The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is inviting pre-applications for the 2026 Experimental Investigators competition as part of its Emergent Phenomena in Quantum Systems (EPiQS) Initiative. Through EPiQS, the foundation seeks to accelerate breakthroughs in quantum materials—solids and engineered structures that exhibit novel quantum phases and emergent electronic behavior.
Investigator awards are a central pillar of EPiQS. These awards provide exceptionally creative scientists with substantial, long-term, and flexible support, enabling them to pursue ambitious research agendas of their own design. By fostering intellectual freedom and risk-taking, the EPiQS Investigators program aims to drive transformative advances and expand the frontiers of quantum materials research. EPIQS will conduct open calls for Investigators and Moore Synthesis Fellows in 2026, 2029, and 2032.
Description of the Awards
The EPiQS Experimental Investigator awards support U.S. experts in experimental studies of quantum materials to pursue discovery of new emergent electronic and magnetic phenomena in solids, elucidate the origin of previously known emergent phenomena, develop new experimental techniques for probing or controlling quantum materials, or substantially enhance the performance of existing techniques. This call for proposals will result in the appointment of up to eight Experimental Investigators. The awards will provide six years of unconstrained funding, offering recipients full autonomy to define their research directions and allocate their budgets. The award amount will be in the range $1,800,000–$2,000,000.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for an EPiQS Investigator award, an applicant’s primary appointment must be as tenured, tenure-track, or research faculty at a U.S. academic institution. Individuals holding adjunct or emeritus appointments are not eligible.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to review the Moore Foundation’s indirect cost policy prior to applying. Those uncertain whether their institution can meet the policy requirements should consult their institutional administrators.
Past and current Moore Foundation grantees – both EPiQS and non-EPiQS – are eligible unless they are non-compliant with grant requirements (e.g., currently overdue reports or other violations of their grant agreements).
In 2026, both the EPiQS and Experimental Physics Investigators (EPI) initiatives will conduct investigator competitions. Applicants eligible for both programs may apply to only one this year. Please review the eligibility criteria and scientific scope of each initiative carefully before deciding which to apply for. Current EPI initiative grantees are welcome to apply and will be evaluated on the same basis as all other applicants. If selected as EPiQS Investigators, the amount of their EPiQS award may be adjusted based on the remaining balance of their EPI grant.
Candidates with dual expertise in advanced materials characterization and materials synthesis are welcome and will not be disadvantaged. However, these applicants should emphasize their past achievements and future plans related primarily to experimental characterization of materials or experimental approaches to controlling material properties. If you recently applied to the call for EPiQS Materials Synthesis Investigators and Moore Synthesis Fellows, you remain eligible to apply to this call as well, provided your application clearly emphasizes experimental investigations rather than synthesis. Please note that if you are selected for funding as a Materials Synthesis Investigator or a Moore Synthesis Fellow, your Experimental Investigator application will be withdrawn, as individuals may hold only one EPiQS Investigator award at a time.
Candidates conducting both experimental and theory research will likewise not be at a disadvantage, although the application should focus on experimental accomplishments and plans.
We welcome applications from all qualified individuals regardless of age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, national origin, religion, or disability.
Scientific and Technical Scope
Candidates may use any experimental technique, or a combination of techniques, for investigations of materials. They may also propose using EPiQS funds to substantially improve existing experimental techniques or to develop entirely new techniques and probes. Strong preference will be given to candidates advancing the fundamental science of quantum materials rather than practical applications.
The following broad classes of solid materials are of interest to EPiQS:
- Strongly correlated systems, including but not limited to unconventional superconductors, Mott insulators, multiferroics, and correlated oxide heterostructures
- Frustrated magnets and other solids exhibiting novel or exotic magnetic properties
- Topological materials
- Two-dimensional crystals and layered systems, including but not limited to graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides, and van der Waals structures
- Other low-dimensional systems, including but not limited to quantum wells and quantum wires with emergent electronic properties
- Hybrid quantum materials created by the integration of dissimilar component materials or through external stimuli
Organic-based materials exhibiting emergent electronic properties, along with hybrid systems that incorporate organic components, will be considered. Cold-atom assemblies or photonic systems that can emulate properties of real materials (‘quantum simulators’) are outside the scope of this call for proposals.
The new phase of the EPiQS Initiative places significant emphasis on four research thrusts. However, applicants for EPiQS Investigator awards are entirely free to propose and pursue research directions outside these areas. Alignment with the thrusts will not be considered in the selection process.
