The program funds postgraduate study and research in any subject at the University of Cambridge; recipients are selected for their outstanding academic achievements, leadership potential and commitment to improving the lives of others.
Abu El-Haj, a physics major, is a native of Philadelphia whose research interests lie at the intersection of theoretical cosmology and high energy physics. A 2025 Goldwater Scholar, he has recently been working with Associate Professor J. Colin Hill, hoping to constrain phenomenological features of physics in the very early universe. Previously, Abu El-Haj conducted research in observational astronomy with the Pupin Professor of Physics Charles J. Hailey and research scientist Kaya Mori, and he has also conducted research in computational nuclear physics at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Ill. In addition, Abu El-Haj is an after-school program volunteer with Reading Team Math, a Harlem-based partnership with Columbia students and faculty and the nonprofit Reader Team. Outside of his work, he is an avid soccer player.
As a Gates Cambridge Scholar, Abu El-Haj will pursue a Ph.D. in the Department of Applied Math and Theoretical Physics.