Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Grant Supports Postdoctoral Fellows

Caltech has received a one-time grant of $2.5 million from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to support postdoctoral researchers in five academic divisions over a three-year period. The funding is part of the Foundation's Postdoctoral Fellowship Commitment, providing $55 million to 30 US universities to maintain the pipeline of future scientists.

"Gordon and Betty Moore established the Foundation to create positive outcomes for future generations," said Aileen Lee, president of the Moore Foundation. "In pursuit of that vision and recognizing the changing conditions for university research funding, we are pleased to add our support of postdoctoral scholars at Caltech."

The grant provides additional stability to research teams across the Institute during a period of uncertainty in traditional funding sources. It also maintains momentum in research areas aligned with the Foundation's fields of interest, including molecular and cellular biology, chemical physics, green chemistry, quantum information, Earth and planetary sciences, atomic physics, and astronomy.

Impact and Mentorship

Postdoctoral scholars are an essential part of the Institute's academic community, helping to advance scientific research while providing guidance to graduate and undergraduate students.

"Any problem worth pursuing probably encompasses more than one person's expertise," says Hosea Nelson, professor of chemistry. "When you're pursuing big problems, you need to get different perspectives, different knowledge bases, different domains, and bring them together. I tend to hire postdocs that are outside of my field a little bit, and Sergio is one of those."

Sergio Lovera, a synthetic inorganic chemist, is one of the recipients of the Foundation's grant funding. His work on the functionalization of hydrocarbons has the potential for unlocking cleaner energy options. It also represents, according to Nelson, one of the pinnacle challenges in chemistry.

"Part of the project that Sergio is involved with is figuring out how to take gaseous methane and turn it into other useful molecules, like liquid fuel," says Nelson. "He's also working on the degradation and functionalization of polyethylene."

These chemically related problems—involving the creation and destruction of hydrocarbons—are challenging because the molecules are highly stable, says Nelson. His research group aims to selectively break and reform these bonds, potentially transforming existing plastics into biodegradable materials or extending the life cycle of polymers for use in pharmaceuticals or as fuel rather than disposing of them into the environment.

In addition to their scientific expertise, postdocs play an important mentoring role for students. For Nelson, that role is not just about teaching content but helping shape the students' sense of scientific integrity and a broader understanding of their work and its impact.

Early Investment Supports Talent and Outcomes

Zhongwen Zhan, professor of geophysics and the Clarence R. Allen Leadership Chair and director of Caltech's Seismological Laboratory, agrees with Nelson. In his group, John Rekoske, another recipient of the Foundation's funding, is working on simulating earthquake wave propagation far more quickly—reducing the processing time from hours or days to milliseconds. Rekoske's work adds a new dimension to Zhan's research that may allow the development of a new kind of earthquake early warning system.

"The existing system works well for individuals, giving people precious seconds to prepare for an earthquake," says Zhan. "However, this research, while focused on fundamental questions of how earthquake waves propagate, has the potential to strengthen the warning system by providing much more detailed seismological information, which can make a huge difference. Automated systems in critical infrastructure—like bridges, airports, and hospitals—would be able to respond differently based on information like the frequency of the seismic waves and the geology local to that facility, both of which influence the speed of shaking as well as the intensity."

Early investment in research like this can have a significant impact. The existing early warning system widely used across the West Coast developed from research at Caltech and other institutions funded by the Moore Foundation.

Zhan notes that investing in postdocs at this early stage in their careers can also have significant impact by supporting scientists as they develop their research expertise.

"Postdocs are protected by the group to do research with a lot of flexibility, a lot of freedom," he says. "They are adding new expertise to the group, but it is also hugely beneficial to the postdoc. They are exposed to new directions and are in the process of combining their PhD expertise with what they will learn over the next two or three years."

Across the Institute, Foundation-supported postdoctoral scholars will advance research that connects fundamental discovery with real-world impact. Their work ranges from improving precision measurement and seismic hazard understanding to decoding biological systems and developing new tools for chemical physics.

Advancing Discovery Through Partnership

"Gordon and Betty Moore's impact, and that of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, has been nothing short of transformational," says David A. Tirrell, Carl and Shirley Larson Provostial Chair and the Ross McCollum-William H. Corcoran Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. "We are grateful to have benefited from their generosity and leadership over many years, and are appreciative of the Foundation's continued support today."

In 2001, the Moores personally donated $300 million to Caltech, followed by a second gift of $300 million from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The combined gifts represented the largest donation to a US institution of higher education at that time. Gordon was named a Caltech Distinguished Alumnus in 1975, and would later serve as a Trustee in 1983 and as Board Chair from 1993 to 2000. The Moores co-founded the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation in 2000 with a vision to create positive outcomes for future generations.

Philanthropic support like the Moore Foundation grants enable researchers to take intellectual risks and potentially unlock scientific breakthroughs. "This is like an angel investor who comes in and says, 'I don't know if you can do it, but I'm going to take a chance and let you explore what you want to explore for the sake of exploring," adds Nelson. While their research group may not fully solve the problem, according to Nelson, they can provide clues for future researchers to keep pursuing the answer.