Curriculum

The iBP Interface-Biology-Physics M1 program is hosted by the BMC "Biologie Moléculaire and Cellulaire" at Sorbonne University. A big part of the curriculum is shared. You can find many information (albeit in French) at the dedicated website for BMC here. The names of each class are sometimes in French when the class is also given (for other students) in French. The full list and information on all the classes offered by BMC can be found here.

First Semester

The first semester is broken down in 3 blocks of roughly one month each. The total number of credits over the semester is 30 credits.


Block 1:

MU4BM001 Ateliers de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (12 credits)

It consists of 3 weeklong labs that will ensure that the students will have full experience with many techniques from Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Cellular Biology, Immunology, Genetics and Microbiology.


Block 2:

MU4BM011 Biological Physics (6 credits)

This class consists of a tour of physics principles as they pertain to the explanation of biological questions. It will provide the students with a physical framework to understand and evaluate biological questions.

MU4LVAN1 English for French speaker or French for English Native Speakers (3 credits)

This class is the language requirement for the program. It ensures that all will fully master both French and English by the end of the program. While English will be crucial to study in this program and master the scientific literature, not all the M2 programs you might want to join will be entirely in English. So assuring a mastery of scientific vernacular French is also important.


Block 3: MU4BM012 How Instrumentation illuminates Biology at micro/macroscales (6 credits)

This class consists of a thorough presentation of how experimentation historically and currently impacts biology. Students will understand the physical world at multiple biological scales in time and space: how physical govern biological processes; how to measure/quantify/interpret them and how to engineer innovative biology assays.

MU4B009 Biostatistics (3 credits)

This class consists of a full introduction to biostatistics from mathematical foundations to deep learning. It is an important staple of the acquired toolkit of this program.

Second Semester

The second semester consists of two mandatory classes:

2 month INTERNSHIP (9 credits)

This is an internship that needs to be at the interface between physics and biology. This is a crucial part of the program.

MU4BMOIP (3 credits)

This class consists of a tour of the soft skills (communication, organization, teamwork) useful in a professional scientific setting. It also is an overall introduction to the professional scientific world.


and a choice of 3 among 7 different elective classes (6 credits each):

  • MU4BM112 Molecular biology of eukaryotes

  • MU4BM113 Established and emerging model organisms for marine science

  • MU4BM142 Theoretical and practical introduction to epigenetics

  • MU4BM169 Introduction to stem cell biology

  • MU4BM148 Embryonic models for genetic diseases and cancer

  • MU4BM123 UE Immunologie fondamentale et intégrée

  • MU4BI033 Python for Physiology modeling

The more specific explanation of the content of the second semester classes can be found here.

The total of credits for the second semester is 30 credits.