Selection Criteria and Process
Researchers who can demonstrate significant originality and pioneering contributions to the field are encouraged to apply. Candidates should have an outstanding track record in experimental investigations of materials and/or in the development of innovative experimental tools and techniques. Investigators will be selected based on the following primary criteria:
- Significance and impact of recent experimental research; only work published in 2019 or later will be considered.
- The potential to deliver groundbreaking advances in experimental investigations of materials over the next six years, as articulated in the research proposal.
Secondary considerations may include:
- Mentoring and training contributions.
- Ensuring diversity across experimental techniques and classes of materials within the awardee cohort.
Successful candidates typically demonstrate a combination of the following qualities that set them apart from other highly competent scientists in their field:
- They are recognized intellectual leaders in the field of quantum materials, consistently pushing it into new areas of inquiry.
- They help define major questions in the field.
- They apply and/or develop advanced experimental tools and methods that enable novel or superior approaches to probing or controlling quantum materials.
- They demonstrate outstanding promise of future original and innovative contributions.
- They are willing to take risks and explore unproven and uncertain research avenues.
The application process consists of two stages.
In the pre-application stage, applicants will provide basic personal and employment information, a curriculum vitae, and a brief research statement. Pre-applications will be internally screened for eligibility and programmatic fit, and, with possible input from external experts, a subset of about 60 highly competitive applicants will be identified. These applicants will then be invited to submit full proposals, including an expanded research statement and additional information. Due to the expected high volume of pre-applications, feedback will not be provided to those not selected for the full-proposal stage. All applicants will receive notifications of their pre-application status.
Pre-applications are due by June 5, 2026, at 11:59pm Pacific Daylight Time. Applicants should enter the required information themselves; institutional involvement and budget submissions are not required at this stage. Eligible and highly competitive applicants will be invited to submit full proposals in late July. The proposals will undergo rigorous expert review by leading scientists in the field.
To begin your pre-application, you must register as a user in this application portal if you have not previously done so. When creating your user account, please use an email address that you check regularly, as all communications and status updates regarding your application will be sent to that address. After submitting your pre-application, you may return to review and edit it at any time before the deadline.
Should you have any difficulties using this application portal or have any questions regarding the application, please email us at EPiQS@moore.org.
2026 EPiQS Experimental Investigators
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is inviting pre-applications for the 2026 Experimental Investigators competition as part of its Emergent Phenomena in Quantum Systems (EPiQS) Initiative. Through EPiQS, the foundation seeks to accelerate breakthroughs in quantum materials—solids and engineered structures that exhibit novel quantum phases and emergent electronic behavior.
Investigator awards are a central pillar of EPiQS. These awards provide exceptionally creative scientists with substantial, long-term, and flexible support, enabling them to pursue ambitious research agendas of their own design. By fostering intellectual freedom and risk-taking, the EPiQS Investigators program aims to drive transformative advances and expand the frontiers of quantum materials research. EPIQS will conduct open calls for Investigators and Moore Synthesis Fellows in 2026, 2029, and 2032.
Description of the Awards
The EPiQS Experimental Investigator awards support U.S. experts in experimental studies of quantum materials to pursue discovery of new emergent electronic and magnetic phenomena in solids, elucidate the origin of previously known emergent phenomena, develop new experimental techniques for probing or controlling quantum materials, or substantially enhance the performance of existing techniques. This call for proposals will result in the appointment of up to eight Experimental Investigators. The awards will provide six years of unconstrained funding, offering recipients full autonomy to define their research directions and allocate their budgets. The award amount will be in the range $1,800,000–$2,000,000.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for an EPiQS Investigator award, an applicant’s primary appointment must be as tenured, tenure-track, or research faculty at a U.S. academic institution. Individuals holding adjunct or emeritus appointments are not eligible.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to review the Moore Foundation’s indirect cost policy prior to applying. Those uncertain whether their institution can meet the policy requirements should consult their institutional administrators.
Past and current Moore Foundation grantees – both EPiQS and non-EPiQS – are eligible unless they are non-compliant with grant requirements (e.g., currently overdue reports or other violations of their grant agreements).
In 2026, both the EPiQS and Experimental Physics Investigators (EPI) initiatives will conduct investigator competitions. Applicants eligible for both programs may apply to only one this year. Please review the eligibility criteria and scientific scope of each initiative carefully before deciding which to apply for. Current EPI initiative grantees are welcome to apply and will be evaluated on the same basis as all other applicants. If selected as EPiQS Investigators, the amount of their EPiQS award may be adjusted based on the remaining balance of their EPI grant.
