Unit PHYSICAL MODELS OF BIOSYSTEMS
- Course
- Physics
- Study-unit Code
- A005887
- Location
- PERUGIA
- Curriculum
- Fisica della materia
- Teacher
- Alessandro Paciaroni
- Teachers
-
- Alessandro Paciaroni
- Alessandra Luchini (Codocenza)
- Hours
- 28 ore - Alessandro Paciaroni
- 14 ore (Codocenza) - Alessandra Luchini
- CFU
- 6
- Course Regulation
- Coorte 2025
- Offered
- 2025/26
- Learning activities
- Affine/integrativa
- Area
- Attività formative affini o integrative
- Academic discipline
- FIS/03
- Type of study-unit
- Opzionale (Optional)
- Type of learning activities
- Attività formativa monodisciplinare
- Language of instruction
- Italian
- Contents
- This course explores how physical principles and mathematical modeling can be applied to understand biological systems at different scales — from molecules to microorganisms. It integrates tools from statistical mechanics, soft matter physics, and thermodynamics with biological knowledge and includes engagement with experimental biophysical techniques.
- Reference texts
- -Philip Nelson-Biological Physics_ Energy, Information, Life-W. H. Freeman (2003) -Ken A. Dill, Sarina Bromberg-Molecular Driving Forces_ Statistical Thermodynamics in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Nanoscience-Garland Science (2010)
- Educational objectives
- Below the educational objectives, and the skills that students will acquire. The broader, long-term goals of the course within the physics curriculum are: -To equip students with the conceptual and mathematical tools needed to model biological systems from a physicist's perspective. -To foster interdisciplinary thinking by integrating methods from statistical physics and soft matter with modern biology. -To prepare students for research or careers in biophysics, systems biology, or interdisciplinary areas where physics meets life sciences. -To develop the ability to translate biological questions into quantitative, predictive models. The specific skills or knowledge students should acquire by the end of the course are: -Understand and apply core physical principles (e.g., diffusion, elasticity, entropy) to biological systems. -Critically evaluate assumptions and approximations in biophysical modeling. -Design and interpret simplified physical models for complex biological systems.
- Prerequisites
- The student should have a suitable background in thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, classical mechanics, and basic mathematical methods (typically acquired in the first two years of a Physics degree). Exposure to soft matter and biological systems is a plus but not mandatory, as the course is designed to provide the necessary context.
- Teaching methods
- The course consists of classroom lectures on all the topics of the program.
- Learning verification modality
- The exam includes an oral test. This test consists of an interview with the objective to ascertain the level of knowledge and the understanding reached by the student on the theoretical and methodological implications listed in the program. In the oral examination it is assessed the student's ability to communicate clearly and independently about the theoretical contents of the course and to design in detail an experiment in order to investigate a scientific problem. The oral exam takes about 50 minutes, depending also on the ease of exposure of the student.
- Extended program
- Introduction to Biological Physics -Overview of biological systems from a physicist’s perspective, Scales and complexity in biology, Physical and biological time and length scales Statistical Mechanics in Biology -Boltzmann distribution, partition function, Two-state systems and binding equilibria, Free energy, entropy, and chemical potential Soft Matter Concepts -Polymers and biopolymers (DNA, proteins), Elasticity and persistence length, Phase transitions in biological media Diffusion and Transport -Brownian motion and Langevin equation, Diffusion-limited reactions Introduction to Biophysical Techniques -Neutron scattering, X-ray diffraction, Circular dichroism, Light Scattering Principles of thermodynamics for systems at equilibrium: -phase equilibrium -equilibrium and chemical reactions -ideal and real mixtures Modelling self-assembly processes: -lipids and surfactants: chemical structure and classification -aggregates: morphologies, aggregation number, critical concentration -thermodynamic, “phase separation” and kinetic model for describing aggregation Self-assembly and biological systems: -structure and function of cellular membranes -phase diagrams for pure lipids and lipid mixtures -biophysical methods for the investigation of lipid membranes: reflectivity, fluorescence spectroscopy, NMR and EPR