Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation - Moore Inventor Fellowship

There is no specific process for internal solicitation and selection outlined by the foundation. We recognize inventors and innovators come from a diversity of backgrounds, disciplines and experiences and will look for creativity across a broad array of academic programs and research departments. Examples of such programs include, but are not limited to, environmental science and conservation, oceanography, biology, engineering, physics, chemistry, materials science, neuroscience, public health and gerontology.

With respect to patient care only, we focus this call on areas in which our foundation is currently engaged. We are interested in solutions in diagnostic excellence, medication safety in the community and community-based serious illness care. While we are open to ideas outside of these specific areas, we seek projects in patient care that directly improve the experience and outcomes of patients. We do not plan to make fellowship awards in ideas that focus on disease specific inventions, randomized control trials for drug efficacy or basic biomedical research.

Only the primary contact for each eligible institution can access to the application portal and should submit applications on behalf of their institution’s nominees. If you are the primary contact and would like to request a login to the portal, please email inventors@moore.org.

Yes, institutions can nominate a person who was previously nominated, provided they still meet the eligibility requirements of the program.

At this time, the competition is open only to inventors at Research 1 universities, selected medical schools, and selected environmental research and patient care institutions. Each eligible institution may nominate two people.

Yes. The most important goal is for an individual to make progress on their project. We would make the grant to your current institution and discuss, on a case-by-case basis, the best way to handle the full term of the award if a fellow’s status changes.

Yes. This competition is open only to faculty and staff at eligible institutions.

All candidates must be no more than ten years past receiving their Ph.D., M.D., M.S. or other terminal degree. A degree received on any date in 2010 is acceptable.

No. All candidates must be within 10 years of receiving their Ph.D. or other terminal degree. However, a degree received on any date in 2010 is acceptable.

We recognize that the early career window differentially impacts candidates who have taken maternity or family leave. In these cases, please reach out to us to discuss the specifics, as we will make an exception to the 10-year requirement.

An exception is made for physicians with five or more years of clinical training since obtaining their terminal degree. These clinicians are eligible if they are within five years of completing clinical training. For example, a cardiothoracic surgeon who completed five years of general surgery residency and three years of fellowship, would have five years of eligibility beyond the completion of their fellowship.

Yes. Different fields have different practices with regard to terminal degrees. We want to allow the most highly qualified candidates to be nominated. The terminal degree should be a graduate level degree, such as a Ph.D., M.D., MBA, MSc, MPH, or other similar degree.

Yes. Fellows must be engaged in the pursuit of their invention at least 25 percent time for the three-year duration of the award.

Each nomination must be for a single individual who is the project lead. However, we understand that many projects are made possible through collaboration and allow grant funds to be used toward collaboration in service of the project.

Fellows can determine how grant funds are used for project purposes. Grant funds may be used to support portions of salary, undergraduate or graduate students, equipment or supplies.

The total grant award is $675,000 for a three-year period. The fellow receives a total of $600,000 ($200,000 each year, for three years). The home institution will receive a total of $75,000 ($25,000 each year for three years to offset costs associated with grant management).

Each host institution needs to contribute $50,000 in annual direct support of the inventor’s work each year of the fellowship. This could include support for undergraduate or graduate students, equipment, supplies and other needs that will enable the fellow to make progress on their work. Direct salary support is acceptable provided it includes a proportionate release of time from teaching or other duties. Funds that were designated for a fellow’s use before the fellow was awarded a Moore Inventor Fellowship (such as start-up funds) do not qualify. A clear statement of the proposed institutional support is part of the nomination.

We seek to support ideas and inventors grounded in science and technology that could make important contributions to the areas of science, patient care or environmental conservation. We’ve made specific adjustments to our patient care parameters and these can be found on page one in this FAQ. To help ensure we have the strongest applicant pool possible, we have asked each eligible institution to nominate two candidates for consideration. We suggest you contact your institution point person to better understand the process for selection. The foundation does not plan to respond to preliminary inquiries from individuals.

From the call for proposals, we expect no more than two pages describing: the main idea, that idea’s importance, its stage of invention, the problem the idea seeks to address, any existing or planned funding, technical feasibility and potential impact of the invention in one of our three programmatic themes: science, environmental conservation or patient care. You may include figures, charts and references within the total page length limit.

Yes, absolutely. We appreciate that nominees are sharing potentially valuable information with the foundation. All staff and external advisors who review applications have signed nondisclosure agreements with the foundation. All material submitted is protected. The foundation’s Data Sharing and Intellectual Property Policy states all intellectual property must be managed and disseminated in a manner that leads to the greatest impact. Each award will include IP terms to reflect the needs of that project.

In a project centered around invention, IP terms may be important to achieving the intended impact, so it may be appropriate to negotiate project-specific IP terms for the grant agreement. Intellectual property terms can be negotiated on a case-by-case basis once projects have been selected for funding. Submission of an application does not commit the university/institution or PI in advance to any particular IP terms.

We will inform institutional contacts of their nominees’ application status, but are unable to provide any review, feedback or assessment information.

Please read the Moore Inventor Fellows Guidelines for more details.