(updated on August 23, 2024)

The mission of the Bachelor of Sciences in Physics with a Biophysics Concentration degree program is to prepare undergraduates for a career in biophysics as well as in traditional physics. Students will graduate with the education expected of all physicists in classical mechanics, electromagnetism, quantum mechanics, thermal physics/statistical mechanics, and laboratory, data analysis and computational skills. They will, however, also have an education in biological sciences with a flexible course selection designed by the student (in consultation with a specialist advisor) to focus on fundamental biological processes, biophysics, biochemistry, biomedical engineering or medical physics. The Program Student Learning Outcomes are listed at the end of this posting.

This program is a variation of the B.S. in Physics, officially a ‘B.S. in Physics with a Biophysics Concentration.’  This concentration addresses the growing interest and excitement in biophysics.  It offers an ideal preparation for biological research in physics graduate schools and industry, and is also appropriate for careers in biology, biophysics, and biomedical engineering, as well as medical school.  This concentration can be described in terms of certain substitutions in the course requirements for the standard B.S. in Physics.  Four physics courses and two open electives are replaced by a ‘biogroup’ of five courses (generally chosen from PHYS 320, PHYS 330 and courses available from biology, biophysics, biochemistry, and biomedical engineering departments), and a technical elective. The biogroup and technical elective courses are chosen by the student in consultation with the biophysics academic advisor.

The following table illustrates the curriculum of the Bachelor of Science in Physics with Biophysics Concentration*. Those courses in the standard B.S. program that are not required for this concentration are shown in red font in brackets. This posting reflects the requirements for students entering in the class of fall 2022. Students who matriculated to CWRU before fall 2022 should consult the General Bulletin for the year they started at CWRU for program requirements that apply for them. One important change implemented in fall 2019 is a reduction in the total number of credits required for this degree from 127 to 120, leading to a reduction in the number of required open electives from 14 to 7. 

*A student’s Academic Requirement page in SIS and the University’s General Bulletin, https://case.edu/bulletin/ are the definitive sources for course and degree information.

Course  

Yr*

Cred

 Course  

Yr*

Cred
PHYS 121 or 123

Intro Mech

1

4

 MATH 121 or 123

Calc 1

1

4
PHYS 122 or 124

Intro E&M

1

4

 MATH 122 or 124

Calc 2

1

4
PHYS 221

Modern

2F

3

 MATH 223 or 227

Calc 3

2F

3
PHYS 203

Elec Lab

2F

4

 MATH 224

Diff E

2S

3
PHYS 204

Instr Lab

2S

4

 Subtotal    

14
PHYS 250

CompMeth

2S

3

        
PHYS 310

Clas. Mech

2S

3

 CHEM 105 (or 111)

Chem 1

1

3 (4)
PHYS 301

Adv Lab 1

3F

3

 CHEM 106 (or ENGR 145)

Chem 2

1

3 (4)
PHYS 303
AdvLabSem
3F
1
 CHEM 113

CLab

1

2
PHYS 313

Thermo

3F

3

 ENGR 131 or CSDS/ECES 132

CompProg

1

3
PHYS 331

QM 1

3F

3

 Subtotal    

11
PHYS 324

E&M 1

3S

3

        
PHYS 325

E&M 2

4F

3

        
Tech elective**

PHYS 3**

4

3

 SAGES first/Univ sem  

1&2

10

[PHYS 302]

[Adv Lab 2]

     SAGES dept. sem.****  

3or2

2or3

[PHYS 332]

[QM 2]

     SAGES capstone*****  

4

3or4

[CM elective]

[Solid State]

     Breadth requirements******    

12

[PA elective]

[Nuc Particle]

     Open electives*******    

7
Subtotal    

44

 PHED 2 semesters    

0
B-group 1***

[bio-related]

1

4(3)

 Subtotal    

34
B-group 2***

[bio-related]

2

4(3)

        
B-group 3***

[PHYS 320 or bio-related]

3

3

        
B-group 4***

[PHYS 330 or bio-related]

3

3

        
B-group 5***

[bio-related]

4

3(4)

        
Subtotal    

17

 Total    

120

* course usually taken in this year, ‘F’ or ‘S’ indicates the course is usually offered only in fall or spring. Other courses are either offered both semesters (100 & 200 level) or on no fixed schedule.

** Suggested technical electives include PHYS 315, 316, 320, 326, 327, 328, 330, 336, 365.

*** B-group 1-5 are to be chosen from among approved physics, biology, biophysics, biochemistry, biomedical engineering courses, including certain prerequisites as needed (e.g., chemistry). We strongly recommend PHYS 320 and PHYS 330 if they have not been selected as a technical elective. BIOL 214 and BIOL 215 are popular choices for B-group 1 and 2 but a wide variety of courses can be chosen. This group is also designed to accommodate medical school guidelines. The listing of credits includes numbers for the most likely choices of courses and, in parenthesis, possible alternatives.