Candidates with dual expertise in advanced materials characterization and materials synthesis are welcome and will not be disadvantaged. However, these applicants should emphasize their past achievements and future plans related primarily to experimental characterization of materials or experimental approaches to controlling material properties. If you recently applied to the call for EPiQS Materials Synthesis Investigators and Moore Synthesis Fellows, you remain eligible to apply to this call as well, provided your application clearly emphasizes experimental investigations rather than synthesis. Please note that if you are selected for funding as a Materials Synthesis Investigator or a Moore Synthesis Fellow, your Experimental Investigator application will be withdrawn, as individuals may hold only one EPiQS Investigator award at a time.
Candidates conducting both experimental and theory research will likewise not be at a disadvantage, although the application should focus on experimental accomplishments and plans.
We welcome applications from all qualified individuals regardless of age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, national origin, religion, or disability.
Scientific and Technical Scope
Candidates may use any experimental technique, or a combination of techniques, for investigations of materials. They may also propose using EPiQS funds to substantially improve existing experimental techniques or to develop entirely new techniques and probes. Strong preference will be given to candidates advancing the fundamental science of quantum materials rather than practical applications.
The following broad classes of solid materials are of interest to EPiQS:
- Strongly correlated systems, including but not limited to unconventional superconductors, Mott insulators, multiferroics, and correlated oxide heterostructures
- Frustrated magnets and other solids exhibiting novel or exotic magnetic properties
- Topological materials
- Two-dimensional crystals and layered systems, including but not limited to graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides, and van der Waals structures
- Other low-dimensional systems, including but not limited to quantum wells and quantum wires with emergent electronic properties
- Hybrid quantum materials created by the integration of dissimilar component materials or through external stimuli
Organic-based materials exhibiting emergent electronic properties, along with hybrid systems that incorporate organic components, will be considered. Cold-atom assemblies or photonic systems that can emulate properties of real materials (‘quantum simulators’) are outside the scope of this call for proposals.
The new phase of the EPiQS Initiative places significant emphasis on four research thrusts. However, applicants for EPiQS Investigator awards are entirely free to propose and pursue research directions outside these areas. Alignment with the thrusts will not be considered in the selection process.
Selection Criteria and Process
Researchers who can demonstrate significant originality and pioneering contributions to the field are encouraged to apply. Candidates should have an outstanding track record in experimental investigations of materials and/or in the development of innovative experimental tools and techniques. Investigators will be selected based on the following primary criteria:
- Significance and impact of recent experimental research; only work published in 2019 or later will be considered.
- The potential to deliver groundbreaking advances in experimental investigations of materials over the next six years, as articulated in the research proposal.
Secondary considerations may include:
- Mentoring and training contributions.
- Ensuring diversity across experimental techniques and classes of materials within the awardee cohort.
Successful candidates typically demonstrate a combination of the following qualities that set them apart from other highly competent scientists in their field:
- They are recognized intellectual leaders in the field of quantum materials, consistently pushing it into new areas of inquiry.
- They help define major questions in the field.
- They apply and/or develop advanced experimental tools and methods that enable novel or superior approaches to probing or controlling quantum materials.
- They demonstrate outstanding promise of future original and innovative contributions.
- They are willing to take risks and explore unproven and uncertain research avenues.
The application process consists of two stages.
In the pre-application stage, applicants will provide basic personal and employment information, a curriculum vitae, and a brief research statement. Pre-applications will be internally screened for eligibility and programmatic fit, and, with possible input from external experts, a subset of about 60 highly competitive applicants will be identified. These applicants will then be invited to submit full proposals, including an expanded research statement and additional information. Due to the expected high volume of pre-applications, feedback will not be provided to those not selected for the full-proposal stage. All applicants will receive notifications of their pre-application status.
Pre-applications are due by June 5, 2026, at 11:59pm Pacific Daylight Time. Applicants should enter the required information themselves; institutional involvement and budget submissions are not required at this stage. Eligible and highly competitive applicants will be invited to submit full proposals in late July. The proposals will undergo rigorous expert review by leading scientists in the field.
To begin your pre-application, you must register as a user in this application portal if you have not previously done so. When creating your user account, please use an email address that you check regularly, as all communications and status updates regarding your application will be sent to that address. After submitting your pre-application, you may return to review and edit it at any time before the deadline.
Should you have any difficulties using this application portal or have any questions regarding the application, please email us at EPiQS@moore.org.