Division of Biophysics

Research in biophysics has a long tradition at the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw. The Biophysics Division was established in 1965 by Prof. David Shugar and is the oldest such division operating at the Faculty of Physics in Poland. We combine experimental and computational reasearch in the interdisciplinary field of biophysics to solve research problems on the border of physics, biology and chemistry. Significant contributions to the development of research in the Biophysics Division have been made by Prof. Dr hab. Barbara Czochralska, Dr hab. Ewa Kulikowska, Dr hab. Maciej Geller, Prof. Dr hab. Zygmunt Kazimierczuk, Prof. Dr hab. Magdalena Fikus and many others.

Theoretical and experimental research in the Biophysics Division, initiated by Prof. David Shugar, focused on the physicochemical properties of nucleic acids compounds. Over the years, the research topics of the Division have evolved into the biophysics of biological objects with increasing molecular weights, such as globular proteins (enzymes, translation factors) and fragments of ribonucleic acids (5'cap mRNA) and their molecular complexes in subcellular structures.

Since many years, the Biophysics Division has been educating students in biophysics. The alumni include such researchers as Prof. Aleksander Włodawer, Prof. Krzysztof Kuczera, Prof. Piotr E. Marszałek, Prof. Adam Godzik, Prof. Andrzej Pohorille, Prof. Włodzimierz Mandecki, Prof. Dr hab. Joanna Trylska, Dr hab. Piotr Setny, Dr hab. Krzysztof Ginalski and many others.