ACS-Moore Postdoctoral Bridge Award in Quantum Materials

The ACS-Moore Postdoctoral Bridge Award in Quantum Materials is a partnership between the American Chemical Society (ACS) and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, funded through the Foundation’s Emergent Phenomena in Quantum Systems (EPiQS) Initiative. The program supports exceptional postdoctoral researchers in quantum materials who face financial challenges in their current appointment or in securing their next career opportunity.

By providing flexible bridge funding alongside a structured cohort experience, the program is designed to protect research momentum and accelerate postdocs’ transition toward independent academic leadership. It fosters interdisciplinary collaboration across physics, chemistry, and materials science and strengthens the pipeline of talent advancing fundamental discoveries in quantum materials.

Approximately thirty postdoctoral researchers will be selected for funding in 2026. Postdocs will be selected through an institution-based nomination process and reviewed by a panel of expert quantum scientists.

Research Areas in Scope

Outstanding research conducted in the following classes of quantum materials by the nominated postdocs fall within the scope of this award and 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

• Cold-atom assemblies or photonic systems that can emulate properties of real materials (‘quantum simulators’) are outside the scope of this call for proposals.

Eligibility Requirements

Nominations are sought for postdoctoral researchers who are:

• Facing financial challenges with respect to their current postdoctoral appointment and/or in securing their next career opportunity

• Demonstrating strong potential for significant contributions to the scientific community and future academic leadership

• NOT currently supported by a 2025 EPiQS cost-extension or a Gordon and Betty Moore

Foundation’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Commitment

• NOT supported through the following 2026 EPiQS awards: Material Synthesis Investigator; Moore Fellow Synthesis; OR 2026 Experimental Investigator.

• Of any citizenship or national origin, residing in the U.S.

Applicants are reviewed and awarded regardless of race, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity, presence of disabilities, or educational background.

Examples of “Financial Challenges”

• Loss or termination of a fellowship or appointment;

• Loss of funding to the research advisor that affects postdoctoral support; or

• Lack of bridge funding between appointments or career transitions.

Application Instructions

Please submit as one combined pdf labeled with Fellow’s Lastname, Firstname:

1. A one‐page letter of intent that includes a statement of research, including key findings and future research directions, and a clear statement of the financial challenge being faced.
2. CV (not biosketch) of the Fellow including past grant funding.
3. A letter of support from the Fellow’s Advisor that indicates that the nominee and application are of sufficient quality to be competitive nationally, describes the financial challenge being faced, and confirms the applicant’s strong potential for significant contributions to the scientific community and future academic leadership. Please note that if selected, the nominee will need to provide an additional letter of support from the department chair, a close collaborator, or the Ph.D. advisor.

to limitedsubs@uw.edu by 5:00 PM Wednesday, July 15, 2026. Late pre-proposals will not be considered. If given the go‐ahead by the Limited Submissions review committee, nominations are due 8/14/2026. Decisions will be made in October 2026.