The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is inviting pre-applications for the 2026 Theory 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 exclusively single-investigator grants 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 plans to conduct calls for Investigators and Moore Synthesis Fellows in 2026, 2029, and 2032.
Description of the Awards
The EPiQS Theory Investigator awards will support U.S. experts in theoretical and computational studies of quantum materials to predict new emergent electronic and magnetic phenomena in solids, elucidate the origins of previously observed phenomena, and develop new theoretical and computational approaches for studying quantum materials. This call will result in the appointment of up to four Theory 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 $800,000–$900,000.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for this award, applicants must hold a primary appointment as tenured or tenure-track faculty at a U.S. academic institution. Individuals with adjunct, research faculty, 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).
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 theoretical or computational tools and methods for investigations of quantum materials. Strong preference will be given to candidates focused on fundamental questions in quantum materials rather than practical applications of these materials.
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, also are of interest to EPiQS.
Various types of “quantum simulators” that aim to emulate the properties of solid materials (including cold-atom assemblies, superconducting circuits, photonic systems, quantum computing platforms, etc.) are outside the scope of this call.
Researchers bringing fresh, potentially disruptive perspectives from other areas of quantum science, such as quantum information, are welcome to apply, provided their research addresses fundamental questions relevant to real quantum materials.
The current 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 four 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. We are particularly interested in theorists with a strong track record of collaborating with experimentalists and developing theoretical insights that directly inform experimental studies of solid materials. We expect EPiQS Theory Investigators to participate regularly in EPiQS-supported meetings and other community-building activities and to foster active scientific collaborations with experimentalists in the EPiQS grantee community.
Investigators will be selected based on the following primary criteria:
- Overall significance and impact of recent theory research; only work published in 2019 or later will be considered.
- The potential to deliver groundbreaking advances in theoretical investigations of quantum materials over the next six years, as articulated in the research statement.
- Track record of generating significant new knowledge through collaborations with experimentalists, or of producing theoretical work that has directly and significantly advanced experimental studies or the interpretation of important experimental results.
Secondary considerations may include:
- Mentoring and training contributions.
- Ensuring diversity across topics and technical approaches within the awardee cohort.
- The extent to which EPiQS funding would make a difference for the candidate, particularly the extent to which it would enable research that might otherwise not be pursued.
Successful candidates will demonstrate a combination of the following qualities setting 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 theoretical and computational tools and methods that enable novel or superior approaches to modeling and predicting properties of quantum materials and emergent quantum phases of matter in solids.
- They make strong contributions to the research community and focus on problems and questions of direct relevance to experimental researchers in the field.
- 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 addressing five questions. Pre-applications will be screened for eligibility and programmatic fit, and, with possible input from external experts, a subset of highly competitive applicants—30 to 40 of them—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 December 4, 2026, at 11:59pm Pacific Standard 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 early February, 2027. 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 Theory Investigators
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is inviting pre-applications for the 2026 Theory 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 exclusively single-investigator grants 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 plans to conduct calls for Investigators and Moore Synthesis Fellows in 2026, 2029, and 2032.
Description of the Awards
The EPiQS Theory Investigator awards will support U.S. experts in theoretical and computational studies of quantum materials to predict new emergent electronic and magnetic phenomena in solids, elucidate the origins of previously observed phenomena, and develop new theoretical and computational approaches for studying quantum materials. This call will result in the appointment of up to four Theory 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 $800,000–$900,000.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for this award, applicants must hold a primary appointment as tenured or tenure-track faculty at a U.S. academic institution. Individuals with adjunct, research faculty, 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).
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 theoretical or computational tools and methods for investigations of quantum materials. Strong preference will be given to candidates focused on fundamental questions in quantum materials rather than practical applications of these materials.
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, also are of interest to EPiQS.
Various types of “quantum simulators” that aim to emulate the properties of solid materials (including cold-atom assemblies, superconducting circuits, photonic systems, quantum computing platforms, etc.) are outside the scope of this call.
Researchers bringing fresh, potentially disruptive perspectives from other areas of quantum science, such as quantum information, are welcome to apply, provided their research addresses fundamental questions relevant to real quantum materials.
The current 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 four 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. We are particularly interested in theorists with a strong track record of collaborating with experimentalists and developing theoretical insights that directly inform experimental studies of solid materials. We expect EPiQS Theory Investigators to participate regularly in EPiQS-supported meetings and other community-building activities and to foster active scientific collaborations with experimentalists in the EPiQS grantee community.
Investigators will be selected based on the following primary criteria:
- Overall significance and impact of recent theory research; only work published in 2019 or later will be considered.
- The potential to deliver groundbreaking advances in theoretical investigations of quantum materials over the next six years, as articulated in the research statement.
- Track record of generating significant new knowledge through collaborations with experimentalists, or of producing theoretical work that has directly and significantly advanced experimental studies or the interpretation of important experimental results.
Secondary considerations may include:
- Mentoring and training contributions.
- Ensuring diversity across topics and technical approaches within the awardee cohort.
- The extent to which EPiQS funding would make a difference for the candidate, particularly the extent to which it would enable research that might otherwise not be pursued.
Successful candidates will demonstrate a combination of the following qualities setting 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 theoretical and computational tools and methods that enable novel or superior approaches to modeling and predicting properties of quantum materials and emergent quantum phases of matter in solids.
- They make strong contributions to the research community and focus on problems and questions of direct relevance to experimental researchers in the field.
- 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 addressing five questions. Pre-applications will be screened for eligibility and programmatic fit, and, with possible input from external experts, a subset of highly competitive applicants—30 to 40 of them—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 December 4, 2026, at 11:59pm Pacific Standard 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 early February, 2027. 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.