Not all fields in biophysics are covered at Oslo University. However, the University’s close proximity to several of Norway’s leading university hospitals opens up particularly good possibilities to cover all fields within medical physics. Each of these hospitals conducts research activity that it is natural for Oslo University to be involved in.
At the Department of Physics, research in biophysics is particularly directed towards the effects of radiation (ionizing radiation, UV radiation, and visible light) on molecular models and cell culture; prioritised fields in medical physics include radiation therapy for cancer, and MR tomography. We investigate how radiation alters the characteristics of important biomolecules, and how this affects the ability of live cells to grow and divide. We also study how radiation treatment may be optimised, by investigating new ways of treating patients. Some of the teaching is delivered by hospital specialists, and some of the master’s theses are supervised partly at the Physics Department at Oslo University, and partly at a hospital.