Students and faculty associated with Florida State University’s Graduate Program in Molecular Biophysics (MOB) Graduate Program use the language and tools of physics, biochemistry, mathematics, physical chemistry, and molecular and cellular biology to understand biological phenomena at the molecular level. The field of molecular biophysics involves exciting, highly interdisciplinary research, and the graduate training at FSU reflects the best in the areas that comprise modern biophysics.
The MOB Graduate Program is independent from graduate programs in other departments because our faculty is drawn from multiple departments. MOB students have the opportunity to work with a diverse group of mentors across the University.
MOB Graduate Student Handbook
MOB Graduate Student Handbook contains information useful to both graduate students and faculty. In addition to information in this booklet, the student should seek out information from The Graduate School. The Graduate School provides an additional handbook for all University graduate students and is an excellent reference for both students and faculty.
Applications to MOB are separate and different from applications to Chemistry, Physics, Biology or other departments. See our Admissions page. The application deadline is January 15th.
Flexible Curriculum for Career Success
Successful MOB students come from many different scientific backgrounds and our curriculum is designed with the flexibility to meet their individual goals. Our program is small enough that MOB students receive individual attention and yet large enough to offer students a wealth of research opportunities. Our graduates are employed in academia, industry, and government. We have graduates in patent law and those who have founded their own start-up companies. Our students are diverse, coming from all over the world. Students studying molecular biophysics at Florida State are a close-knit group who study and socialize together, maintaining their MOB roots well beyond graduation.
Interdisciplinary Research
We have approximately 30 faculty associated with the MOB program, drawn from Departments in three Colleges at FSU, including Chemistry and Biochemistry, Biological Science, Physics, Mathematics, Biomedical Sciences, and Chemical and Biomedical Engineering. Faculty research interests include biochemical and biophysical studies of enzyme evolution, structural biology of gene expression, quantum and statistical mechanical modeling of biopolymers, and neuroscience of sensory perception.
World-Class Facilities
Outstanding research facilities allow our students to directly use sophisticated and state-of-the-art equipment. The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory is home to the highest-powered magnet laboratory in the world and has been located in Tallahassee since 1989. FSU is also home to one of the world’s most advanced robotic electron microscopes, the ThermoFisher Titan Krios. A University-wide shared High-Performance Computing Facility supports computational research. Core Facilities in IMB are available to MOB students to pursue their research, while facilities in other departments in the Science Complex offer MOB students access to an even wider variety of advanced technologies.