Oliver Beckstein
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Phone: 480-727-9765
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Department of Physics Tyler Mall 550 Physical Sciences Building F 348 Tempe, AZ 85287-1504
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Mail code: 1504Campus: Tempe
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Oliver Beckstein leads a computational research group in the Center for Biological Physics and in the Department of Physics at Arizona State University.
He obtained his undergraduate degree (Diplom Physik) from the Department of Physics at the Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany and his doctoral degree (DPhil) from the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Oxford, UK. He held a Junior Research Fellowship at Merton College, Oxford and worked as a postdoctoral researcher with Tom Woolf at Johns Hopkins University and Mark Sansom in Oxford.
Beckstein's research group uses and develops computational methods to better understand the molecular mechanisms of biological processes. A special focus is on the quantitative prediction of the function and activity of proteins from the knowledge of their structures alone. The group has special expertise in transmembrane transport processess catalyzed by membrane proteins such as secondary active transporters and ion channels. The group contributes to the fields of structural biology, physiology, nanobiotechnology, and drug discovery. Professor Beckstein has also broad interests in computational method and software development, including the development of novel algorithms to sample and analyze molecular systems. He is a co-founder and core developer of the widely used open source MDAnalysis library for the analysis of biomolecular simulations.
- D.Phil. Biochemistry, University of Oxford, UK 2005
- Diplom (Physik). Physics, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany 1999
The focus of the research in the lab is in applying computational methods to understand the molecular mechanisms of biological processes, in particular transport across the cell membrane.
Many proteins in the living cell can be understood as molecular machines that use a source of energy to produce mechanical or chemical work. The lab's primary interest is in those proteins located in the cell membrane that move nutrients, signalling molecules, or waste products into and out of the cell. We study their molecular mechanisms of action by detailed molecular dynamics simulations, which provide a "movie" of full atomic detail of a working protein.Current areas of interest focus on the mechanisms of secondary active transport; methods to accurately simulate macromolecular transitions that are crucial in understanding ligand binding, gating in ion channels, or the translocation of substrates through the cell membrane; and the role of water in confined geometries, for instance in ion channel gating mechanisms or ligand discrimination.
See the Beckstein Lab for current members and more about recent activities of the research group.
See the complete List of Publications and Oliver Beckstein's Google Scholar profile.
See the Beckstein Lab web page for recent news.
Courses
2025 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
PHY 495 | Project Research |
PHY 792 | Research |
PHY 795 | Continuing Registration |
PHY 799 | Dissertation |
CSE 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
PHY 432 | Comp Methods in Physics |
PHY 795 | Continuing Registration |
2024 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
PHY 495 | Project Research |
PHY 792 | Research |
PHY 795 | Continuing Registration |
PHY 799 | Dissertation |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
PHY 792 | Research |
2024 Summer
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
PHY 799 | Dissertation |
PHY 795 | Continuing Registration |
PHY 799 | Dissertation |
PHY 792 | Research |
PHY 792 | Research |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
PHY 792 | Research |
2024 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
PHY 495 | Project Research |
PHY 792 | Research |
PHY 795 | Continuing Registration |
PHY 799 | Dissertation |
CSE 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
PHY 432 | Comp Methods in Physics |
2023 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
PHY 495 | Project Research |
PHY 792 | Research |
PHY 795 | Continuing Registration |
PHY 799 | Dissertation |
2023 Summer
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
PHY 799 | Dissertation |
PHY 795 | Continuing Registration |
PHY 799 | Dissertation |
PHY 792 | Research |
PHY 792 | Research |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
2023 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
PHY 495 | Project Research |
PHY 792 | Research |
PHY 795 | Continuing Registration |
PHY 799 | Dissertation |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
PHY 432 | Comp Methods in Physics |
PHY 795 | Continuing Registration |
PHY 799 | Dissertation |
2022 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
PHY 495 | Project Research |
PHY 792 | Research |
PHY 795 | Continuing Registration |
PHY 799 | Dissertation |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
2022 Summer
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
PHY 795 | Continuing Registration |
PHY 799 | Dissertation |
PHY 795 | Continuing Registration |
PHY 799 | Dissertation |
PHY 792 | Research |
PHY 792 | Research |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
2022 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
PHY 495 | Project Research |
PHY 792 | Research |
PHY 795 | Continuing Registration |
PHY 799 | Dissertation |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
PHY 432 | Comp Methods in Physics |
2021 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
PHY 495 | Project Research |
PHY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PHY 792 | Research |
PHY 795 | Continuing Registration |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
2021 Summer
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
PHY 795 | Continuing Registration |
PHY 799 | Dissertation |
PHY 795 | Continuing Registration |
PHY 799 | Dissertation |
PHY 792 | Research |
PHY 792 | Research |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
2021 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
PHY 495 | Project Research |
PHY 792 | Research |
PHY 799 | Dissertation |
PHY 494 | Special Topics |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
2020 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
PHY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PHY 792 | Research |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
2020 Summer
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
PHY 799 | Dissertation |
PHY 799 | Dissertation |
PHY 792 | Research |
PHY 792 | Research |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
2020 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
PHY 495 | Project Research |
PHY 792 | Research |
PHY 799 | Dissertation |
PHY 494 | Special Topics |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
PHY 202 | Programming for Physicists |
2019 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
PHY 495 | Project Research |
PHY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PHY 792 | Research |
PHY 194 | Special Topics |
European Biophysics Journal (Advisory Editorial Board)
Biophysical Society, American Physical Society, American Chemical Society, British Biophysical Society, Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft
Graduate faculty in the Department of Physics, Graduate faculty in the School of Molecular Sciences, Barrett, the Honors College faculty