Spring 2027

Biophysical Chemistry

Biophysical Chemistry covers equilibrium thermodynamics and chemical kinetics, emphasizing solution behavior and applications to biological macromolecules in solution.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 No instructors listed

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Inhyuk Jang, Silvia Cavagnero

The course was conceptually demanding, particularly for students without strong backgrounds in chemistry or biophysics. One student noted it was especially hard if they did not put in significant time and effort, while another found the difficulty manageable with clear explanations.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Understand and apply fundamental principles of thermodynamics to biological systems.

  • Understand and apply fundamental principles of kinetics to biological systems.

  • Rationally interpret the results of experiments performed on biological systems in terms of energetics and outcome probabilities

  • Predict the outcome of biological processes, once experimentally or theoretically derived thermodynamic/kinetic parameters are known

  • Design new experiments on biological systems based on appropriate thermodynamic and kinetic criteria

  • Explain a selected topic related to the course material to other students

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

(CHEM 116, 327, or 329),MATH 222, (PHYSICS 201, 207, or 247), and (BIOCHEM 501, 507,BIOCORE 383, or concurrent enrollment), or graduate/professional standing. Not open to students with credit forCHEM 561 or 565.

CHEM 665 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027

No instructors recorded for this selection.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

INHYUK JANG is recorded teaching in Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

SILVIA CAVAGNERO is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2013, Spring 2018, Spring 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 1200
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 300
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 300
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 300
DIS 304Classroom Instruction0 / 300

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Silvia Cavagnero

Students described the course as challenging but supported, with professors who explain difficult concepts clearly and connect them to current scientific topics. Many found the instruction engaging and the support structure helpful for navigating complex material.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.16 GPA, 56.4% A/AB (n=117 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.37 GPA, 51.9% A/AB (n=79 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.34 GPA, 69.2% A/AB (n=143 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Inhyuk Jang, Silvia Cavagnero

The course was conceptually demanding, particularly for students without strong backgrounds in chemistry or biophysics. One student noted it was especially hard if they did not put in significant time and effort, while another found the difficulty manageable with clear explanations.

Past student reviews · Silvia Cavagnero, Inhyuk Jang

Students appreciated the problem sets for exam preparation and the availability of office hours and discussion sessions for asking questions. Professors were described as helpful and willing to support students who struggled with the material.

Topics

  • Equilibrium thermodynamics and chemical kinetics.
  • Solution behavior.
  • Applications to biological macromolecules in solution.
  • Interpreting experimental results in terms of energetics and outcome probabilities.

Skills

  • Applying fundamental thermodynamic principles to biological systems.
  • Applying fundamental kinetic principles to biological systems.
  • Designing experiments on biological systems using thermodynamic and kinetic criteria.
  • Predicting biological process outcomes from thermodynamic and kinetic parameters.

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Spring 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1280 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
CHEM 665 · Spring 2027

Biophysical Chemistry

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:224:002816",
    "course_id": "CHEM 665",
    "course_uid": "course_e07ac3ead3ec5b8d4f3eb185",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "002816",
    "source_subject_id": "224",
    "title": "Biophysical Chemistry",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1Download part 2
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "0bb2adb37990abd6f37dc42b6b38af4de4806f5099ac5299af5e879cf126f02d",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}