In 1959 he somewhat reluctantly entered the Ecole Polytechnique, which did not then offer much education in biology and whose graduates did not typically seek research careers.
During his studies Goldberg spent two years visiting Stanford University from 1964 to 1966, and eventually finished his Ph.D. in 1967 with a thesis on tryptophan synthase.
He is credited with introducing a number of biophysical experimental techniques to other researchers at the Pasteur Institute and with establishing its scientific computing unit.
[1] Although Goldberg retired in 2005, he continues to serve in advisory roles with the Pasteur-Weizmann Council and is co-president of the scientific committee for the Pasteur-Weizmann/Servier International Prize.
[2] The CNRS later recognized Goldberg and Jeannine Yon as among the first to study the protein folding problem in France.