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 Silvia Cavagnero3.1/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Silvia Cavagnero

The class is challenging with tough exams, but problem sets are described as good exam prep that make students think.

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

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.

- - - take one
    - MATH 222
    - take one
    - - BIOCHEM 501
      - BIOCHEM 507
      - BIOCORE 383
      - concurrent enrollment
      take one
    take all
  - graduate/professional standing
  take one
- - - CHEM 561 · unspecified
    - or 565
    take one
  not eligible with
take all

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

All of
- Any of
  - All of
    - Any of
    - MATH 222
    - Any of
    - Any of
      - BIOCHEM 501
      - BIOCHEM 507
      - BIOCORE 383
      - concurrent enrollment
  - graduate/professional standing
- Not eligible with
  - Any of
    - CHEM 561 · unspecified
    - or 565

Professors

Spring 2027

Silvia Cavagnero

Adjusted rating

RMP difficulty

captured reviews

About this rating

Raw average: 3.01/5 from 117 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

For this course: 3.9/5 raw quality · 3.3/5 difficulty · 7 reviews

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Past student reviews · Silvia Cavagnero

Silvia Cavagnero taught a challenging course where problem sets served as effective exam preparation. She walked through many examples in lectures, explained difficult concepts clearly, and offered extra credit opportunities to support student success.

Other students found Silvia Cavagnero's lecture style disorganized, with the first half moving at a snail's pace while the last four weeks covered material at lightning speed. One reviewer noted the class was the only course that curved grades downward.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.57 GPA, 60.0% A/AB (n=15 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.16 GPA, 56.4% A/AB (n=117 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.34 GPA, 69.2% A/AB (n=143 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Past student reviews · Inhyuk Jang

Inhyuk Jang taught this course and students found it especially hard without significant time and effort. Lectures were sometimes difficult to follow and moved quickly, but he welcomed questions and was very helpful during office hours, which students recommended attending if stuck.

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.

Section	Mode	Enrolled / capacity
LEC 001	Classroom Instruction	0 / 120
DIS 301	Classroom Instruction	0 / 30
DIS 303	Classroom Instruction	0 / 30
DIS 302	Classroom Instruction	0 / 30
DIS 304	Classroom Instruction	0 / 30

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

Meeting source records

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Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Silvia Cavagnero

Dr. Cavagnero teaches a conceptually demanding course where she breaks down complex topics into clear explanations and connects them to current scientific topics.

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 · Silvia Cavagnero

The class is challenging with tough exams, but problem sets are described as good exam prep that make students think.

Past student reviews · Silvia Cavagnero

Students reported that lectures could be disorganized or unevenly paced, with some sections moving slowly while others rushed through 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.

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.

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Selected offering source records

CHEM 665 · Spring 2027

Biophysical Chemistry

Recorded 2026-10-29

Raw records

[
  {
    "run_id": "20261029T213040-0fa85c20",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-29 21:30:40.248904+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

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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades

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 1 Download part 2

Model & dataset provenance

{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "04b97bb1b5eec5bb8de34941c036095f803a330079b78c13e9dcd60f4b0dc721",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "c9cd06eaa45f9ddf7e69faa38b89ff3d3dd995dd",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-29 21:30:40.248904+00:00"
}

Biophysical Chemistry

Summary

What you’ll be able to do

Grade history

Prerequisites

Professors

Silvia Cavagnero

Calendar & sections

Student experience

the class

difficulty & workload

Topics

Skills

Grades

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

Grades over time

Where this course fits relative to

Sources & history

Catalog & offerings

Student reviews

Grade history

Biophysical Chemistry

Summary

What you’ll be able to do

Grade history

Prerequisites

Professors

Silvia Cavagnero

Calendar & sections

Student experience

the class

difficulty & workload

Topics

Skills

Grades

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

Grades over time

Where this course fits relative to UW–Madison

Sources & history

Catalog & offerings

Student reviews

Grade history

Where this course fits relative to