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Newsletter
CONTENTS
Biophysical
Society
DEADLINES
MAY
2015
Message from the President
2
Biophysicist in Profile
4
Subgroups
6
Members in the News
6
Biophysical Journal
7
Careers
8
Grants and Opportunities
9
Public Affairs
10
Upcoming Events
12
Awards &
Contests
June 15
Changing Our World
Submissions
Thematic
Meetings
Biophysics of Proteins at
Surfaces: Assembly,
Activation, Signaling
October 13-15
Madrid, Spain
June 1
Abstract Submission
June 23
Early Registration
Polymers and
Self-Assembly: From
Biology to Nanomaterials
October 25-30
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
June 22
Abstract Submission
July 27
Early Registration
Biophysics in the
Understanding, Diagnosis
and Treatment of
Infectious Diseases
November 16-20
Stellenbosch, South Africa
July 20
Abstract Submission
August 24
Early Registration
Biophysics Awareness Campaign
Have you noticed that every discipline seems to be using some aspect of biophysics these days?
Yet the word “biophysics” remains poorly understood.
Members of the Biophysical Society know what biophysics is and its importance for moving
science forward. Researchers from other disciplines, however, often ask “ What do biophysicists
do?” When you describe one person in their institution who does biophysics, they then think they
understand the field, but do they really? Biophysics is so broad, so multidisciplinary that when you
ask any three biophysicists to define what it is in its totality, all they can agree on is that “it is what
biophysicists do.” Unfortunately, that doesn’t quite clarify it for others!
The strength and beauty of biophysics is pre-
cisely why it is difficult to define: Biophysicists
come from so many disciplines and are often
the only ones in their department who use bio-
physical techniques and analyze the resulting
data. Biophysics is broad, it is quantitative and analytical, and it is all about using these quantitative
and analytical approaches to solve biological problems. It is no accident that each year biophysicists
are among the recipients of Nobel prizes in both medicine/physiology and chemistry, even though
the media does not identify them as biophysicists.
It is important to the field and to biophysicists that
other scientists, potential biophysicists, and the
general public better understand biophysics and what
it offers. That is why the Society is embarking on a
campaign to increase the accessibility of biophysics and help others better understand what it is, its
breadth, what biophysicists do, and why it is such a growth area and an exciting career path. We
want to make it comprehensible to future researchers and more understandable to existing ones. We
want the public to become familiar with the word biophysics and not fear it because it contains the
“P” word. We want to ensure that biophysics continues to grow as a discipline.
That is what Biophysics Week, which will take place March 7-11, 2016, is all about, and we want
the Society membership to be involved in preparing for it. The launch will take place at the Annual
Meeting in Los Angeles, and all Society committees are already working to develop programs, tools,
and materials that everyone can use to make biophysics more understandable in their communities.
Between now and then, we will ask you, the Society members, for ideas and participation in the
rollout of this event.
Biophysicists, stay tuned, and get ready to get involved!
“
Researchers from other disciplines,
however, often ask "What to
Biophysicists do?"
”
“
Biophysics is broad, it is
quantitative and analytical.
”