Words by Smiley Team
When Gordon Moore co-founded hardware giant Intel in 1968 he was already viewed as a pioneer in the tech industry.
A decade earlier he had broken away from a firm led by Nobel prizewinner Bill Shockley to start his own business, and his prediction that computer processing power would double every year became an insight known as "Moore's Law", which still informs the industry today.
His successes in the field of computer science led to Moore, 92, amassing a fortune of more than $11bn, half of which he plans to give away during his lifetime.
Together with wife Betty, Moore set up a philanthropic foundation in 2001 to use his wealth for good. The California-based couple stated their goals were to use their wealth to bring positive change, and Moore said on setting up the foundation: “Betty and I established the Foundation because we believe it can make a significant and positive impact in the world.
“We want the Foundation to tackle large, important issues at a scale where it can achieve significant and measurable impacts.”
The foundation awards grants worth $270m each year, and focuses on causes related to science, the environment and education.
Earlier this year the foundation committed $190.5m to supporting promising scientists up to 10 years into their career, to allow them to spend time on research, discovery and inventions as opposed to spending valuable hours applying for grants.
Robert Kirshner, the foundation’s chief programme officer for Science explained: "Our current system forces creative people to spend valuable time repeatedly applying for grants just at the point where they should be sprinting forward.”
The project will focus on researchers in astrophysics, experimental physics and geophysics. The grant will also fund conferences to allow scientists to network, exchange ideas and foster collaboration that will lead to insightful experiments and new discoveries.
To find out more visit the foundation’s website or follow them on Twitter.
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