Submission process and timeline
We are no longer accepting applications for the 2025 Experimental Physics Investigators. Applications for the 2026 program will be accepted in August 2025.
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Moore Office Hours
The Moore Foundation Experimental Physics Investigators Initiative team hosts virtual office hours each year in September and early October to answer questions regarding the application process. The presentation slides from the most recent Q&A session are available.
Eligibility
Individuals conducting experimental physics research, who have earned tenure (or equivalent) within the past five years and are employed by a U.S. institution at the time of submission of their pre-proposal. Awards are given to a single institution with a single principal investigator. While collaborations are allowed, the primary use of funds must support the principal investigator, their team, and their research equipment. Individuals supported by other awards from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation are eligible as long as they meet eligibility requirements.
Fields
This program is specifically designed to support individual experimental physics researchers and their teams.
The experimental fields being considered include atomic/molecular/optical physics, biophysics, chemical physics, condensed matter, fluid dynamics, geophysics, laser physics, materials, polymer physics, plasma physics, precision measurements, quantum information, and soft matter physics. We encourage you to explore the profiles of our Experimental Physics Investigators to learn about the variety of research areas we have supported in previous calls. (See below)
What we do not support:
- Theoretical and computational work unless part of larger experimental research efforts.
- Education research or public engagement.
- Ongoing work of large collaborations (e.g., astrophysics/astronomy, exotic matter searches, fusion, gravitational physics, high energy physics, nuclear physics).
- Observational astronomy.
Institutional context
The grants will be made to the nonprofit or public academic or research institutions where the investigator is based. We will not make grants to for-profit organizations.
- Researchers at all U.S. academic institutions are eligible.
- Researchers at academic institutions need not be in physics departments to be eligible. The essential requirement is that the proposed research is experimental physics.
- The applicant will need to indicate that they have sufficient time and institutional resources to complete the proposed research. Some teaching buyout is allowed, but we expect investigators will continue the usual duties of their position (e.g., teaching, mentoring students and postdocs).
- Researchers at national laboratories may be eligible. The Experimental Physics Investigators program is designed to support investigators who are transitioning from an early to a mid-career stage (e.g., immediately post tenure at most universities). Applicants will be able to explain their career stage in the appropriate section.
Career stage
Applicants must have received tenure or the equivalent in the last five years. For the 2026 cohort application deadline on 14 October 2025, applicants must have earned tenure after 14 October 2020.
- There is an option to request a one-year extension to the time window owing to significant life events such as childbirth or caring for a family member since earning tenure.
- Extensions due to the pandemic will not be considered (we extended our eligibility window for everyone to account for pandemic disruptions).
Application and review process
The application and review process occurs in two stages.
The brief pre-proposal will be reviewed by Moore Foundation staff in consultation with an external advisory board, and around half of these applications will advance to the second stage.
The second stage will include a more detailed research description and will be reviewed by technical experts as well as Moore Foundation staff in consultation with an external advisory board. Around one third of these applications will be selected for funding.
- Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) is used to collect professional background information for each applicant.
- Applicants will be considered solely on the merits of their proposal documents and awards will be made regardless of age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, national origin, religion, disability or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.
- Application content will be anonymized to reduce bias during the review process.
- Technical reviews of full proposals (those submitted at the second stage) are returned to applicants; however, we do not have the bandwidth to return reviews of pre-proposals.
We encourage applicants to create accounts in the portal and start the application early so that you can see details related to each of these sections in context and plan accordingly. Late applications will not be accepted at any stage of the process.
- The eligibility section will ensure that applicants requesting extensions or working outside of academic settings are able to verify they are eligible before continuing with the application.
- The pre-proposal has four sections:
- Research proposal: Brief descriptions of your proposed experiment, its potential impact, relationship to your current research, motivation for the work, and your research experience.
- Professional background: CV information (imported from ORCID).
- Personal information: Demographics and other background information (not shared with reviewers).
- The full proposal has five sections:
- Research description: A more detailed description of the proposed project.
- Existing facilities: Description of available facilities.
- Project budget: Budget and budget narrative.
- Reviewers: List of suggested and excluded reviewers with rationale.
- Supervisor support: Department chair or equivalent will also be asked to submit answers to several questions about the applicant.
Interested in learning more? Contact epi@moore.org with any questions.
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