The study of the physics of living systems (PoLS) brings the physicist’s style of inquiry to the phenomena of life. The tremendous range of phenomena encountered in living systems, which often have no analogs in the inanimate world, demands that the intellectual agenda of biological physics is exceptionally broad. Nevertheless, while celebrating this breadth, the first National Academies’ PoLS decadal survey identified four key conceptual questions to organize exploration of the field: What are the physics problems that organisms need to solve? How do living systems represent and process information? How do macroscopic functions of life emerge from interactions among many microscopic constituents? How do living systems navigate parameter space? Our faculty are address many aspects of these questions.
Biophysics Faculty and their Research Focus
-
Christopher Lynn
Understanding how structure and function emerge in complex living systems, particularly the brain.
-
Benjamin Machta
Statistical physics of biological systems; critical points and phase transitions, membrane systems.
-
Simon Mochrie
Quantitative microscopy and image analysis. Chromatin organization and dynamics. Nuclear envelope physics. Phase transitions of soft matter.
-
Alison Sweeney
Self-assembly and optical properties of molecular structures, biophysics, evolution of deep sea squid camouflage, combining theory with experiment.
Recent Biophysics News
-
Yale Physics Graduate Students attend the International Meeting of the Physics of Living Systems (iPoLS)
Yale physics graduate students attended the International Meeting of the Physics of Living Systems (iPoLS) held in Munich, Germany August 3-6, 2026.
-
Asheesh Momi successfully defends thesis
Asheesh Momi used mathematical and computational models to study the natural ways in which the cochlea can vibrate.
-
Rodríguez Martínez and O'Hern Awarded AI at Yale Seed Grant for Protein Ensemble Modeling
The QBio team of researchers will use the funding towards a or Protein Ensemble Modeling collaboration project.
Upcoming Events
Nothing to share right now.
Please check back soon or explore our site.
Experiments
- How cells process information and make decisions
- Laboratory of Living Matter
- Mechanics of the cytoskeleton with a particular emphasis on microtubules and microtubule-based motor proteins
- Soft Condensed Matter and Biological Physics
- Soft Matter Research
- Understanding how networks of neurons work together to perform computations
Graduate Program in Physical and Engineering Biology (PEB)
Yale’s Integrated Graduate Program in Physical and Engineering Biology (PEB) was established to train a new generation of scientists who are skilled at applying physical and engineering approaches to biological research, and who are also sufficiently sophisticated in their biological training that they can readily identify and tackle cutting-edge problems in the life sciences. The PEB leadership is committed to a new paradigm that transcends traditional, artificial, boundaries both between disciplines and also between research, teaching, and learning.
Group Members
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Physics
Damon Clark
Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, of Physics, and of Neuroscience(203) 432-0750
-
-
