DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This Molecular Biophysics pre-doctoral training program involves sixteen mentors from four degree-granting departments and a Purdue-wide life sciences interdisciplinary program, who provide research training linked to studies of the structure and function of proteins, nuclei acids and viruses. The program emphasizes training in three major structural subdisciplines, X-ray crystallography, electron microscopy and image analysis and multidimensional NMR spectroscopy, with a newly added emphasis on protein bioinformatics. Since biophysics and structural biology are not traditional undergraduate disciplines, the curriculum includes courses that offer entry points for students from diverse backgrounds with differing knowledge of biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics, as well as advanced courses that add deeper theoretical and practical understanding. The Program also delivers significant extracurricular experiences that insure breadth of knowledge and prepare the trainees for careers as scientists. Among these are an annual student-organized and student-presented Biophysics Symposium and a series of mentor-organized Biophysical Discussions that focus on the scientific and technical context of key seminars. The faculty mentors have a long and successful history in collaborative research and training that enriches the program and benefits the trainees. Superb major research facilities for crystallography, NMR and electron microscopy have been established and maintained as shared facilities available to all trainees. New facilities to house laboratories for trainees and their mentors are now being constructed, with the entire three floors of the new Hockmeyer Hall building dedicated to structural biophysics research.