Yankowitz Selected as Moore Foundation Experimental Physics Investigator

Matthew Yankowitz, associate professor of physics and of materials science and engineering at the University of Washington, is among 21 scientists selected for the 2026 cohort of Experimental Physics Investigators, a distinguished group of mid-career researchers pushing the boundaries of experimental physics.

The Experimental Physics Investigators Initiative was established by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to support creative individuals who have recently received tenure (or its equivalent) and to cultivate collaborative research environments. Investigators are encouraged to tackle interesting new research problems, pivot when necessary, and bring on students and postdoctoral researchers to accelerate their progress. Each Experimental Physics Investigator receives $1.35 million over five years.

In his UW research, Yankowitz studies what happens when sheets of atomically thin materials, such as graphene, are stacked in precise arrangements. He explains that, under the right conditions, the electrons in these materials stop behaving independently and instead act collectively, producing exotic forms of superconductivity, magnetism, and topological states within the same material.

The Yankowitz Lab builds devices in which these quantum states can be switched on and off with applied voltages, allowing a superconductor to sit directly beside a magnet or correlated insulator within a single device, with the boundary between them defined electrically. By studying what happens when these distinct quantum states meet, the lab aims to discover new forms of collective behavior and, ultimately, to develop electronics in which quantum states are programmed by voltage rather than fixed during fabrication.

The Experimental Physics Investigator funding will help support this work. “From the start, our aim has been to accelerate progress at the frontier of experimental physics by giving brilliant mid-career scientists the kind of flexible, sustained support that federal grants rarely can,” says Theodore Hodapp, program director for the Moore Foundation’s Experimental Physics Investigators initiative.

As a member of the fifth cohort of Experimental Physics Investigators, Yankowitz will have opportunities to connect with other scientists from the current and past cohorts. To help investigators learn from one another, the Initiative brings cohorts together each year in an informal setting built around trading ideas and imagining new experiments, rather than the usual conference format. The Initiative also asks investigators to lead well-mentored, high-performing research groups that develop the next generation of scientific talent and supports professional development for Investigators toward that goal.

“It is a tremendous honor to be part of this program,” says Yankowitz. “The support gives us unusual freedom to take scientific risks, pursue unexpected results, and follow our curiosity wherever it leads. I am equally excited to join such an impressive community of mid-career scientists. I expect that the ideas and interactions that emerge from this group over the coming years will push our research in new directions we cannot yet anticipate.”