**** PHYS 303 + PHYS 352 can be used to satisfy the SAGES departmental seminar requirement.

***** PHYS 351 can be used to satisfy the SAGES capstone requirement.

******The breadth requirements include 6 hours of Social Sciences and 6 hours of Arts and Humanities. This may increase by 3 credits if the required Global and Cultural Diversity course is not also one of the breadth requirement courses. Courses required for the BS in Physics satisfy the 6 credit GER for Natural Sciences and Mathematics as well as the Quantitative Reasoning course requirement.

******* The number of open electives may vary, depending on course choices made by the student, but the degree requires that the total number of credits be at least 120.

 

Typical Schedule

(* indicates options, 4-5 of the Open Elective courses are normally used to satisfy GER Breadth Requirements.)

 

Fall (Class Hours-Lab Hours-Credit Hours)

Spring (Class Hours-Lab Hours-Credit Hours)
First Year

PHYS 121 or PHYS 123  Mechanics (4-3-4)

MATH 121 Calculus for Science and Engineering I (4-0-4)

CHEM 105 or CHEM 111 (3-0-3) or (4-0-4)

CHEM 113 Chemistry Lab (1-3-2)

Open* Elective = PHYS 166 Physics Today & Tom. (1-0-1)

FS** SAGES First Seminar (4-0-4)

PHED *** Physical Education Activities (0-3-0)

PHYS 122 or PHYS 124 Electricity & Magnetism (4-3-4)

MATH 122 Calculus for Science and Engineering II (4-0-4)

CHEM 106 or ENGR 145 (3-0-3) or (4-0-4)

BIOGROUP Elective (4-0-4)

ENGR 131 Elementary Computer Programming (2-2-3)

PHED *** Physical Education Activities (0-3-0)
Second Year

PHYS 203 Analog & Digital Electronics (2-4-4)

PHYS 221 General Physics III  Modern Physics (3-0-3)

MATH 223 Calculus for Science & Engineering III (3-0-3)

BIOGROUP Elective (4-0-4) US** University Seminar (3-0-3)

PHYS 204 Advanced Instrumentation Lab (2-4-4)

PHYS 250 Computational Methods(3-0-3)

PHYS 310 Classical Mechanics (3-0-3)

MATH 224 Differential Equations (3-0-3)

US** University Seminar (3-0-3)
Third Year

PHYS 301+303 Adv. Lab. Physics I + Seminar (0-7-3)+(1-0-1)

PHYS 313 Thermodynamics & Statistical Mech. (3-0-3)

PHYS 331 Introduction to Quantum Mechanics I(3-0-3)

BIOGROUP Elective (3-0-3)

Open* Elective (3-0-3)

PHYS 324 Electricity and Magnetism I (3-0-3)

BIOGROUP Elective (3-0-3)

Open* Elective (3-0-3)

Open* Elective (3-0-3)
Fourth Year

PHYS 351+352 Senior Project+Seminar (0-6-2)+(1-0-1)

PHYS 325 Electricity and Magnetism II(3-0-3)

PHYS 3** Physics Elective (3-0-3)

Open* Elective (3-0-3)

PHYS 351+352 Senior Project+Seminar (0-6-2)+(1-0-1)

BIOGROUP Elective (3-0-3)

Open* Elective (3-0-3)

Open* Elective (3-0-3)

The Program Student Learning Outcomes for this degree program are provided below.

PSLO #1: Biophysics concentration majors will graduate with the mastery of classical mechanics, electromagnetism, quantum mechanics, thermal physics/statistical mechanics and other topics expected for a professional physicist and needed for admission to a graduate program in physics.

PSLO #2: Graduates will be able to carry out experiments, take measurements and analyze data to support or refute a scientific hypothesis.

PSLO #3: Graduates will demonstrate proficiency in the methods of scientific inquiry, including critical thinking and problem-solving, and be able to formulate and solve quantitative problems using computational and analytical methods.

PSLO #4: Graduates will have experience in research and demonstrate they can contribute to an experimental, theoretical or computational research effort.

PSLO #5: Graduates will demonstrate proficiency in communicating scientific concepts and results orally and in writing in styles appropriate to proposals, reports and formal publications.

PSLO #6: Graduates will demonstrate their understanding of professional standards and ethics.

PSLO #7: Graduates will be prepared for a career in biophysics as well as in traditional physics.

PSLO #8: Biophysics concentration majors will be competent in at least one of the following focus areas: fundamental biological processes, biophysics, biochemistry, biomedical engineering or medical physics.

For more information, contact Prof. Harsh Mathur harsh.mathur@case.edu or Prof. Michael Hinczewski, michael.hinczewski@case.edu.