Prof. Moran’s research aims to understand how life, especially biological metabolism, began. His group has shown that several metabolic pathways previously thought to be unique to living systems occur fully or partially without enzymes using inorganic catalysts that were likely present on the early Earth. The long term goal is to create abiotic networks of interacting metabolic reactions that can work together to give emergent, lifelike properties. His group is also interested in developing new conceptual approaches to catalysis in areas ranging from organic synthesis to light-matter interactions. In recognition of his work, Prof. Moran was named to the Institut Universitaire de France as a Junior Member (2021) is a two-time grantee of the European Research Council (ERC), and a co-recipient of a Life grant from the Volkswagen Foundation. In 2018, he became one of the two first Canadians (and the first researcher working in France) to be selected as a Talented 12 by C&EN, the official magazine of the American Chemical Society. Other recent awards include the Leibig Lectureship of the German Chemical Society (2022), the Forcheurs Jean-Marie Lehn Prize (2020, with Harun Tüysüz), and the Jean Normant Prize from the Société Chimique de France (2018).