The Institute of Biophysics (IBF) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) is the result of the fusion of five CNR organisms interested in the understanding of molecular mechanisms in living systems, after the reorganization of the CNR in 2002. The headquarter, originally established in Pisa, was moved to Genoa in April 2003. The units, distributed throughout Italy, which gave life to the IBF were:
- Istituto di Cibernetica e Biofisica of Genoa
- Centro di Studi sulla Biologia Cellulare e Molecolare delle Piante of Milan
- Istituto di Biofisica of Pisa
- Istituto per le Applicazioni Interdisciplinari della Fisica of Palermo
- Centro di Fisica degli Stati Aggregati, reparto di Biomolecole e Membrane Biologiche of Trento.
The objective of the Institute of Biophysics is the acquisition of new knowledge on the relationship between structure and function in biological molecules and cellular mechanisms through a multidisciplinary approach, which includes physics, physiology, mathematics, molecular biology, chemistry, structural biology, informatics and biochemistry.