# Biophysics Training Program

> **NIH NIH T32** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · 2024 · $633,035

## Abstract

Project Summary / Abstract
The Biophysics Training Program (BTP) is a new interdisciplinary predoctoral training program at the
University of California at Berkeley. The BTP will be the only training program at UC Berkeley focusing on
biophysics. The BTP will recruit and appoint six trainees per year to train in the field of biophysics, drawn from a
pool of 640 applicants and 40 matriculants per year in the Biophysics and Molecular and Cell Biology PhD
programs. Trainees will be appointed for two-year terms and will continue to engage with the BTP training
activities and community-building events through to graduation. We aim to have at least 20% of our trainees
coming from underrepresented minority (URM) groups. We expect that 100% of our students will graduate with
a PhD within 6 years, with a target mean time to degree of 5.5 years for all students, and with no differential
between students from URM and non-URM backgrounds. Our goal is that every student will publish a first or co-
first author paper in a peer-reviewed journal recognized as excellent in the field of biophysics, and will
subsequently pursue a research-related career in academia, industry, or government. Professional development
will be centered on the acquisition of ten core competences designed to enable leadership in any of these
workforce sectors. Training procedures will be informed by the latest scientific literature in the field of research
mentorship and training, and will emphasize the acquisition of self-efficacy and sense of belonging. Research
training will be enhanced in response to the latest advances in biophysics, including the rapidly growing
importance of machine learning in structural biology and data analysis. A series of training innovations have
been incorporated into the BTP, including a new hands-on computational modeling course in the physics of the
cell, short boot camp courses in cryo-EM and single molecule microscopy, and advanced training in laboratory
safety and record keeping. The effectiveness of the training program will be rigorously evaluated on an annual
basis and advice sought from newly-constituted student and external advisory groups. All 23 of the BTP training
faculty are members of the Graduate Group in Biophysics (GGB), and our trainees will be drawn from the GGB
and the Molecular and Cell Biology PhD program. Our faculty are world leaders in their fields and include six
members of the National Academy of Sciences, six Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators, and a recent
recipient of both the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences and Nobel Prize in Chemistry. All BTP faculty undergo
formal mentorship training and evaluation of mentoring quality.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10878682
- **Project number:** 5T32GM146614-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY
- **Principal Investigator:** James H Hurley
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $633,035
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-07-01 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10878682

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10878682, Biophysics Training Program (5T32GM146614-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10878682. Licensed CC0.

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