The Physical Option provides a thorough background in the subject areas involved in Computational and Integrative Biology (CIB) Major, with a stronger emphasis on biophysics.

Follow your progress using this checklist.

Required Courses for Physical Option (71-72 credits)

Basic courses (39 credits)

  • Gen Bio 1 and 2 plus labs 50:120:101,107 and 50:120:102,108 (8 credits)
  • Chem Principals 1 and 2 plus labs 50:160:115, 125 and 50:160:116,126 (8 credits)
  • Calculus 1 and 2 50:640:121, 122 (8 credits)
  • Elements of Physics 1 and 2 plus labs 50:750:131, 133 and 50:750:132, 134 (8 credits)
  • Prog. Fundamentals plus Object Oriented Prog. 50:198:111, 113 (7 credits)

Electives (28-29 credits)

  • Modern Physics plus lab 50:750:232, 238 (4 credits)
  • Biophysics 50:750:362 (3 credits)
  • Organic Chemistry I plus lab 50:160:335, 339 (5 credits)
  • Thermal Physics 50:750:351 (3 credits)
  • Analytical Mechanics 50:750:309 (3 credits) or Electromagnetic Theory 50:750:301 (3 credits) or Elements of Quantum Mechanics 50:750:413 (3 credits)
  • Molecular Biology plus lab 50:120:305, 306 (4 credits) or General Biochemistry I plus lab 50:115:403, 407 (4 credits)
  • Mathematical Methods for Scientists I & II 50:640:468, 469 (6 credits) or Unified Calculus III (4) plus Differential equations (3) 50:640:221, 50:640:314 (7 credits)

Capstone (4 credits)

To all students.

Recommended Electives 

It is recommended that students pick a total of 22 credits from the list below.

  • 3 Computational Physics a 50:750:309
  • 3 Analytical Mechanics a 50:750:309
  • 3 Electromagnetic Theory a 50:750:301
  • 3 Electromagnetic Waves and Optics 50:750:302
  • 3 Elements of Quantum Mechanics a 50:750:413
  • 3 Condensed Matter and Material Physics 50:750:406
  • 3 Mathematical Physics 50:750:464
  • 3 Molecular Liquids 50:750:363
  • 3,4 Molecular Biology plus lab a,b 50:120:305, 306
  • 3,4 General Biochemistry I plus lab a,b 50:115:403, 407
  • 3,4 General Biochemistry II plus lab b 50:115:404, 408
  • 5 Organic Chemistry II plus lab b 50:160:336, 340
  • 3,4 General Microbiology plus lab b 50:120:330, 331
  • 3 Molecular Evolution 50:120:312
  • 3 Numerical Methods 50:198:481
  • 3 Theory of Numbers 50:640:356
  • 3 Computational Mathematics 50:640:357
  • 3 Bioinformatics 56:121:550
  • 3 Cell Membranes 56:121:562
  • 3 Genetics plus lab 50:120:307, 308
  • 3 Introduction to Biostatistics 50:960:452
  • 3 Structure and Bonding 50:160:343
      Maybe taken as an elective if not already taken as a compulsory course.
      Maybe be taken with or without the lab section.

    Note: All basic courses must be completed with a grade of C or higher.