MSU physicists awarded Moore Foundation grants to advance quantum science, fundamental physics
Michigan State University physicists work every day to advance quantum computing and help unravel the mysteries of the universe. Now, two are receiving private $1.3 million five-year grants that will further launch their research and give them more opportunities to collaborate.
Johannes Pollanen, the Cowen Distinguished Chair in Experimental Physics and associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and Jaideep Taggart Singh, associate professor of physics at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, or FRIB, and in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, were selected for the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation 2025 cohort of Experimental Physics Investigators. They join the previous three cohorts of distinguished mid-career researchers to advance fundamental research and push the boundaries of experimental physics.
The mission of the Moore Foundation is to create positive outcomes for future generations by tackling large, important issues at a scale where researchers can achieve significant and measurable impacts. The Experimental Physics Investigators Initiative was established to help the next generation of scientific leaders achieve remarkable physics insights and open new frontiers. The goal of the initiative is to provide substantial funding to pursue exciting research goals, try new ideas and investigate new areas of discovery.
Exploring and harnessing the unknown in physics
Pollanen’s research pioneers a completely new way to investigate how electrons behave when confined to one- and two-dimensional structures and how they can be harnessed for quantum technologies. Pollanen will create devices for combining superconducting quantum circuits and qubits — the basic building blocks of quantum computing — with electrons floating on liquid helium. These are two physical modalities that have never been fully combined before.
Today’s classical computers and networks are possible thanks to semiconductor transistors, liquid crystals, magnetic materials and optical fibers. Similarly, Pollanen envisions hybrid systems; combining superconducting qubits and trapped electrons will help to build the backbone of future quantum technologies for computing, sensing and communications. The Moore Foundation grant will help him merge these two disparate but complementary systems to address open questions about how to build and understand increasingly complex quantum devices.
He also hopes to answer fundamental questions about the physical world, which is governed by quantum physics. This is important for sating human curiosity, but it could also lay the groundwork for future technology.
“This award from the Moore Foundation will allow my research group to embark on exciting new directions in quantum science, allowing us to address both fundamental and applied questions,” Pollanen said. “This award is a testament to the amazing work of my group’s junior researchers, as well as MSU’s amazing ecosystem for scientific discovery and collaboration.”
Pollanen leads the Laboratory for Hybrid Quantum Systems at MSU, where his research group investigates the fundamental physics and quantum information applications of systems composed of trapped electrons, superconducting qubits, color-center defects in diamond, and two-dimensional layered materials. He is a co-founder and board member of the Midwest Quantum Collaboratory. He is also a recipient of the National Science Foundation’s CAREER award. Before joining the faculty at MSU, Pollanen was an IQIM Postdoctoral Scholar at the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter at the California Institute of Technology. Pollanen received his doctorate from Northwestern University and a bachelor of science in physics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Understanding the makeup of the universe
Singh’s research focuses on investigating the fundamental imbalance between matter and antimatter in the universe. To do this, his team is studying a rare, short-lived atomic nucleus called protactinium-229, which is thought to have an unusual pear-shaped structure. This shape may make it especially sensitive to unknown physical forces that behave differently when time is reversed — forces that could help explain why the visible universe contains mostly matter.
By embedding these nuclei in special cryogenic crystals and measuring subtle changes using precision instruments, Singh’s work aims to develop a highly sensitive new method for detecting signs of physics beyond current scientific understanding. Thanks to the Moore Foundation grant, this tabletop experiment could offer insights at energy scales far beyond what today’s particle accelerators can reach.
“One of the biggest unanswered questions in physics is why the universe is made mostly of matter and not equal parts of matter and antimatter,” said Singh. “Our research is trying to uncover whether there are hidden forces in nature — ones that behave differently if time were reversed — that could explain this imbalance. By studying a rare and unusually shaped atomic nucleus in a new way, we hope to open a window into physics that current experiments haven’t been able to reach.”
Singh earned a bachelor of science degree in physics at the California Institute of Technology and a doctorate in experimental nuclear physics at the University of Virginia. He was a Director’s Postdoctoral Fellow at Argonne National Laboratory and a postdoctoral research scientist at the Technical University of Munich in Germany. In 2014, he joined MSU as an assistant professor in experimental nuclear science and began his research at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, FRIB’s predecessor. He currently manages the Spinlab at FRIB. He has received a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development award and a DOE Early Career Research Program award.