design to cell signalling and transcriptional silencing.
Scope: Biophysics is a growing enterprise world-wide, driven primarily by the widespread realization of the major contributions made to biological science by a combination of truly state-of-the-art physical measurements with modern molecular biology.
Biophysics discovers how to modify microorganisms for biofuel (replacing gasoline and diesel fuel) and bioelectricity (replacing petroleum products and coal for producing electricity). Biophysicists identifies how proteins work.
Career Options: Job opportunities exist in both the private and public sectors, especially in the realms of agricultural science, biotechnology, computational biology, environmental science, forensic science, medical science, and radiation science.One can start a career in universities, industries, medical centres, research institutes, private and public sectors.Recently many startups have emerged in India and Worldwide which have the potential to recruit high end technical experts. Biophysicists even have the capacity tostart their own startups in various trending areas.
Job Roles: Biophysicists, Researcher Scientist, Applied biophysicist, Clinical biophysicist, Medical biophysicist, Forensic biophysicist, Nutritional biophysicist.
Institutes in India: University of Mumbai, Panjab University, PGI Chandigarh, All IndiaInstitute of Medical Sciences(New Delhi), Madras University, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Delhi University, Molecular Biophysics (IISC), TIFR, IMSC, ICTS, NCBS,
Institutes Abroad: University of Michigan,University of Wisconsin, Madison Cornell University,York University,Princeton University, American Institute of Physics,
Various Biophysics Courses in India:
B.Sc in Biophysics (3Yrs) (12th std with science stream)
Certificate courses in Biophysics (1 yr to few months) (12th std with science stream)
M.Sc in Biophysics (2 Yrs) (Graduate in Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Maths)
Suggestions:
Since Biophysics itself is a bit vague term in the sense that it includes(and overlaps) Computational Biophysics, Theoretical Biophysics(Biological Physics/Mathematical Biology), Experimental Biophysics, Complex System (it’s broader research area), Bioinformatics, Bioengineering, you can look at the profile of the faculty members in some of the Central Universities(Specifically those with IOE tag :), CSIR laboratories(try NCL Pune) and other research centers including SNBNCB, JNCASR, IIT Indore, and IIIT Delhi (specifically for bioinformatics/Computational Biology.) and IACS to some lesser extent.
The best way to figure out appropriate institute for any research area, would be to simply look at the profile of the faculty members on google scholar (do keep in mind h index, collaborations and consistency of publications if you have to choose over different faculties).
for more career related articles visit www.mahaedunews.com
reach out to us at mahaedunews@gmail.com
