The Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States named University student David Balut, a senior in LAS, as a recipient of the prestigious Churchill Scholarship.
Awarded to 16 students annually across the U.S. and estimated to be worth over $80,000, the scholarship will cover tuition, housing and other related expenses at Cambridge University for one academic year.
During his year at Cambridge, Balut will work alongside Trinity College fellow professor Claudio Castelnovo in the theory of condensed matter group. In an interview with The Daily Illini, Balut shared that he’s excited to continue working in a collaborative research environment.
“Anyone that has an idea in the building can just go talk and work it out on a chalkboard,” Balut said, adding that researchers are encouraged to collaborate, “and maybe something beautiful comes out of it.”
Balut began his research career in experimental physics as a part of University professor in Engineering Peter Abbamonte’s research team, where Balut led an inelastic X-ray scattering experiment at Argonne National Laboratory.
Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!
Abbamonte highlighted Balut’s skills, noting his publication of three papers in condensed matter physics as an undergraduate. One of Balut’s works involved analyzing data that Abbamonte collected in 2003 to extract its quantum metric and connecting the 23-year-old data to a modern theoretical quantity.
“This is why you never throw anything away,” Abbamonte said in an interview with The DI. “These (papers) are getting attention … These are important milestone papers in the field.”
Balut also expressed gratitude for other faculty in the physics department, crediting Abbamonte, his primary adviser, as well as theoretical physicists Barry Bradlyn, Phillip Phillips and Thomas Faulkner for their mentorship and collaboration.
The year at Cambridge, Balut said, will allow him to bridge the gap between experimental and theoretical physics, fields that rely on different skill sets.
“(It) is a perfect transition year, where I can really focus on bridging to theory,” Balut said. “It’s a year to only focus on the transition, and really ground myself in the next and the skills that are important for the next five years of my life.”
According to David Schug, director of the National and International Scholarships Program at the University, it has been over 20 years since an Illinois student earned the award. However, the University has generated more Churchill Scholarship recipients than any other public university in the U.S.
“I loved it here … I think my success is a product of the really collaborative environment here,” Balut said. “But I think it’s probably time for me to branch off for the next few years, do something slightly different, still within condensed matter theory or many-particle theory.”
At Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, Balut conducted research and assisted in measuring altermagnetic lattice modes in a material for the first time. Balut also received a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and was named an Astronaut Scholar in 2025.
In addition to his studies, Balut volunteers at the St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry in Champaign and serves as a peer tutor in The Grainger College of Engineering. Balut is also active in campus organizations that encourage students to vote.
When The DI asked if he had advice for others looking to advance their research, Balut responded by saying that one should prioritize their curiosity.
“Something really beautiful can happen if your curiosity is why you’re doing this,” Balut said. “I think it can be one of the most joyful things in your life if your research is a manifestation of what you’re curious about.”
