All aspects of these programs are aimed at the questions: how do macromolecules work? How do proteins, membranes, nucleic acids, membrane assemblies, and high-order complexes of these enormous molecules use physical-chemical principles to act in the varied contexts that underlie biological function? Faculty participating in this program share the conviction that the coherent operation of living cells, and its disruption in disease, is ultimately understandable in terms of the chemistry and physics of biological macromolecules.

Students in the Ph.D. program are eligible to participate in the interdepartmental graduate program inQuantitative Biology, which provides training in new research fields that cross the traditional boundaries between the life sciences and the physical sciences.