Biophysics

Entry requirements

Please review admissions requirements and other information before applying. You can find degree program-specific admissions requirements below and access additional guidance on applying from the Biophysics Program.

Months of entry

August

Course content

If you are interested in taking a deep dive into biological and biomedical research, the biophysics program is for you. Biophysics is part of Harvard Integrated Life Sciences, a federation of 14 life science PhD programs, departments, and subject areas that facilitates cross-disciplinary academic and research collaboration. You will get broad training in the biophysical, chemical, and molecular concepts and techniques that address outstanding problems in biology and biomedical sciences. The program’s flexibility enables you to use your experience and background in the quantitative sciences to explore many diverse research areas and use that knowledge to approach biological problems in an in-depth way.

Recent student projects include: “Rationally designed immunogens enable immune focusing following SARS-Cov-2 spike Imprinting,” “RNA Hybridization and Protein Multimerization in and out of Equilibrium,” and “Explorations in cancer genomics and tumor immunology through analysis of next-generation data.”

Graduates of the program have secured positions at academic institutions such as Harvard Medical School, Wesleyan University, California Institute of Technology, and many others. Others have gone on to industry positions in biotechnology at companies such as Novartis Oncology, Amgen, and Insight Data Science, among many others.

Fees and funding

5 years’ funding is guaranteed to all Harvard PhD students.

British citizens who are – or will be – graduates of British universities should check out both Kennedy Scholarships and Frank Knox Fellowships.

Both of these awards offer full tuition and health insurance coverage and a generous stipend towards living expenses. They are offered annually in competition. A Frank Knox Fellowship can be particularly welcomed during the early stages of a doctoral degree and both awards offer considerable personal support from their networks.

Please note that you will need to submit your application to either or both awards ahead of the deadline for your Harvard application. Kennedy Scholarship and Frank Knox Fellowship applications are to be made online via their websites between mid-August and late-October in the same application season as you will submit your application to Harvard. Please note they are totally separate from, and independent of, admission to the program. Awards made at interview in London in January are provisional, pending confirmation of a place on the course.