Computational Biophysics

Courses: 6.336J, 6.581J, 6.582J

Luca Daniel
Tomas Lozano-Perez
Collin Stultz
Bruce Tidor
Jacob White

Research in computational biophysics uses physical principles to understand complex biological phenomena at an atomistic level of detail.  No single approach fully characterizes the research that falls into this area as the methods we employ are often problem dependent.  Nevertheless, in many cases numerical techniques provide a platform that is used to gain insights into difficult biological problems.  Some methods that are often employed in this field are molecular dynamics simulations, electrostatic energy calculations, and Monte Carlo sampling.  EECS subjects in this area provide a background in both numerical simulation methods and algorithms that form the foundation of many computational approaches to biological problems.  This is an especially exciting time for those interested in computational biophysics as the speed of today's computers often place daunting biological problems within our grasp.